How former Portsmouth favourite Christian Burgess contributed to major win for Blues fans during trip to Royale Union-Saint Gilloise

Much-liked Burgess left Pompey in 2020 but still holds a place in many Blues’ fans hearts for his whole-hearted style of play and community spirit.

His fairytale story over recent seasons hasn’t gone unnoticed, going from League One to the Europa League with Royale Union-Saint Gilloise (USG) within the space of two years.

So a group of loyal Blues supporters decided to pay the defender a visit over the weekend as USG took on Club Brugge in the Jupiler Pro League.

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Russell Eke, 42, and nine other Pompey fans made the trip to Belgium to cheer on Burgess from the stands – even taking a cardboard cut-out of him with them – and were handed a welcome surprise before their return across the Channel.

During their travels, they placed a £100 bet on the 32-year-old to score in the game.

And it the centre-back netted Les Unionistas’ first goal in their 2-2 draw, with the group winning a total of £1,300.

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This has subsequently seen the former Fratton favourite reach out via social media to jokingly comment: ‘drinks on you’.

Drayton resident Eke explained how the bet came about and how it was a fitting end to his ‘perfect’ birthday weekend.

He told The News: ‘They found themselves 2-0 down after 15 minutes but the manager made a substitution and from that minute it changed the game.

‘I couldn’t tell what he did because I had no idea who played where but it completely changed the game!

‘I'm pretty sure it was their first corner of the game, I picked up my camera and filmed it and Burgess popped up in the box, lovely header into the net and he ran towards us.

‘He looked up because we had our flag but I don’t think he knew exactly where we were sat.

‘The video is me turning to my friends jumping around crazy, not just because Burgess scored but because we won £1,300! It was an incredible feeling and couldn’t believe the bet had actually come off.

‘Even after the game he came over and spoke to us and then he went into the dressing room and tweeted us again saying ‘drinks on you.’ He loved it as well but it made our weekend perfect.

‘It was actually my birthday on Friday so that was part of the celebrations and the weekend started with that. To leave there with that much money was amazing, it was a magical weekend.’

The group of 10 Pompey fans took a cardboard cut-out of Burgess across the Channel to Brussels, which initially raised some eye brows among many of the locals.

However they were soon well-known, with their story on Twitter even reaching Belgium news outlets who reported on their trip.

After explaining their background and love for Burgess, they hope their support for the defender will have rubbed off with the USG fans.

The group have even been invited back in the future.

Eke added: ‘That's what made it, really, having the flag and the cut-out. It was amazing how receptive everyone was and how interested they were and why we had gone over there.

‘The locals from the minute we arrived were all asking questions about where we came from and in a really welcoming environment.

‘Our first picture when we got there was outside Brussels station with the flag and the cut-out and put that on social media and tagged Burgess and the club.

‘After the game, very few people go home and people are outside the stadium drinking beer.

‘People were coming up to us and said “next time you come over, let us know and we’ll get you tickets over with the ultras”. They want us to go back and they loved the atmosphere we created as well.

‘We weren’t interviewed but our story was on Belgium news with our tweets from the weekend and they called us the Christian Burgess Fan Club.

‘They definitely got a hold of why we were there and how much of an icon Burgess is at Pompey.’