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Football

09th Jul 2021

Absolute top bloke invites delivery rider in to watch the England game

Danny Jones

He didn’t want the delivery man to miss one of the biggest moments in this country’s recent history

Plenty of people didn’t manage to get a ticket to the game or a spot in the pub to see England beat Denmark in the semi-finals on Wednesday, but wherever you were, it didn’t matter – it was a special night that we’ll never forget.

For England fan and radio host, Rich Wolfenden, that was exactly the case: there was no room at the inn so he decided to watch the game at home and order a takeaway. A good plan made even greater when he made the simple yet utterly lovely gesture of inviting his delivery rider in to watch the game.

Wolfenden, 29, who hosts the ‘Indie Night’ on Radio Xat, said in a series of tweets that the delivery man “arrived literally a minute after the Kjaer OG [own goal], so I was still riding that high when he arrived and I thought, you know what, invite him in so he can at least see the end of the first half”. Class, Rich.

Though he didn’t learn the man’s name, he was welcomed into the front room with the customary first question: “who you support?”. How very British. The driver was apparently a Man United fan – luckily it wasn’t Liverpool, Wolfenden being a big Toffee, but we’re sure he wouldn’t have held it against him.

He said that the rider “came in he had a mask on and sat a couple of metres away from us so it felt safe” but that, more importantly, everyone “was mostly focused on what was happening on-screen”.

Continuing to make him feel welcome and ask him questions, the Just Eat rider “talked about moving to the country a short while ago” and how although “he was more interested in cricket […] he had been supporting England all tournament”. Good lad.

Whilst he, his housemate and cousin were tucking into their Chinese, the four of them all continued to chat and watch the game.

Wolfenden mentioned how he’d previously worked as a delivery driver from Deliveroo, saying “I know it can be tiring – he was probably grateful for a moment on a sofa instead of a bike saddle”.

Moreover, Wolfenden added, “I just thought he’s missing what’s probably going to be the most talked-about event of the year in this country [or in 55 years for that matter] probably even more so than ‘Freedom Day‘, so it’d be sh*t for him to miss out”.

The mystery delivery rider might have only been able to stay for 10 minutes or so – he had to go and do another job – but at least he got to see the celebration for the Sterling goal and enjoy a random chat.