World Cup: Back home soon from Russia with love for Shrewsbury's Carl
A Shrewsbury football fan who mingled with England stars after their heroic yet unsuccessful World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia says he’s going to stay in Russia for the third place play-off.
Carl Jex was one of the fans lucky enough to watch England in their best performance in a major tournament for 28 years.
After flying out to Kaliningrad to watch the team face Belgium in the group stages, the 44-year-old flew home after the defeat, only to return for the semi-final.
He’ll now finish his trip the way it started, by watching England face Belgium – but this time in Saturday’s third place play-off.
Reflecting on his time in Russia, he said: “The whole trip has been amazing. Even more than what we thought it would be.
“I’ve pretty much lost my voice with the amount of singing I’ve done, the atmosphere has been brilliant.
“I think everyone was a little nervous about how the whole tournament was going to go.
“I haven’t seen any trouble at all between any of the fans. All the different countries have been mingling together and getting along fine.”
Mr Jex has been following England’s performance throughout the knockout and group stages in Russia with three friends, Pete Hanratty, Dave Taylor and Adrian Evans.
Throughout their World Cup journey, they have been able to meet some of the players after the games, including England’s number one Jordan Pickford, Ashley Young, John Stones, and the Three Lions captain, Harry Kane.
He has been documenting the trip on his Twitter account, with a series of pictures showing the scenes around Russia and his time with the players.
See also:
“Meeting and speaking to the players has been a great experience,” he said.
“One of the guys I’m with is friendly with a couple of them and it’s been amazing being able to meet some of the lads,” he added.
“If I’m honest, before the tournament I didn’t expect them to do so well but we always want them to progress as far as they can.
“It was disappointing seeing them lose against Croatia, but now we’ve got the play-off with Belgium so we might travel down to Saint Petersburg for that.
“I think he’ll play more of the fringe players so it’ll be interesting to see who’s in the line-up.”
Mr Jex has been in Russia for a week, visiting the sites and scenes of the country when not occupied by the World Cup.
“Even away from all the football madness, the people have been really friendly and welcoming,” he said. “We’ve been able to use free transport with our fan IDs so getting around hasn’t been a problem.
“The Red Square in Moscow was beautiful – there’s some lovely buildings and things to see here.
“It’s obviously not the same now England have been knocked out, but we’re proud of what they’ve done and we’re staying here until Monday, so now it’s time to relax and make the most of our time left.”
In the immediate aftermath of the semi-final Mr Jex said: “England didn’t play too badly.
“We could have pushed a bit more in the second half. We sat back too much and that let Croatia in. We are a bit disappointed.
“But I think we’ve done really well to reach the semi-final.
“There was a massive atmosphere in the stadium tonight.
“It’s been good, but I think I want to get home to see my girls Jessie, 10, and Molly, 13, now.”
