Evan Johnston is a finance major at ASU. This spring, he spent six weeks in England this spring as part of his coursework. And one morning in early April, he had some free time, so he decided to do some touristy stuff. He signed up for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour.
He shared more about it with The Show host Sam Dingman.
"It was supposed to go through all of the major landmarks in central London, such as Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, etc," Johnston said.
"As I understand it, that is not what happened," I said.
"No, that’s not what happened at all," Johnston said.
Things started to go sideways when Johnston hopped off the bus and got on a boat, which was supposed to take him on a river cruise. When he got onto the boat, something didn’t feel right.
"There was a bar and a lot of drinking happening," Johnston said.
Johnston checked his watch — it was about 10 a.m. He scanned the bar area, and noticed that it was all men, most of them wearing matching shirts. A few of them were singing a tribute to a town in Essex called Southend-on-Sea.
"Eventually I asked someone, like, am I on the right boat? Where is this headed? They broke the news to me that this was, in fact, heading to a soccer match," Johnston said.
Johnston walked over to a security guard and told him he was on the wrong boat. But while Johnston was explaining his situation, he was interrupted by a slightly red-faced man.
"One of the soccer members came in and invited me to drink with them. So I obliged," Johnston said.
The man offered Johnston a beer. He asked if they had any cider.
"'Cuz I can’t drink beer. I’m gluten intolerant," Johnston said.
Don’t worry, said the man. We’ll take care of you. And — they did.
"Immediately, as soon as I joined them, I felt welcome. Like I was part of their group already. They started singing some chants, like 'Evan is a shrimper,'" Johnston said.
“Shrimpers,” they explained, is the unofficial nickname of Southend United — a football club based in Southend-on-Sea, the town they’d been singing about. The nickname is a tribute to the town’s maritime legacy - there’s a little picture of a shrimp on the team’s logo. The Shrimpers were in the midst of a playoff run, and their fans were headed to an afternoon match. They demanded that Evan join them.
"I could tell that it would make them really happy if I went. So I did," Johnston said.
A few ciders later, Johnston and his fellow Shrimpers arrived at the match — where, much to Johnston’s surprise, an even bigger group of fans greeted him by name.
"By this time, I had already been getting some fame on social media. And so, some of the other fans that weren’t on the boat that were keeping up with the South End News, they already knew who I was by this time," Johnston said.
"They were thrilled to have a new Shrimper in their midst," I said.
"Yes. They started chanting 'USA!'" Johnston said.
"In your honor?" I said.
"Yeah," Johnston said.
"That’s amazing," I said.
The chants continued throughout the match.
"The one that sticks out the most to me is 'Evan is a shrimper, Evan is a shrimper … la la la la, la la la la,'" Johnston said.
As for the team itself, they played pretty well, battling Sutton United to a 1-1 draw, keeping their playoff hopes alive.
"Oh my gosh — the energy was just infectious. The passion from all of the fans, and the atmosphere, was just incredible," Johnston said.
After the game, a group of Shrimpers made sure Johnston got back to his dorm safely. And since then, they’ve invited him to more matches. When Johnston and I spoke, he was still trying to decide if he’d go.
"To be determined — I have some weekend plans to go to France, actually," Johnston said.
But make no mistake: Johnston has no regrets about missing his tour of Buckingham Palace that day.
"I wouldn’t have traded it for anything else," Johnston said.
As for Southend United, they’ll face off against the Forest Green Rovers in the National League semi-finals later Wednesday.
