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.
Football fan Amando Boakye, 23, was mistaken for a Premier League star — and went along with it as he posed for pictures and signed autographs.Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media
Amando, above, think fans mistook him for Villa midfielder Jacob RamseyCredit: Kennedy Newsand Media
Amando with Tyrone MingsCredit: Kennedy Newsand Media
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.
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“I was relaxed and did it for them like a professional. It felt like I was a player and I was living my dream of playing for Aston Villa.”
In a video, 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.
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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.
Amando being mobbed by fans after his autograph – which he was happy to giveCredit: Kennedy Newsand Media
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. More