A 21-year-old bus driver has been sacked after wearing a Liverpool shirt while driving a rail replacement bus that was surrounded by jubilant Chelsea fans following their 2–1 win over the Reds.
Isaac, who declined to give his last name, said he had no idea his route would pass Stamford Bridge when he left for work on Saturday.
“The first clean T-shirt I had was a Liverpool one,” he told TalkTV. “I realised I was going to go past Chelsea and then I saw the Chelsea fans outside the stadium.”
Videos shared online showed fans banging on the bus windows and chanting as Isaac sat inside, prompting what his employer, A1 Transport Recruitment, described as “significant disruption and delays.”
He was dismissed on Monday. “Due to GDPR, we are unable to comment on this matter,” the company said.
Isaac said: “If you see the video, it looks humorous, but it was scary. They literally surrounded me in the bus. Eventually, the police got them away.”
He criticised Transport for London and Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying: “I don’t see any care in TfL anymore.
Maybe under a different mayor we could see better light in TfL. But at the moment, there’s no common sense in the operation whatsoever.”
Despite the viral footage, Isaac said he was not traumatised. “It hasn’t traumatised me at all to be honest. I saw the funny side of it when I was watching the videos but when I was sitting in that cabin it wasn’t so funny.”
He added that he plans to leave TfL bus work altogether: “I’m tired of being a TfL bus operator… I’m looking to transfer over to coach work.”