Lorraine Williamson
A Barcelona supporter hoping to watch his team in Newcastle ended up in the wrong part of England after a stadium-name mix-up sent him to Exeter instead. Reuters reported that the fan travelled from London expecting to attend Barcelona’s Champions League tie at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park, but arrived at Exeter City’s St James Park instead — roughly 366 miles from the actual match.
It is the kind of travel error that sounds too unlikely to be true until it happens. Same stadium name, wrong city, wrong end of the country. Instead of heading north-east to Newcastle, the supporter found himself at the turnstiles of Exeter’s third-tier ground in the south-west.
Same name, very different destination
The confusion appears to have come down to one detail: both stadiums share almost the same name. Newcastle play at St James’ Park, while Exeter City’s home is St James Park. Reuters said the Barcelona fan had most likely entered the name into his phone and simply followed the directions from London.
That meant a Champions League night turned into something very different. Rather than seeing Barcelona take on Newcastle in a last-16 European tie, he arrived in Exeter, where staff quickly realised he had come to the entirely wrong ground.
Exeter staff stepped in after spotting the mistake
According to Reuters, the mix-up only became obvious when the supporter showed his ticket at the turnstiles. Exeter City’s supporter experience officer said the fan’s English was limited, and staff believed he had simply followed the route given to him on his phone.
Instead of turning him away, the club took pity on him. Reuters reported that Exeter gave him a ticket to their own League One match against Lincoln City, allowing him at least to salvage part of the evening at what staff jokingly described as “the real St James Park”.
A football story with a human twist
Part of what makes the story so shareable is how easy it is to imagine. Modern travel depends so heavily on phone searches, satnav and digital tickets that one small assumption can send an entire trip off course. In this case, the damage was more embarrassing than serious, but it still meant missing the match he had crossed the country to see. This is an inference based on the reported sequence of events.
For Spanish readers, it also has an obvious hook. Barcelona’s away support stretches well beyond Spain, and football travel is full of tightly timed journeys, unfamiliar stations and last-minute logistics. One wrong stadium entry was enough to derail the whole plan.
Barcelona at least rescued something on the pitch
While the fan watched Exeter lose 1-0 to Lincoln City, Barcelona salvaged a 1-1 draw in Newcastle thanks to a late penalty from Lamine Yamal. That may have softened the result for Barça, but it would have done little for a supporter who never got anywhere near Tyneside.