Birkirkara FC players may have emerged as heroes from their Europa League clash against West Ham United last week but, off the pitch, their fans were making just as great an impression.

Lifelong West Ham fan Michael Parsley told the Times of Malta he was looking for the elderly Birkirkara fan who drove him and his two brothers to right outside the door of their accommodation in Naxxar when they found themselves stranded after the game.

“What happened to us will never be forgotten,” Mr Parsley said. “This sort of thing would never happen in London; it’s non-existent.”

Mr Parsley, 67, from Lincolnshire in the UK, was in Malta with his twin brother, Raymond, and their younger brother, Colin, following West Ham together for the first time away from home.

Leaving the stadium at about 12.30am, the brothers wandered around looking for a taxi when a policeman offered to call a taxi service from his personal phone to arrange a pick-up for them.

We will never ever forget what they’ve done. It’s imprinted on our minds forever

“I can only imagine how busy he must have been, so we really appreciated how helpful and polite he was with us,” Mr Parsley said.

When the policeman was unable to find an available taxi, the brothers thanked him and kept searching. By then, Mr Parsley noted, they had already started to suffer due to the heat.

“Then, an elderly gentleman in a Birkirkara shirt walked by us and said: ‘You were lucky tonight!’ We agreed that we were,” he recounted. “We asked whether he could help us with a taxi and he said: ‘I can drive you there myself.’ We just stood there with our tongues hanging out.”

The Birkirkara fan drove them to their accommodation in Naxxar, even stopping to ask for directions when he couldn’t find the road.

Mr Parsley said he was overwhelmed by the man’s generosity but in his excitement forgot to ask his name.

“I really hope we can find the gentleman and the policeman to be able to thank them personally,” he said. “We will never ever forget what they’ve done. It’s imprinted on our minds forever.”

Mr Parsley said he was all the more impressed by the hospitality of the Maltese because he wore his ‘rival’ colours wherever he went. “I never wear ‘civvies’,” he said. “I always wear my West Ham gear. Everything about me is West Ham United. I was born to it, just like the Birkirkara supporters here.”

He had nothing but praise for the attitude of the Birkirkara fans during the game itself. “They never stopped singing, right until the last kick of the ball, all the way around the ground. The band was playing all the time. It was incredible.”

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