Jon Walters: I once had to tell a Wales fan to shut the f**k up

Then Big Jon celebrated in his face!

Whenever Ireland and Wales face off it’s always a heated affair.

And now former striker Jon Walters has lifted the lid on a time when things nearly boiled off away from the pitch with a hilarious tale involving a Welsh fan.

Cast your minds back to a must-win World Cup qualifier in October 2017. Walters had travelled to Cardiff with the rest of the squad but was not involved and had to watch from the stands alongside fellow injured team-mate Seamus Coleman.

Even so, he was thrust into the action after being spotted by a well-oiled supporter intent on having a fight with the Green Army star.

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“It was away in Wales and myself and Seamus Coleman were sitting one row behind the dugout,” he told the Liquid Football podcast, which is produced by JOE in partnership with Paddy Power.

“All game there was this fan behind us and he was hammering everyone on the bench.

As a player, you don’t react to the crowd, you just leave it.

“But he kept shouting and shouting and every time a player turned around he would just say ‘you’re s**t.’”

Clashing with supporters is a hot topic at the moment after Arsenal’s Matteo Guendouzi taunted the Watford faithful on Sunday.

After being subbed with the Gunners leading 2-1, the sulky Frenchman gestured at the crowd to remind them of the scoreline before watching his side surrender their lead in a second-half capitulation.

Walters admitted he did the same after becoming fed-up with the fan in Wales, but his story had a much happier ending.

“He’d obviously had a few drinks and it’s going on and on,” he said. “About 20 minutes later I turned around and said, ‘come on mate, shut the f**k up’.

Me and him got into a little argument, the steward came in and I was laughing to myself.

“Then, we scored, James McLean scored and I jumped up and celebrated in his face. I basically turned into that fan.

“After that, I was thinking ‘please don’t score’ because if Wales score, I’m going to get battered by this guy and all his mates around him.

“But we won 1-0 in the end, so it was alright, and he was quiet for the rest of the game.”

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