'I was mistaken for a Premier League star – so I ran with it and kept signing autographs'

'I was mistaken for a Premier League star – so I ran with it and kept signing autographs',EXCLUSIVE: Aston Villa fan Amando attended his very first Villa match in Valencia earlier this month, but got more than he bargained for when locals mistook him for an actual footballer

‘I was mistaken for a Premier League star – so I ran with it and kept signing autographs’

Most supporters couldn't even imagine what it'd be like to be a professional footballer – but not Aston Villa fanatic Amando.

He was accidentally given the celebrity treatment by hundreds of hilariously-oblivious Valencia fans, who thought he was a member of Unai Emery's Villa squad after spotting him outside the Mestalla stadium on the day the La Liga giants lost 2-1 to Villa in pre-season earlier this month.

Amando, who founded an Aston Villa supporters group in his native Ghana a few years back, decided to run with it, posing for photos and signing autographs as if he were a genuine Premier League superstar.

"I was dressed in an Aston Villa training shirt as I approached the stadium and I noticed everyone had their eyes on me," Amando said speaking exclusively to Daily Star Sport.

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"Then, people started coming over to ask me if I was a footballer, and I said, 'Yes, I play football', which is true. But that's when things escalated, and soon kids started rushing over saying, 'Sign [an autograph] for me, sign for me'."

When asked if he was scared his cover might get blown, Amando replied: "Some of them asked me my name, and I gave it to them. But that didn't stop them from crowding me. They thought I might be in the B team!"

His Aston Villa player impersonation lasted just a few minutes before he eventually made his way into the ground to watch the match, but he was mobbed by locals again as he was leaving, thanks in no small part to Tyrone Mings.

What would you have done in Amando's situation? Let us know in the comments section below.

<h5>Read More</h5><h5>Related Articles</h5><ul><li data-tmdatatrack="read-more" data-tmdatatrack-article><figure><br /><img class="aligncenter" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article30689655.ece/ALTERNATES/s458/0_JS307978917.jpg" alt="" /></figure> Tyrone Mings stretchered off in tears with worrying injury 30 minutes into new season<br /><img class="aligncenter" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article30706500.ece/ALTERNATES/s458/0_STARAlishaLehmann.jpg" alt="Alisha Lehmann called &apos;supermodel&apos; by Aston Villa team-mate after new Instagram post" /></figure> Alisha Lehmann called &apos;supermodel&apos; by Aston Villa team-mate after new Instagram post<br /><img class="aligncenter" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article30724788.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_thumbnail_image0-7.jpg" alt="Amando has set up a football academy for kids - able bodied or otherwise - in his native Ghana" data-inline-image="true" /><figcaption>Amando has set up a football academy for kids - able bodied or otherwise - in his native Ghana</figcaption></figure> <p>Amando and his fellow volunteers provide the kids with food, money and emotional support, which can often be the difference between living and simply surviving in the rugged heartlands of rural west Africa.</p> <p>The Ghana Lions also have a women&apos;s team, which was established to provide girls with a physical outlet, a sense of community and, crucially, education about sex.</p> <p>&quot;The reason I formed the women&apos;s football team is that teenage pregnancy in my hometown is very very rampant and difficult to control,&quot; he added. &quot;Every two weeks I invite health workers to visit the boys and girls and teach them about sex education, so that maybe we can use this as a tool to minimize teenage pregnancy and unsafe sex.&quot;</p> <figure><br /><img class="aligncenter" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article30724799.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_thumbnail_image2-6.jpg" alt="Over 200 children attend the academy, some of which have gone on to join professional clubs" data-inline-image="true" /><figcaption>Over 200 children attend the academy, some of which have gone on to join professional clubs</figcaption></figure> <p>All of this would&apos;ve been impossible without Amando&apos;s late grandfather, who fell in love with Aston Villa while rooming with a couple of Villa-supporting Brummies - who were particularly fond of a certain Irish defender - back in the 1990s.</p> <p>&quot;They used to tell stories to my grandpa about Aston Villa and they told him they&apos;d love to take him to Villa Park one day,&quot; Amando explained. &quot;When we were kids, my grandpa used to tell us these stories, and he would also talk about this player called &apos;God&apos;.</p> <p>&quot;So one day me and my brothers and sisters asked him, &apos;Who is this God you are talking about? Because there is one God and he is in heaven&apos;. And my grandpa was laughing and he told us, &apos;There is a God in football, and his name is Paul McGrath&apos;.&quot;</p> <figure><br /><img class="aligncenter" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article30724794.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_image1-1jpeg.jpg" alt="Amando (R) set up the club in honour of his Aston Villa-supporting grandfather" data-inline-image="true" /><figcaption>Amando (R) set up the club in honour of his Aston Villa-supporting grandfather</figcaption></figure> <p>Amando&apos;s grandfather, who always talked about setting up a football club in Juaben, sadly passed away before getting the chance to watch Aston Villa live, but both dreams have since been realised by his incredible grandson.</p> <p>Not only that, Amando has established a relationship with the man many Villa fans see as the spiritual successor to Paul McGrath in Tyrone Mings, who has contributed kits and footballs to the Ghana Lions over the years.</p> <figure><br /><img class="aligncenter" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article30724802.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_thumbnail_image3-6.jpg" alt="They provide meals, money, support and education for kids and adults in the community" data-inline-image="true" /><figcaption>They provide meals, money, support and education for kids and adults in the community</figcaption></figure> <p>&quot;I love Paul McGrath but Tyrone Mings is my favourite player of all time,&quot; Amando said. &quot;It&apos;s not just because I met him in Valencia, it&apos;s because he understands humanity.</p> <p>&quot;Football is not only on the field of play, it&apos;s the way you talk to people and treat people too. Tyrone Mings is a role model for everyone.&quot;</p> <p>As are you, Amando. As are you.