The man who stuck a flare up his backside ahead of England’s Euro 2020 final against Italy has refused to apologise for bribing a steward to get into the game at Wembley without a ticket.
According to The Sun, Charlie Perry insists he has absolutely no regrets about his day which saw him down 20 cans of Strongbow and ‘bang a load of powder’.
The 25-year-old began boozing at 8.30am – nearly 12 hours before the match – and was filmed putting a lit flare in his bum. He was also seen snorting a cocaine-like substance.
He then claims he was allowed to stroll into Wembley without a ticket for the showpiece final.
The Chelsea fan from Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey said: “I’d been on the p*** since half eight in the morning and had had at least 20 cans of Strongbow.
“It was the biggest day of my life. There were no rules that day. All I know is that I loved it all. I was off my face, and I loved every minute.”
Perry, who works as a roofer, claims that he’s an experienced ‘gibber’ – someone who manages to sneak into stadiums with no ticket – and says he did the same for England’s semi-final against Denmark.
He said: ” I didn’t have a ticket. I’d gone in as a gibber before, so I knew how to get into the stadium already.”
Perry was initially stopped but removed his jumper and distinctive £545 Louis Vuitton bucket hat and tried again, this time offering a different steward a ‘little backhander’ at the Covid test and ticketing check area.
He then bribed another fan to let him in behind them at the turnstile to get into the ground itself.
He said: “To get in you have to go round the back of someone who already has a ticket.
“I gave them £100 and went behind them. In total it cost me about £250.”
After getting into the stadium at around 6pm, he took selfies in front of the pitch and continued on his mammoth bender.
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| Image: Elliott Franks |
Despite criticism – and widespread publicity of the flare photograph – he said he was just trying to cheer everyone up.
Perry said: “After 18 months of misery, I thought it would bring the England fans together.
“It was the biggest day in English football for 55 years.
“There were thousands of fans in Leicester Square, the atmosphere was amazing.
“Everyone was fooling around, there was a bit of a competition to do stuff, so I just thought I’d put the flare up my bum.
“The flare burnt for about 10 seconds or so around the cheeks. I didn’t feel a thing because I was highly intoxicated. No one dared me to do it.
“It was a very irresponsible thing to do.”
Police can’t stop the England 🏴 fans without tickets storming the ticket entrances at Wembley – not enough riot police to deal with the weight amount of the crowd – kicking off !!! pic.twitter.com/ZM7KpbMmQJ
— Paul Brown 🇬🇧 Browns fan🏈 London News 🎥Vlogger (@PaulBrown_UK) July 11, 2021
When asked to apologise, he said: “Nah, no way. I’m not saying sorry.”
The FA has been heavily criticised over the Wembley fiasco, which saw large groups of fans breach security to take their place in the ground, leading to violent scenes.
The FA has since been charged on several counts by UEFA, which is opening an investigation into the chaos, potentially harming any future bid for England to host a World Cup.