The father of an 11-year-old Newcastle fan has defended the woman who was filmed trying to grab Dan Burn’s shirt out of his son’s hands.
After the Magpies defeated Leicester 3-0 on Boxing Day at the King Power Stadium, the defender, 30, threw his shirt into the crowd for Nathan Junior Surrey.
In footage shared on social media, a woman appears to pull the shirt away from the young Newcastle supporter, known as NJ, before another fan intervenes.
Loyal supporter NJ, who has owned a season ticket for two years, was at his second away game with his father after receiving tickets for Christmas from his uncle.
In footage shared on social media, a woman appears to pull the shirt away from the young Newcastle supporter, known as NJ, before another fan intervenes
Loyal supporter NJ (pictured with Burns’ shirt), who has owned a season ticket for two years, was at the match with his father after receiving tickets for Christmas
NJ’s father, Nathan, a 39-year-old landscape gardener, pictured with mother, Stacey Surrey, a 33-year-old carer
NJ’s father, Nathan, said: ‘NJ was standing on the rail shouting “give us your shirt”. Then Dan Burn pointed at him and gave the top to the steward who threw it into the crowd.
‘An older woman grabbed it and started tugging on it, then the man in the middle, who she was with, also snatched it but he said he was getting it for NJ.’
‘I don’t want anyone to be slated, everyone gets carried away and anyone would try to grab the shirt,’ the landscape gardener and father-of-three, 39, told The Sun.
‘If the steward hadn’t broken it up and got the shirt it may have ripped or he wouldn’t have got it.’
The Twitter video, captioned ‘Newcastle fan trying to steal a shirt from a kid… lovely Christmas spirit’, displays an older lady clutching on tightly to the jersey as NJ and his father look to keep hold of it.
One supporter in the middle then tries to lever it out of the woman’s grip, pointing at NJ to indicate he is freeing it from her grasp for the child.
Most will be pleased to know NJ eventually got the prize after the shocking tug-of-war, with stewards forced to step in to mediate the dispute.
The ‘huge Newcastle fan’, who already has a pair of gloves worn by goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka, plans to frame his hero’s shirt.
After the Magpies defeated Leicester 3-0 on Boxing Day at the King Power Stadium, defender Dan Burn (above), 30, threw his shirt into the crowd for Nathan Junior Surrey
A message shared on Twitter from his mother said: ‘The bloke in the red was getting the shirt for my son but the lady was trying to snatch the shirt from my son’s arms, but the stewards got involved and got the shirt’
And fans quickly took to social media to condemn the ‘shameful’ and ‘disgraceful’ incident
Newcastle beat Leicester City on Monday, with Chris Wood, Miguel Almiron and Joelinton on the scoresheet.
Burn had thrown his shirt into the stands as a gesture of appreciation for the visiting fans’ support, with the lucky youngster pulling in his prize.
A message shared on Twitter from his mother, Stacey Surrey, a 33-year-old carer, said: ‘The bloke in the red was getting the shirt for my son but the lady was trying to snatch the shirt from my son’s arms, but the stewards got involved and got the shirt.’
And fans quickly took to Twitter to condemn the ‘shameful’ and ‘disgraceful’ actions of the lady.
One said: ‘Absolute tramp,’ with another simply adding ‘unbelievable’.
A third continued: ‘Not so much a fan but a bully.’
Another declared: ‘He should be ashamed,’ with a fifth concluding: ‘Disgrace should be ashamed of yourself.’
