England and Sheffield Wednesday superfan 'Tango' says even Qatar staff wanted to see his iconic shirtless act

Sheffield’s-own Paul Gregory, better known as Tango, is famous for showing his shirtless support in the stands at Wednesday and England fixtures across the world – including at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar.

However, the 60-year-old was pictured this week being confronted by security officials while celebrating England’s 3-0 win against Wales at the tournament. He was photographed being told by a member of staff to put his top back.

But now, the Sheffield Wednesday mascot has hit back at pundits criticising him online, saying he wasn’t the only one with his England supporter's kit off – and, before the photo was taken, staff gave him the thumbs up to just enjoy himself.

He said: “You go on Twitter and people are being scathing about me having my shirt off but they don’t know the circumstances. Basically, a cameraman came up to me and said he knew me – because he had a photo of me at the games in Russia as his phone background. He kept gesturing and saying ‘you take, you take!’, as in take my shirt off.

"I did. Even security staff and police were smiling and giving me the thumbs up, they knew who I was.”

But Paul says he believes whipping out his tattooed physique had some unintended consequences that led to the photos of him being accosted. He said: “When I took my shirt off it was like an infestation of ants in the stadium all moving at once – everyone was coming around to take photos with me, and then there were cameras everywhere.

“I think the officials got spooked because you can’t have that kind of rush of people happening, so they came and got me to stop.”

Several media outlets have reported the rules at the Qatar World Cup say fans must not “remove items of clothing or otherwise remain in a state of undress”, or face fines.

Paul says he feels he has been on the end of ‘bad press’ over the incident. He said: “Everyone who knows me know I would rather go out of my way to make someone smile rather than cause a fuss. Lots of people have their shirts and have not had one iota of bad press.”

The 60-year-old told The Star he hasn’t gone a day in Qatar without fans coming up to him, with fans even approaching him in bathrooms for a photo. Further, he says his and his wife’s treatment in Qatar has been “fantastic”.

He said: “I’m on crutches at the moment, and staff have had golf carts ready or moved barriers so I don’t have to walk. You can get a beer easily and lots of places have happy hour. My wife, Rachael, says people have been lovely to her and greet her in the street. It’s not at all what I expected compared to what I read in the press.”

England will next play Senegal on Sunday evening.