I was mistaken for an Aston Villa star and hounded for autographs by ‘hundreds’ of fans – I signed them anyway
A FOOTBALL fan was mistaken for a Premier League star — and went along with it as he posed for pictures and signed autographs.
Amando Boakye, 23, was mobbed as he attended Aston Villa’s pre-season match with Valencia.
The Ghanian believes fans mistook him for Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey — and he was happy to play along.
He had arrived at the Mestalla Stadium last Saturday wearing a Villa training top — and suddenly was in demand.
He said: “I drew a crowd of more than 200. People wanted autographs and pictures and I did them for an hour before the game. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
“They were eager to take the pictures with me so I felt I had to do it to make them happy. I was relaxed and did it for them like a professional.”
Amando added: “It felt like I was a player and I was living my dream of playing for Aston Villa.”
In a video of the incident, viewed more than 600,000 times, he said: “I’m Jacob Ramsey. Can’t believe my eyes. I’m living the best of my life.”
It has proved an online hit. One user said: “F****** priceless. A young fella’s dream come true.”
Another said: “I have no idea what is happening in this footage. I don’t think our man does either.”
Charity worker Amando, from Juaben, runs Villa fan club Ghana Lions, with more than 28,500 Twitter followers.
It was the first time he had seen the Midlands club play live in person, having travelled from Luxembourg, where he was staying with a mate.
And after the match he got a picture with the club’s England defender Tyrone Mings by the team bus.
HE’S A VILLA FAN, NOT A CRIMINAL
THE word Villan has been used to describe fans of Aston Villa since 1879.
Some wrongly assume it’s a misspelling of “villain” — the bad guy in fiction or slang for a crook.
Club programme editor Jack Urry is credited with coming up with the term, while The Villa Villan character was designed by cartoonist Tom Webster in 1905.