Drunk Spurs fans left Champions League semi-final halfway through, missing Moura's hat-trick

‘All three of us were pretty drunk and just didn’t think we were going to score,’ lifelong fans say

Michael (left), Will (centre) and James Perkins outside the stadium. The trio missed Spurs' comeback after accidentally leaving the ground at halftime (SWNS)

A family of “confused” Spurs fans missed one of the biggest comebacks in the football club’s history because they were so drunk they left the stadium at half time, mistakenly thinking the game was over.

After a poor first half, a drunken James Perkins and his father and brother, Michael and Will, thought they had the clever idea of leaving quickly to “beat the rush”.

But in a dramatic turn, Tottenham went on to win the match 3-2 after Lucas Moura scored a hat-trick with less than sixty seconds left to play.

“All three of us were pretty drunk and just didn’t think we were going to score,” Mr Perkins, 23, a social media producer, said. “No one was talking and everyone thought the game was over at that point. We thought we were leaving at the perfect time.”

Boozed up and miserable, the three heartbroken fans began to make their way back to their hotel in central Amsterdam.

Mr Perkins said: “We just thought there was no way we were going to score three goals in less than five minutes.”

But as they stood on the metro train station platform, he received a phone call from a friend just as the second half was getting underway. It was then that the penny dropped and he realised he had walked out of the stadium at half time rather than full time.

“I was so confused,” he said. “But then I realised no one was stood around us waiting for a train.”

The family rushed back to their hotel and managed to catch the last half an hour of the match in the hotel bar.

“It was an unbelievable feeling when we had won. I took my shirt off and started running around,” Mr Perkins said. “Obviously, it would have been better to be there but it was still an incredible experience for sure. We celebrated as if we were still at the ground,” he added.

Mr Perkins paid 64 euros for his ticket and has travelled around Europe all season watching Spurs in the Champions League.

The three men arrived in Amsterdam for the Champions League semi-final second leg at 1pm on Wednesday and spent the seven hours before kick off drinking.

Mr Perkins is hoping to attend the Champions League Final in Madrid with his father and brother on 1 June. Spurs will take on Liverpool at the Estadio Metropolitano, where one team will be crowned the champions of Europe.

“That’s the last time I ever leave a football match early,” he said.

Additional reporting by SWNS