The reason why Adrian Chiles wore a West Brom coat to Liam Payne’s funeral

'A really nice touch'

On Wednesday, Payne's funeral took place following his death at the age of 31 last month. The One Direction star died after falling from the third floor balcony of a hotel room in Buenos Aires.

Among those who were in attendance at the funeral were his One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, his former partner Cheryl Tweedy and their seven-year-old son Bear.

Another of those at the funeral was broadcaster and writer Adrian Chiles, who wore a big West Bromwich Albion football coat to the service.

Whilst this may at first seem like an odd choice of attire for such a sombre occasion, this was actually a touching tribute to Payne.

The pair had struck up a bond through their love of football and passionate support for West Brom.

Chiles has previously spoken about how he got to know Payne following his rapid rise to fame on the X Factor.

The 57-year-old explained to the BBC: "I got to know him when he first did X Factor.

"He came up to me and said 'up the Albion' - he was a West Brom fan. Just as a sign as to how massive he was, I remember we snuck him into a Boxing Day game and I think his mum and dad came and sat with me.

"But we managed to secrete our man up in the commentary gantry so he didn't get bothered. Then a friend of mine texted me to ask 'why are West Brom trending number one on Twitter?' I went, ‘well it could be because Liam Payne is here and he tweeted he was here and the whole world went mad for it.’"

On social media, many praised Chiles for his touching tribute to Payne.

One person wrote: "Today was Liam Paynes funeral & Adrian Chiles turned up in a West Brom jacket as Liam Payne was a massive baggies fan. A really nice touch."

Another said: "Got a lot of time for Adrian Chiles going to Liam Payne’s funeral in a West Brom coat given their mutual love of the team."

A third commented: "People laughing at Adrian Chiles wearing a WBA coat when actually it’s the sweetest thing when you realise Liam Payne supported WBA."