A Rangers fan who bagged three tickets to the UEFA cup final in Seville faces a desperate race against time after discovering his passport has expired.
Robert Chapman, who had been planning to take his four-year-old son Angelo and teenage brother Callum, says he now feels like ‘the worst dad in the world’ after having to break the devastating news.
The 33-year-old couldn’t believe his luck when he received an email on Friday telling him he was successful in the ticket ballot for Wednesday’s clash against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The two brothers were both in Manchester when their beloved club last made the European final in 1998 and hoped to recreate the magic moment on May 18.
But after delivering the fantastic news to his younger sibling Callum, 15, the Glasgow dad’s heart sank when he checked the expiry date on his passport - which hasn't been used recently due to the pandemic.
Robert is now battling to get a last minute priority appointment with the Passport Office anywhere in the UK in a bid to travel to Spain.
He said: “At the beginning of the week, I thought I had no chance and I wasn’t going to go to Seville.
“I was in Manchester all those years ago for the last European final but, with my young son, I didn’t fancy going over without match tickets.
“But then I got the email on the Friday afternoon saying there was a window to buy. I didn’t think much of it because these websites crash quite easily.
“Then all of a sudden, I managed to buy three tickets. I thought ‘Oh my God, I’ve got tickets to the final’. I called my young brother - he was on the roof going mental.
“It’s exam season for him just now so he’s a bit stressed out because he’s trying to go to university so he was absolutely buzzing.
“But then I checked my passport and it went out of date on the 26th of March. You just couldn’t make it up. I went from the biggest high to the biggest low.
“I’m starting a new job at the end of the month so this is the first time in about 12 years where I’ve got three weeks off. I’ve got all the time in the world.
“I’ve got balloted tickets for what might be the biggest game in my lifetime and all of a sudden, I’ve got an out of date passport. I just feel like the stupidest person in the world.
“The passport was only ever brought out if I was going somewhere but we’ve had two years of working and being unable to go anywhere else, so it’s not been needed.”
He added: “To me, Rangers and football is family. My young brother is 15 and I’ve been taking him to Ibrox since he was two-years-old.
“I carried his pram into the stadium and I’ve taken him everywhere. My son is also Rangers-daft to the point where there was a video of him celebrating a goal that went viral.
“He turns five on Thursday - the day after the match. I just can’t think of a better birthday present for him.
“I just feel like the worst dad in the world because my passport’s out of date.”
Robert spent over an hour standing outside the passport office in Glasgow on Saturday in a bid to try and get a last minute appointment.
And while he accepts that it may be a miracle to get him to Seville, he hopes to find a way of getting his young brother over to watching his team play.
Robert added: “It’s not even about me at this point. It’s about my brother and my son. Both their passport are in date.
“Rangers have had a bit of a mad ten years where they’ve been way down and come all the way back up. So my younger brother has grown up watching that.
“He was two-years-old when Rangers were in the final in Manchester in 2008 and he went down with my mum. This time he could be going with an actual ticket.
“Even if my son and I can’t go, if I could find a way to get my brother over, that would mean the world. Maybe the team will take him on their plane.
“I’ve been on the website since Friday trying to get a premium one day appointment but nothing’s appearing.
“I’m doing auto refresh on my computer and my phone. I’ve used the webchat, the emails.
“My son and I have got a bag packed in case we have to get in a car tomorrow, drive to somewhere in the UK for a passport appointment, and then book into a hotel before finding our way to Seville from there.”
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