A Brighton supporter has thanked locals that went 'above and beyond' to help his family return to their hotel after they found themselves on the wrong bus after Saturday's match at Anfield.
Trevor Lake and his family have been following the Seagulls home and away for 10 years and made the trip to Merseyside for their first away day at Anfield on Friday. It was a memorable afternoon as a Leandro Trossard hat-trick secured a 3-3 draw in what was new manager Roberto De Zerbi's first game in charge.
At full-time, Trevor and his family left the ground to make their way back to their hotel in Knowsley, before the long journey back to the south coast. However, matters were made complicated as road closures around the ground and an intermittent schedule led to them getting on the wrong bus and heading further away from their hotel.
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"We noticed the road was closed by the bus stop and a chap walking his dogs told us that we would have to wait a couple of hours for the bus there as they close the roads around Anfield after the games," Trevor told the ECHO.
"We spoke to a taxi driver and asked him if we could jump in the taxi to the hotel. He said he was waiting for a fare and said to call the taxi company and they would send another. While we were chatting we mentioned the bus and he said if we carried on down to the main road we could get a bus from there back to Knowsley.
"So we jumped on the next bus but soon realised it was heading further away from where we needed to go. I had my WAZE on mapping the route and instead of it getting us closer to Knowsley it seemed to be taking us further away! People could see myself and my family were getting a bit confused trying to work out which way we needed to go and my son, who is 13, started to get a bit anxious."
Those on the bus, including Liverpool supporters and another family, attempted to help Trevor figure out where they needed to go and he was informed they would need to walk three miles from where the bus terminates back to their hotel.
"An elderly lady and her husband straight away said once we got to the final stop they would grab their car and drive us all back to the hotel," Trevor continued. "We explained we would be happy to wait for another bus as we didn’t want to put them to any trouble as everybody on the bus had been so helpful. But her and her husband were insisting they wanted to help us!
"The husband then drove us straight back to the hotel, stopping at Liverpool's new training ground and giving us a little tour on the way! He explained that he and his wife had moved to Liverpool from South Africa 40 years ago and had made their lives there! They had children of their own and their grand daughter had just had a new baby which made them proud great-grandparents! They were honestly all the kindest people you could meet and he was very proud of Liverpool and for raising his family there!
"We offered to give him money for fuel but he wouldn’t accept it and said a thank-you was more than enough. His wife, whose name is Pauline, phoned him while we were in the car and we thanked them again and they both said it’s the right thing to do to help people when they are stuck.
"All I will say is they helped us massively and they did it because they are clearly very genuine people with a good heart. Like I said, every person we spoke to on that bus and in the city were truly wonderful and helpful.
"I just wish we had got the address of the couple that drove us as we would have loved to send them a gift as a thank you! They didn’t have to do what they did but they wanted to make sure we got back to our hotel and safely home. Liverpool should be proud they have such a fantastic community spirit."
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