Wolves fans’ flag stolen at England v Tunisia World Cup match
A St George’s flag belonging to a father and son from the Black Country was stolen during England’s opening World Cup game against Tunisia.
James and Tim Corfield made an appeal over social media after the flag, which features a Wolves emblem and the words ‘Corfs on Tour’, was taken as they watched the 2-1 victory.
It was hung from an upper tier in the Volgograd Arena before the game, above where the Corfields and 3,000 England supporters were sat.
Yet, despite the theft, the pair are refusing to let it spoil their trip, claiming they are enjoying the ‘full hospitality’ of the Russian people.
They received the help of a group of young Russians when lost in downtown Volgograd following the game, almost three miles from their hotel.
The Wolves fans have tickets for all of England’s group games as well as the knock-out stages up to the final if the team progresses.
James, aged 27 and from Wollaston, said: “It was a great end to the game, but when I turned around and looked up, I realised the flag was gone.
“I called up and an English supporter said he could not see it – someone had obviously taken it, along with several other fans’ flags, we later found out.
“We think it was someone who picked it up for a memento, probably to put up on their bedroom wall.
“The Russians are fascinated by the St George’s flag, when we were in the fans' arena we had so many people wanting pictures of themselves with it.
“It is frustrating, but then the flag is only two years old and is not sentimental. I’m not holding out hope I’ll see it again.”
He added: “We were annoyed, but then the help we received from two or three 20-something Russians who could not speak English but went out of their way to ensure we got to our hotel balanced it all up.
"Everyone has been so helpful and friendly since we’ve arrived here.”
James works for his 63-year-old father Tim at Griffin & King Insolvency Practitioners based in Walsall.
The pair arrived in Volgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad, on Monday ahead of the evening game.
James said: “It was a frustrating game, we should have been three nil up early on.
“But the end was brilliant and it has had us all believing.”
Yesterday the pair visited the Motherland Calls statue three miles out of the city, a tribute to the Russian soldiers who died at the Battle of Stalingrad.
Today they travel to St Petersburg before taking an overnight train to Nizhny Novgorod for England’s next game against Panama on Sunday.
They will then get a train to Moscow before flying out to Kaliningrad for England’s last group game against Belgium next Thursday.
So far the pair have spent up to £2,000 each.
