A Liverpool fan has risked his son’s high school’s fury by taking him out of school to attend the Champions League final in Paris.
Thousands of Liverpool supporters, including former Reds defender Jamie Carragher and his 19-year-old son James, have already left for France to watch Jurgen Klopp’s side take on Real Madrid.
While the journey to France is not as difficult as it was the last time these two teams faced in 2018, when the final was held in Kyiv, Ukraine, many fans want to make a weekend of it, traveling out on Thursday or Friday.
To make the trip to Paris, one father had to keep his son William out of school for the day.
A letter of absence had been issued by text message to Tage Herstad, the landlord of popular fan location Taggy’s pub, with a request to defend why his teenage son had not registered on Thursday morning, according to a post on Twitter by Tage Herstad.
The photo, which has already gone viral with over 10,000 likes, shows William’s father sending a selfie back to the school with what appears to be a group of people waiting for a ship to France.
‘That is correct,’ the response to William’s absence began.
‘He is on his way to Paris with his dad and his dad’s very bad mates, to watch the treble chasing Reds in yet another CL [Champions League] final.
‘He’ll hopefully bring home big ears No 7. #partytime #yolo #roflmao’
One user tagged the popular ‘Didn’t Happen Of The Year Award’ account in response to the viral story, which was received with immediate skepticism.
Tage responded with a photo of himself, William, and his pals standing outside the Gare de Bernay train station in response to charges that the narrative was false.
Some fans supported Tage’s decision to take his son to the final, while others questioned the utility of being taken out of school.
‘In fairness – Respect the response, he can catch up on 2 days of schoolwork easily but you can’t get back the memories of going to and being at a champions league final, or any big game, watching your team with your old man,’ Twitter user Matthew Chadaway wrote.
‘It really doesn’t matter,’ Tage wrote back.
‘This is his third Champions League final, and hopefully not his last.’ This is club football’s holy grail, and I want him to be there with me.’
On the other side of the row, @TaffGoose wrote in response: ‘With a heavy heart I’ve reported your family to the police for truancy.
‘We need to bring #SELFRESPECT back to our schools.’
‘Do whatever you feel you have to do so it makes your life better mate. Crack on and work on bringing #selfrespect in to your own head,’ came the original poster’s response.
The group of six will have to travel another two hours by train to reach Paris before they can join the thousands of others who have already made the journey.
Liverpool FC’s incredible season comes to a close this weekend when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League final at the Stade de France.
With a win, Jurgen Klopp’s team would complete a treble this season (along with the Carabao Cup and FA Cup), despite Manchester City losing them the Premier League championship on the final day of the season by a point.
