Rugby fan's missing wallet returned after five years

News imageBBC CJ JoinerBBC
CJ Joiner was surprised nobody had seen the wallet over the last five years

A man who lost his wallet at a rugby match more than five years ago had it suddenly returned to him.

CJ Joiner said he last saw the wallet at a rugby game at The Butts in Coventry on 21 October 2017.

Then, unexpectedly, he had an email from a teacher who said his step-daughter had found the wallet.

It had been discovered wedged between two seats and returned to him with everything still inside.

He thinks it must have fallen out of his shorts when he was celebrating a try and the finder was able to track him down through a business card.

Mr Joiner said he remembered the game, a match against Loughborough, where the wallet went missing.

"It was very windy, the posts were moving quite a bit, it was really difficult conditions."

One drop kick almost landed behind the kicker, the wind was so strong, he said.

News imageStand
The wallet was stuck down the side of a seat after falling out of Mr Joiner's pocket

He was became aware the wallet was missing was when he went to get food at half time.

He retraced his steps but the wallet could not be found.

Eventually, he was forced to give up the search.

News imageWallet
The wallet still contained receipts, bank cards and tickets

All the receipts and business cards were still there, although covered in a few cobwebs.

Mr Joiner said: "I never thought it could have been in the stand because of the number of people you would have thought would have sat here."

But he believes the wallet had gone unnoticed because it would have looked like padding on the frame of the chair.

He said since then he has always bought shorts with zip-up pockets and always checks they are zipped.

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