A married Manchester United supporter drove 400 miles to meet a woman - only to discover it was all a hoax set up by two Liverpool fans he had met on holiday.
The 39-year-old met "Emma" on Facebook and ended up driving nine hours from his home in Sheffield to a remote farm in Scotland to continue his love affair in person, following weeks of online flirting.
But when the Man United fan arrived at the house, "Emma" was nowhere to be found. The pranksters eventually called him three hours later and confessed it had all been a trick.
"It was a cruel thing to do. I've been taken for a ride," said the United supporter, a Mr Slann, after the two Liverpool fans released the taped phone conversation online.
The trio had originally met during a holiday in Cancun, Mexico, and spent the vacation arguing about football as only Man United and Liverpool fans can.
Slann was reportedly thrown into a swimming pool at one point but worse was still to come. The Liverpool fans planned to humiliate him after they all returned to the UK and set up a fake Facebook account, pretending to be a Scottish woman named Emma.
"There's no doubt that I've been done good and proper by the lads from Liverpool. It was cruel but I'll hold my hands up and say they really wound me up," Slann told the Sheffield Star.
"I'd been chatting to this girl on Facebook for about a month or so. I really thought she was genuine, and I had no reason to doubt it.
"On the night she asked me to [go to] Scotland I was on the road for about nine hours. And then when I got to this remote farm she sent me a text to say she was still in work.
"That's what made it worse, not only had I driven for nine hours, but I had to wait for about another three and a half hours for her to finish work. Then when I got the call to say it was all a hoax I just felt awful.
"If they had asked to drive to Manchester, Leeds or even Liverpool it wouldn't have been so bad and maybe I'd have seen the funny side. But to drag me all the way to Aberdeen was just cruel."
Mr Slann's wife reportedly left him after discovering his actions, which made waves across the internet back in 2009 when the incident took place.
The original YouTube video, since deleted for obscene language, featured a phone call in which the Liverpool fans revealed their ruse by asking: "Do you recognise our voices, Stuart?
"It's them Scouse lads who threw you in the pool. Do you recognise our Scouse accents?"
He replied: "Yes I do." And was told: "You've been framed" by the men, who burst into laughter.
A tough trip for this particular Manchester United fan.
Though as the two pranksters had clearly spent weeks online - masquerading as a woman and flirting heavily with him - you have to wonder if anybody really came out of this hoax a winner.
Imagery: PA Images
Topics: Liverpool, Manchester United
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