A bus driver who wore a Liverpool shirt has been sacked after sparking ‘scary’ scenes when his vehicle was mobbed by Chelsea fans following their win over the Reds.
Isaac, who chose not to reveal his last name, was driving a rail replacement bus on Saturday evening when jubilant Chelsea fans spotted what he was wearing behind the wheel.
He was soon surrounded, with fans banging on the windows and taunting the 21-year-old from outside in the wake of their dramatic 2-1 Premier League win.
A video shared on Facebook and widely circulated on other social media platforms showed the chaotic scenes outside Stamford Bridge, with the bus coming to a stop and causing what his employers described as ‘significant disruption and delays’, leading to his dismissal.
Isaac went on TalkTV wearing the same white and green Liverpool away shirt as he donned on the bus, saying : ‘They sent the formal email. I woke up that morning to do my duty — I didn’t know what route it was.
‘The first clean T-shirt I had was a Liverpool one. I (later) realised I was going to go past Chelsea and then I saw the Chelsea fans outside the stadium.
He added: ‘If you see the video, it looks humorous, but it was scary. They were sliding the window open and I had to hold it shut.
‘They literally surrounded me in the bus. Eventually, the police got them away from the bus and I got back to the depot.’
Isaac, a lifelong Liverpool supporter from south London was sacked on Monday by A1 Transport Recruitment, who provide TfL with agency staff.
‘Due to GDPR, we are unable to comment on this matter,’ they said in a statement. ‘This is being dealt with through internal processes.’
Isaac took a swipe at London mayor Sadiq Khan and TFL following his sacking, saying: ‘I don’t see any care in TfL anymore. I don’t think it’s being operated correctly.
‘Maybe in the near future, under a different mayor, probably, then we could see better light in TfL. But at the moment, there’s no common sense in the operation whatsoever.’
‘Nobody had a problem with it (his employers about the shirt), nobody told me to cover it up it was literally just “carry on doing your thing”, they weren’t too fussed about what I was wearing.
‘There’s no common sense at TfL these days. On Monday morning my agency sent an email over. They said regarding the events on the fourth of October, we’ll be dismissing you due to a uniform policy.
‘The video circulated all over social media, I’ve woken up seeing it, my friends, family, I didn’t think it would go so big but it’s quite a surreal experience.’
Isaac appeared relaxed when discussing the incident and went on: ‘It hasn’t traumatised me at all to be honest, I saw the funny side of it when I was watching the videos but when I was sitting in that cabin it wasn’t so funny.’
When asked about the nature of the chanting in his direction, Isaac said: ‘They were just chanting “Chelsea”, that’s their only chant, they have no other chants, that’s all they sing.’
He went on to say: ‘To be honest with you I’m tired of being a TfL bus operator. I’ve worked for numerous TfL bus operators now but I don’t really like it any more and am looking to transfer over to coach work.’
