The cost-of-living crisis is affecting people in many different ways as purse strings are tightened and luxuries ignored for the time being. However, one avid football fan has decided to make an incredibly generous offer to fans of his beloved club so they can go watch them in the Champions League Final.
Simon Wilson has taken drastic steps to ensure Liverpool get the support they need when they take on Real Madrid on Saturday evening (May 28) in Paris' Stade de France by buying what he says is the "cheapest coach in the UK". But his generosity does not stop there as Simon has also decided to charge just £1 for a return trip to the French capital, the Liverpool Echo reports.
After seeing the price of flights and ferry crossing go through the roof after Jurgen Klopp's side progressed to the final, Simon decided to take matters into his own hands and help others who might be priced out of travel. The die-hard Reds fan has previous with cheap travel to Champions League Finals as he drove a £40 Skoda to Madrid in 2019, where Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0.
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However, Simon said his latest mission is based more on allowing Liverpool fans to have "the experience of a lifetime" on a shoestring budget. A bit of searching 'cheap coaches' on Google helped him find a suitable carriage, which he described as looking like an "old 1950s school bus", which has now been wrapped around with stickers which he says were pricier than the vehicle.
Simon said: "A couple of years ago I saw fans getting charged extortionate prices. People who were massive fans and just wanted to go to the game couldn’t because it was so expensive.
"For this final, I was going to take the Skoda but there’s only a couple of seats in the car. We wanted something a bit bigger so we could help people out.
"I bought the cheapest coach in the UK that I could find. I was just Googling ‘cheap coaches’ and I came across this one.
"We’ve wrapped the coach and put stickers on it, for perspective, the stickers have cost more than the coach. The guy we bought it off just seemed to be a very nice, helpful guy, so that sort of gave us a bit of confidence, but we’ll let you know if the coach is any decent if we get there."
The offer of £1 return bus tickets proved to be, as you might expect, very popular when Simon posted about it on Instagram. Simon added that there will be many fans who he will not be able to take, but he is hoping that those who do come have a brilliant time.
"That weekend it’s half term and it’s coming up to the Queen’s Jubilee. There’s not one ferry from the UK going to the Netherlands, Paris or Spain that’s free, all transport is virtually taken. It’s just a nightmare weekend.
"As soon as I put the post on my Instagram, we had thousands of people [contacting us] within minutes. Unfortunately, we can’t take everyone, but we are going to try and take as many people as possible."
The coach has headed down to Dover after picking up its passengers outside Anfield. From the Kent coast, they will hop onto a ferry to Calais before heading to Paris after an overnight stay. The return journey will be made on Sunday.
"The only ferry I could get was one at night, but even that was a cancellation," Simon explained. "I was on the phone with them constantly, I kept ringing them every 10 minutes just to see if they had anything - I had to swim the Channel just to book the ferry.
"For me, it’s just about helping people get there. The petrol is costing over £1,500, I’ve paid for the coach, the drivers are both on a wage, you have the insurance and so on.
"The cost of doing this is a small fortune, but we’re only charging people £1 for a return. This is about making it affordable for people who want to go and have the experience of a lifetime."
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