Fan sporting new tattoo on fanny after Miller avoids being butt of joke

VANCOUVER – A Scottish soccer fan has a new tattoo on his bum thanks to Vancouver Whitecaps striker Kenny Miller.

Ryan Pearse, a 20-year-old hospital worker from Falkirk, boasted on Twitter he would get a tattoo on his butt if Miller scored for Scotland in a friendly against England at London’s Wembley Stadium last week.

Lo and behold, Miller did score in Scotland’s 3-2 loss to the Auld Enemy, making Pearse look like an arse. Pearse lived up to his word Thursday as he had “Kenny Miller, Goal Machine” enscribed on his buttocks.

Pearse told The Daily Record and Sunday Mail it will probably take a few days for his mistake to “sink in.” A picture on the British publication’s website shows Pearse grimacing from pain in the posterior as a tattoo artist does his handiwork.

“I’m glad I did it though,” he said. “I wasn’t even drunk when I sent out the tweet, so I don’t even have that as an excuse.

“When Kenny scored, I did celebrate at first, but then my mates remembered what I had promised – and they weren’t going to let me renege.”

The goal turned out to be the last of Miller’s 12-year international career. Miller, 33, confirmed Friday that he will no longer play for Scotland, which has long since been eliminated from World Cup qualifying.

Pearse’s online slap drew widespread media coverage in the U.K. Even Miller got wind of it.

“Who hasn’t?” he said when asked if he had heard about Pearse’s backside comment.

But Miller, who will keep playing for the Whitecaps of Major League Soccer, was not impressed. He suggested the fan should have considered the consequences to his fanny before attempting to needle him.

“It was obviously a bit of a stupid statement — and it came back and bit him on the bum,” said Miller.