Cardiff City fan’s Everest Ayatollah
A LIFELONG Cardiff City fan has just performed the greatest – and certainly the highest – Ayatollah you’ll probably ever see.
Allan Meek, 56, showed his love for the Bluebirds at the top of the world’s highest mountain.
He and seven other climbers set about tackling Mount Everest last month.
After a colossal six-week effort, Allan and the group reached the summit – which is almost 9,000 metres high – at 9.45am on May 16.
Allan and the group then performed the famous fan gesture at the summit to celebrate their remarkable achievements.
“I’m from Cardiff and am a season ticket holder,” said Allan.
“My first game was Real Madrid in 1971 and I still have the ticket.
“I took a Bluebirds flag up the mountain and thought I’d see if I could get an Ayatollah going and it came off pretty well.”
It is thought that Allan – who is managing director of SCS Group in Cardiff – is now the oldest Welshman to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
“I’m 56 years old, which I think makes me the oldest Welshman to climb Everest,” said Allan.
“I left Kathmandu on April 7 and have been acclimatising since then. I’m with an international expedition with Ascent Himalayas.
“We have three Norwegians, a Mexican, a Brazilian, an Irishman and an Australian.
“We started our summit push on the 12th and all summitted on the 16th.”
On a post on its Facebook page, Ascent Himalayas wrote: “Allan Meek (UK/Welsh) summitted Mount Everest (8,848m) on his first attempt with his climbing guide Nawang Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal).
“Ascent Himalayas family would like to congratulate all our members and climbing guides for the successful Everest Expedition 2017.
“Also we thank Pasang Tenzing Sherpa, Everest Team Leader, for his great guidance throughout the journey and Mingma Tsiri Sherpa for his great management during the expedition and keeping us updated with all the details.”
The Ayatollah has been used by Cardiff City fans since the 1990s and involves a player raising his hands above his head and repeatedly moving them up and down.
It is regularly performed by Cardiff players in response to fans chanting “do the Ayatollah”.
Unlike the Icelandic “Huh” seen at Euro 2016, there seems no disputing where it was first performed and its origin.
It was originally performed by the singer and fans of a Welsh-language punk group called U Thant.
It was first performed by Cardiff City fans at Sincil Bank, home of Lincoln City, on September 15, 1990, the day after U Thant had played a gig at Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre.