Dream tickets fall from sky for Broad Oak football fan

A football fan got his hands of FA Cup Final tickets after they fell from space.
George Lamb, right, and his brother, Joe, left. Photo by Jordan MansfieldGeorge Lamb, right, and his brother, Joe, left. Photo by Jordan Mansfield
George Lamb, right, and his brother, Joe, left. Photo by Jordan Mansfield

George Lamb, a 19-year-old Arsenal supporter from Broad Oak, near Brede, had his birthday wishes come true after his grandmother discovered the tickets while taking her dog for a morning walk.

The Football Association (FA) ran a competition last week, sending the last two tickets for Saturday’s Arsenal v Aston Villa FA Cup Final game into the air attached to a balloon last Wednesday (May 27).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It left Wembley Stadium’s centre circle at 6am, travelling out of the Earth’s atmosphere and burst at a height of 29km. The FA’s Twitter feed then provided fans with live updates as to its location using GPS signals. The tickets touched down in Broad Oak at approximately 9am after a three-hour trip.

George was given a VIP experience on Saturday (Masy 30) as Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal took on Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa. He said: “When I woke up last Wednesday the idea of going to the FA Cup Final hadn’t crossed my mind. Now, thanks to my grandma finding the tickets, I went on the ultimate adventure to Wembley, although I’m sure the tickets’ adventure to space was certainly a close second! This was my first time to Wembley and I had butterflies at the prospect of it.”

The tickets were launched on board a specially tailored large meteorological balloon. They endured extremely harsh conditions on their journey to space and back, such as 100mph winds in the jet stream.

Lucy Roberts-Hartley, marketing manager for The FA Cup, said: “This season’s competition has truly been one to remember - on and off the pitch. The Cup has travelled to the South Pole and on the pitch we’ve seen some of the most memorable matches in FA Cup history. Sending the final pair of tickets into space was a great way to finish the off-pitch adventure.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make our website your homepage at http://www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/

2 Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RyeandBattleObserver

3 Follow us on Twitter and @BattleObs

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Rye and Battle Observer – always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.