Warriors' 'shoey' fan to return with gumboot for final game at Mt Smart Stadium

A happy outcome for the Warriors' 'shoey' fan who believed he'd been slapped with a lifetime ban after being kicked out of Mt Smart Stadium on Friday night.

Calley Gibbons was approached by police after his first 'shoey' and was escorted out of the ground by security.

Gibbons became a Warriors cult hero after being spotted on TV sinking a beer from his shoe in front of the coaches' box — where he has sat since 2006.

The 31-year-old brickie from Auckland was first spotted on TV during the Warriors' homecoming game against the Tigers in Round 16, again in Round 20 against the Storm and most recently during the first half of Friday's 42-18 win over the Bulldogs.

Gibbons told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast that he still caught the win on TV but was surprised by his removal.

"I got escorted out about 15 minutes in but luckily there was a pub down the road so I headed there and finished watching the game," he said.

Gibbons said his father buys a corporate table and has almost the entire row under the coaches' box.

"Pretty much every year when they've gone to the coaches' box I've always stood up and given a wave or a finger point or sculled a beer. But after more than a thousand days of not playing at home I thought I'd do something different and give the crowd a bit of a laugh about it.

He said one security guard may have had a 'power trip' on Friday night by telling him he would get a lifetime ban. Mt Smart Stadium, a Tātaki Auckland Unlimited managed venue, does not serve lifetime bans.

"Honestly it was just one security guard in particular. Before we get into it I want it to be known I don't want him to get in trouble in his mind he probably thought he was doing a bang-up job. But I think he's just overstepped the mark a bit and for lack of a better term had some form of power trip…I don't know.

"He pretty much focussed in on me as soon as we got to the game. Right when we took our seats he came along and made a big scene. He wanted me to move along so I'm not in front of the coaches' box. And I said 'that's not right. We have all these seats, we can choose which one we want to sit on'. And right from then he thought 'I don't like this guy'".

"I honestly don't know what the whole situation was for but he came up to me after trying to shift us from the seats and he said 'if you drink out of that shoe, you're gone'. And I said 'what law am I breaking? Who am I hurting here?'.

"I wasn't intoxicated. I purchased the drink from the venue, I should be allowed to consume it how I want. Bottle, cup or shoe."

Gibbons said the security guard told him he'd get a lifetime ban but after talking with the Warriors he'll be back for their final home game against the Cowboys on September 3.

"They have told me I'm welcome back which us good. For this last home game I want to send it off with a bang and I want to Red Band gumboot. Every time I get on TV doing a shoey out of the Red Band, I'll donate $100 to the I Am Hope foundation because mental health is a really important thing to me and I think it's a great foundation. We need charities like that because our kids, some of them are going through tough times and they don't know who to talk to and a support system around them."