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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Lottie Gibbons

Liverpool fan buys £40 car to travel to Champions League final in Madrid as he refuses to pay hefty flight price

A Liverpool fan who refused to pay an extortionate fare for a flight to Madrid has bought a £40 car to travel to the Champions League final.

Liverpool and Tottenham will square off at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium on Saturday June 1 as they fight for the European title.

And one Reds supporter who was never going to miss out on the action is Simon Wilson.

The full-time YouTuber is best known for sneaking into high-profile events including Floyd Mayweather Jr v Conor McGregor boxing match and BBC's Sports Personality of the Year .  

The Skoda was bought off Facebook (Simon Wilson)

And his latest challenge will see him combine his two passions as he races to Madrid.

Speaking to the ECHO , Simon said: "I'll be uploading a couple of videos, but the reason I'm doing this is not just for YouTube.

"I was lucky enough to get a ticket in the ballet through my season ticket, but because the ballot wasn't announced until recently I didn't want to book transport.

"When I looked online, the transport was so expensive it was ridiculous, the flights were around £800."

But with the prospect of seeing his childhood team win a major trophy, Simon wasn't going to let expensive airfares deter him.

He said: "I rang up my brother, Ben Wilson, and asked him how much was the cheapest car we could get."

Simon Wilson is driving from Anfield to Madrid in a £40 car (Simon Wilson)

After a bit of research, Ben managed to find a Skoda Favorit GLXI for sale on Facebook for just £40.

Simon said: "When he told me I was like 'just buy it now, we will worry about it afterwards'."

It was only later that Simon found out the car they bought was one of only six still licensed to drive in the UK.

With transport sorted, Simon also decided to extend an invitation to one of his subscribers, who is a Tottenham supporter.

Simon said: "I just thought, I've got a spare seat in the car and one of my subscribers, who have travelled with before, is a massive Tottenham fan.

One subscriber spots Simon's car on the motorway (Simon Wilson)

"But he works full time and is not fortunate to go to the matches, but now he'll get to soak up the atmosphere."

The trio started their journey to Madrid outside Anfield on Wednesday, travelling down the motorway to get to the ferry port in Dover.

And despite the Sat Nav saying the journey would take five hours, due to heavy traffic and the car being slow, it took over six - meaning Simon, Ben and the subscriber missed their ferry to Calais.

Luckily, they were able to get on the next ferry a short time later to continue their journey through France.

But already the car has sustained a few bangs, they've also lost the pipe that cools the engine.

However, Simon said that they will find a way to Madrid no matter what, adding: "Worst case scenario we will jump on the train make it happen - there's no way I won't be there."

You can watch Simon's journey on his YouTube channel here .

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