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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Abigail Nicholson & Bradley Jolly

Liverpool fans cross to France on DINGHY for Champions League final after easyJet chaos

A group of Liverpool FC supporters used a dinghy to cross the English Channel ahead of the Champions League Final in Paris.

Paddy OToole's 12 mates hired a boat to travel to Saint Malo, France, after their easyJet flight to Paris was cancelled amid the airline's software failure.

They left Huyton, Merseyside, and managed to get a flight to Jersey, where Paddy lives, before scrambling a boat across the water.

That's despite none of the fans holding a ticket for the huge tie.

Speaking to Liverpool Echo, Paddy said: "My lad Patrick’s mates Adam and Tom Dring who are from Huyton, had their EasyJet flight cancelled, so their Dad rushed them down to Heathrow to try a get a flight but there was nothing. They got a flight to Jersey last minute and they met up with us and asked could we get them to France.

Some Liverpool FC fans took a dinghy across the English Channel to get to France (morefootie/Twitter)
The group sets off across The Channel (morefootie/Twitter)

"I felt sorry for the young lads so had to do something."

The dad called his friend, Gary Brennans Rib, who owns Le Mourier, a expert swimming tuition company with a fleet of motor vessels.

The pals hired Redbay Stormforce 950 to reach Saint Malo, some 40 miles across the English Channel.

Video shows the dinghy skim over waves while the friends listen to music, including We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel, from a speaker.

The friends posed for a photograph after the journey (morefootie/Twitter)

Paddy said: "We saw a few dolphins on the way and got the train to Rennes and then to Paris. A few more of are mates from Liverpool who live in Jersey heard we were going and joined on.

"We haven't got a ticket between us."

Between 50,000 and 60,000 Liverpool supporters are expected to arrive in the French capital by coach, train, car, plane and boat ahead of Liverpool's Champions League Final match against Real Madrid.

Thousands arrived in Paris on Friday and started to take over the city's bistros, pubs and even the Eiffel Tower.

Liverpool have reached the final having put together a near-perfect run, winning their six group games before beating Inter Milan, Benfica and then Villarreal in the knockout stages. Madrid’s route has been significantly less serene, with more than their fair share of memorable comebacks.

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