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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Harrison Moore & John Bett

Die hard footy fan gets passport stamps from every away game tattooed on his body

A football-mad England fan has had his arms completely covered in tattoos of passport stamps - as he gets one for each away game he visits.

Ian Odgers, 54, has been around the world watching the England national team and has visited 32 countries to watch his favourite players play the beautiful game.

Ian, from Dereham, Norfolk, wanted something to remember the trips, so he decided to get the passport stamp for each country permanently inked onto his body.

Now he's running out of space after getting the stamps from 32 countries tattooed onto his skin, but he's not done travelling for football just yet - so he'll have to find more space soon.

What do you think about Ian's tattoos? Let us know in the comments...

He wanted to remember the trips, so he got his passport stamps as tattoos (James Linsell-Clark / SWNS)

The operations manager and dad of three said: "The experiences I've had across the years have been incredible.

"So I decided it would be cool to have a tattoo artist replicate the travel stamps on all my old passports on my arms and legs."

Ian is a huge England football fan and has travelled all over the world supporting the Three Lions, and he's so devoted that he hasn't missed an England qualification or friendly game for over a decade.

He's attended five international tournaments - including the most recent World Cup in Qatar - and also travels to see bands and to take part in marathons.

He got his first travel tattoo in 2017 but decided to fully invest in 2022.

Ian has 32 tattoos all over his body (James Linsell-Clark / SWNS)
Ian has no plans to stop travelling (James Linsell-Clark / SWNS)

He booked in for one session a month to get multiple passports done.

Ian said: "I got my first stamps six years ago. Then I had a break and picked it up again last year.

"I had four sessions in four months where [tattoo artist] Tori filled up my whole arms and down my right thigh.

"Each stamp holds a unique memory from the time I spent in that country, and each one is personal to me.

"My first stamp was Malaysia and the last stamp I got done was Qatar.

Soon he'll have to find more space for tattoos (James Linsell-Clark / SWNS)

"Sadly when I look at the latter all I can think of is Kane's penalty miss!"

Wife Ria Odgers, 55, accompanies Ian when she can.

Ian said: "The football is something I follow alone, but me and Ria love attending international gigs together.

"I have also ran 38 marathons abroad, and she has travelled far and wide to support me.

"Travelling has been such a big part of my life, and I wanted to find a way of combining that with my love for tattoos."

Ian had his tattoos done at a parlour called Living Colour, and he hopes to return for some more work - after his next trip.

He said: "We're planning a trip to South America soon and I'm already planning for the next World Cup.

"There's still a bit of space on my arms and underneath my neckline for more stamps from the adventures to come."

Ian has stamps from visits to Malaysia, Spain, North America, Philippines, Argentina Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Jordan, Qatar, Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, Morocco, Finland, Germany, Montenegro, Canada, Mauritius, Kenya, Thailand, Tunisia, Costa Rica, Maldives, Slovakia, Ireland, Cyprus, Turkey, Lithuania and France.

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