ROMANTIC PROPOSAL
BIG SURPRISE AS FOXES FAN POPS QUESTION TO GIRLFRIEND AT GAME IN ITALY
TWO die-hard Leicester City supporters agreed to tie the knot in a public declaration in front of thousands of fellow football fans.
The proposal happened at the Roma vs Leicester City match - and drew as big a cheer as any of the action from the away fans.
Mark Pepper surprised his girlfriend of four years on an away trip in the Europa Conference League, with the Foxes travelling to Italy for the second half of their semi-final tie.
Carla Christie said yes just minutes before the match kicked off in the Stadio Olimpico, in the Italian capital.
While Leicester City may have lost the game, the Whetstone couple said they still feel like they came home with a win.
The season ticketholders have since shared their joyful story, as well as a video of the moment Mark popped the question.
Carla, a clinical research lead for the
NHS, said even though she had dropped “plenty of hints” over the years, she had not expected to be engaged by the end of the game.
Mark, a Nike store manager, didn’t manage to execute his game plan exactly and went down on one knee with a €5 ring he found at a souvenir shop the morning of the match.
“He’s never shown any interest in marriage so I always thought it wasn’t a priority for him”, Carla told the Mercury.
She said: “In fact I thought he was anti-marriage so, despite the fact I’ve dropped plenty of hints over the years, I was not expecting it”.
The couple have two children each from previous relationships and live “happily and contently” together. Mark, 38, used to tease Carla, 43, about proposing, saying: “If ever I did do it you wouldn’t know about it.”
Carla said: “I’ve been a season ticket-holder for 20 years. “I absolutely love the game, the team and just everything about Leicester. Mark has loved it all his life too so we were really excited to travel to Italy when the tickets came out but it was only a week before.
“It was really last minute and Mark hadn’t had his passport back after sending it off to get it renewed. So even though we had tickets, we didn’t know until the Saturday before if we could go.
“Luckily they came in time and we flew out on Wednesday.” However, Mark’s surprise was proving hard to follow through at one point.
Carla said: “Mark wanted me to choose my own ring. So he wanted to get something less expensive to actually propose with.
“Once we had booked the flights, he said he needed to nip to Fosse Park to buy some bits for the trip. I forced myself along, not realising why he was trying to leave the house.
“Then on Tuesday night he said he was nipping to Sainsbury’s to get a magazine for the flight. Me being me, I said I’d go with him and insisted I wanted to choose my own magazine.
“He literally couldn’t get rid of me! In the end, on the morning of the game, he disappeared for 15 minutes to get a gladiator-style hat to wear at the match.
“Really, he was running around Rome looking in all these shops to find a ring that wouldn’t break the bank so I could choose my own later on. In the end he found a souvenir shop and bought a ring for five euros!
“I know it’s not the real one but he absolutely went above and beyond.”
While the couple’s hotel was next to Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain, Mark said he chose to propose at the match because they are such big footie fans. Friends accompanying them on the trip were on hand to record the moment.
Carla said: “Our friends were sat with us and we were taking lots of pictures before the match. Then 15 minutes before kick-off he gave his phone to our friend to take one last picture.
“But really our friend had started recording the moment he got down on one knee.
“All the fans were cheering and chanting and celebrating.
“It was an amazing moment for us both and I was just so blown away. We’re so happy.”
The couple are now looking forward to replacing Carla’s engagement ring and planning their wedding - with an engagement party already planned for the end of June.