Scenes of jubilation outside the King Power stadium turned to pandemonium when Leicester City's team bus made a surprise visit to the ground – and stopped to pick up a Jamie Vardy lookalike.
The coach, carrying some of the club’s first-team squad and owners, pipped its horn as it was chased by throngs of flag-waving fans.
It then stopped and a club official beckoned Lee Chapman, a postman who has found unexpected fame as a doppelganger of Vardy, his favourite player. The coach then departed for San Carlo Pizzeria in Leicester, where the players continued their celebrations after clinching the Premier League title for the first time on Monday night thanks to Chelsea's 20-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to the Guardian minutes before he was whisked away, Chapman said he was “lost for words” at his side’s momentous season.
“I’ve not slept. I went in for work at 6.30am and ran my round so I could be here outside the stadium. I’m still supposed to be at work now,” he said.
Chapman, a lifelong Leicester fan who at 29 and 5ft 10in is the same age and height as Vardy, was talent spotted as a lookalike outside the club’s stadium eight months ago. Since then he has been snapped up by a Channel 4 documentary, appeared on Sky’s Soccer AM and, of course, taken thousands of selfies with fans.
“I’m not even a confident lad. I’m lost for words at the fact Leicester have won. I’m a Leicester born, Leicester raised, Leicester fan,” he said.
The club’s shop had run out of replica shirts by just after midday, as hundreds of fans descended on the stadium to carry on the party.
(Guardian service)
