THE romance of the cup may be an old cliche but it was alive and well for one Crystal Palace fan who "fell in love" with a mystery girl while on the train to watch his side's FA Cup victory on Saturday.
Angus Mainland, 19, has launched a twitter appeal to find the girl - who had an Italian accent - he sat next to on his way to watch Palace's 3-2 win over Southampton on Saturday.
Angus, who studies sports management at university in Bournemouth, loaned the girl her his Palace scarf and snapped a selfie with her.
But he only decided he wanted to ask her out after he left the train and realised he hadn't got her name or number, so his friend suggested he tweet train company Cross Country Trains.
His message read "please help me find the girl I sat next to on the 12:45 from Bournemouth to Southampton. Fell in love."
It has now been retweeted more than 3,300 times.
"I couldn't believe the tweet had gone viral," Angus told the Advertiser.
"At half time it had got 30 retweets and after full time it was over 100. My friend who's a Southampton fan said that if I got 2,000 retweets then he'd get a tattoo to commemorate Palace's incredible win.
"Now it's over three thousand. I never expected to have that kind of response, it's been incredible. The majority of people responding have been supportive."
Palace chairman Steve Parish has even retweeted the message, and with the 2,000 mark comfortably reached, his friend has agreed to get the tattoo - of Palace goalscorers Marouane Chamakh and Yaya Sanogo.
Angus, a lifelong Palace fan from Balham, said he had struck up conversation with the girl as the carriage, on the 12.45 from Bournemouth to Southampton, was quite empty.
Are you the mystery girl? Call our newsdesk on 01737 783808 or e-mail newsdesk@croydonadvertiser.co.uk
@crosscountryuk please help me find the girl I sat next to on the 12:45 from Bournemouth to southampton. Fell in love pic.twitter.com/G6qfHU6CkO
— Angus Mainland (@Angus66Mainland) January 24, 2015
