An Everton FC fan who gave new superstar midfielder James Rodriguez a bottle of rosé wine has been inked with a tattoo to remember the special occasion.
Ben Hughes made national headlines at the weekend after a video uploaded to social media showed him passing a bottle of rosé to Rodriguez following Everton’s 5-2 home win against West Brom.
The video showed the 28-year-old, from North Wales, handing over the bottle through his car window before blowing him a cheeky kiss as fellow supporters clapped and roared their approval.
Rodriguez can be seen grinning and gratefully accepting the gift before placing it on the back seat of his car.
Season ticket holder Ben and his friends had travelled up from his home village of Deiniolen to watch the match in the pubs around Goodison Park to take in some match day atmosphere.
After the win, the lads had visited an off-licence in preparation for their trip back home when they spotted Rodriguez’s car on the street outside close to the Royal Oak pub in Walton.
Ben said: “I was in the offy and I bought myself some beers and a bottle of wine for the missus.
“As we came out my mate had spotted him and was taking a selfie.
“I thought I wasn’t going to part with my beers so I gave him my missus' Echo Falls.
He added: “She wasn’t happy but when I explained to her she was all right about it.”
The video taken by Ben’s friend went viral with thousands of shares and likes on Twitter.
Earlier today, the ECHO reported on wine company Echo Falls’ hilarious response to the publicity the video has generated.
The company took to Twitter to share a mocked-up picture of a bottle of wine branded for the club called "Everton Toffee".
Asked why he thought Rodriguez’s signing for Everton was special, Ben said: “The way he played on Saturday he just changes our team completely.
“He makes everybody happy,” adding: “He can run a match even just walking with the ball. We’re going to have a good season with him - top four hopefully and the FA cup.”
As a lifelong fan and season ticket holder in the lower Gwladys since 2015, Ben said having Carlo Ancelotti as manager and signing Rodriguez could be the club’s greatest chance of success in years.
So much faith does Ben have in Everton’s new superstar signing, he spent three hours yesterday getting a new tattoo to mark the encounter with his hero.
The tattoo was designed by Andy Kelly @bluedoodler1878 with Cara Williams tattooing the final image on Ben's leg.
Ben explained his new leg tattoo which shows Rodriguez dressed as James Bond clutching a bottle of rose wine with the word ‘Echofall’ as a pun on the Bond film ‘Skyfall’, tattooed above the EFC playmaker’s head.
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The Everton fan admits that this weekend has been one of the most hectic in his life, but says he wouldn’t have changed a thing about his one in a lifetime experience.
Rodriguez was signed by the club earlier this month and has hit the ground running with two brilliant performances in the Blues' opening matches of the campaign.
