Sergio Aguero’s sensational late 2012 Premier League title winner for Manchester City was so memorable for one super fan that he risked passing out while having a tattoo of the commentary from that unforgettable finale.
Father-of-four Neil Thurlwell even designed the tattoo himself, and he is thrilled with his personal reminder of the glorious moment.
This is my new tattoo @MCFC #citytoday (posted earlier on my sons account) pic.twitter.com/07uwAiW6ke
— Manchester City Bear (@mancitybear) September 10, 2015
“My family have always said that I don’t have the bottle to get a tattoo as I’m not fond of needles, so it has been put off and put off,” Neil, a web developer, told MM.
“I wanted it to be simple but said enough. So I ended up designing this one myself.
“Every time I see the moment on YouTube or watched the videos, I could cry when I see it. It is such an emotional thing, you cannot grasp all the emotion.
“I will never ever forget it, especially now it’s on my arm!”
The City season ticket holder, 37, has in fact gone on to receive national and even worldwide coverage for his incredible tattoo.
“All I did was put a picture on Twitter and Instagram and that was it.
“Next thing I know I’ve got people retweeting it, it was on Sky Sports News HQ, Eurosport, Yahoo sport, and retweeted by Manchester City pages in Brazil, Argentina and Portugal. It had gone round the globe in 24 hours!”
His passionate support has also not gone unnoticed by the club themselves.
“I got an email off City TV saying they wanted to do a piece on it next week, they have invited me down to do an interview and some bits for the website, so that should be fun,” he added.
“It will be interesting to see a different side of the club.”
With its worldwide coverage, even featuring in an Argentinian newspaper, it may only be fitting for the man himself to personally sign the tattoo.
“I would love Aguero to sign my tattoo, that would really make my day,” said Neil.
The fantastic result didn’t come without any downside however, and he commented on the pain suffered from this his first tattoo.
“Because it was my first ever tattoo I wasn’t sure what to expect, he got half way through the word stupendous and I thought I could actually pass out.
“I just got a sheer rush of blood to my head, I really don’t like needles.
“We had a 10/15 minute break and I thought I’m here for three hours so you might as well just carry on. But after that I was fine and he flew through it.”
While Neil has received incredible coverage for this artwork, not all of it has been positive, but he remains rightfully proud of his body art.
“I’ve been called all sorts of names under the sun and even in foreign languages. It is easy for them to slag someone off when they don’t know who you are. As soon as they can put a face to it they back off a little bit,” he said.
“When Berahino’s been getting death threats for his tweet, you expect at the back of your mind you might get abused but I did not expect it to be shaded so widely.
“It’s water off a duck’s back to me, I laugh at it and think it’s funny. It’s for the love of football as well as for the love City.”
The City fanatic has overall been ecstatic about the results of his tattoo, and has not ruled out further artwork in dedication to his club.
“The problem is you look around at other football tattoos and most look rubbish.
“I could potentially get another one, I’m over the moon I’ve got this one. Time will tell.”
Main image courtesy of Neil Thurlwell via Twitter, with thanks.
