'Just a fun tweet' - the REAL story behind Walsall FC supporter's Pompey trip revealed
It was a laugh-out-loud situation - a Black Country football fan who thought he bagged a deal on a guest house before an away game on the south coast, but ended up on the Isle of Wight.
Walsall fan Davey Drew shared his nightmare experience following his team on an away trip to Portsmouth on social media.
It was shared on Twitter thousands of times and read by 2.5m users. The story was also picked up by media around the world.
His ordeal touched the hearts of many travelling football fans as well as Walsall FC, which offered to pay his ferry fare from island.
But today the Express & Star can reveal the story is not quite what it seems.
"I did the whole thing for a bit of fun," said the supporter, who goes under the account @Daveysaddler, joining Twitter in January.
"I picked up on a story that was doing the rounds, found a perfect archive shot of the ferry ride, knew it was funny as I was tweeting it I was crying, but never knew it would go so big.
"Never meant to cause harm, just a fun tweet."
This week, he offered his 398 followers a cryptic clue on the truth of the matter, tweeting: "We laugh at what makes us laugh.....whether it's true or not....we still laugh if it hits that spot."
The story started on August 18, the day before Walsall's game at Portsmouth's Fratton Park.
In a tweet, he said he had grabbed 'an absolute bargain', finding the Abingdon Guest House, 11 miles from the city.
Some fans did spot the problem - the guest house was on the Isle of Wight - and tweeted the supporter.
But on the day of the game, at 12noon, he tweeted again, this time a picture of the ferry crossing and a message full of expletives.
The story was immediately picked up by the world's media, including the Express & Star.
Following Walsall's game, manager Jon Whitney was asked about the fan's experience.
He said: "We'll pay his fare for him, we'll help him out."
A week later, the supporter said: "A whole football club, players.., manager, fans, local media, national media........i'm drew.....davey drew."
Yesterday, a spokesman for Walsall FC said: “While this story had given everyone at the club a few laughs, we are glad Davey didn’t really waste his money by accidentally booking a hotel on the Isle of Wight.
"Thankfully, the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall is right next to Banks's Stadium should Davey find himself booking a hotel for a home game in the near future.”
