A football superfan travelled 4,000 miles to see a team he had fallen in love with, but was left devastated. Ian Webb became a fan of Wakefield AFC after playing as the semi-professional, step ten club on Football Manager.
This may come as a surprise considering Ian is from Chattanooga in Tennessee, USA. Speaking to the Daily Star, he said: “I thought what’s the biggest city in England without a professional team? I thought maybe there’s a little club that can maybe fill some big boots.
“I Googled it and Wakefield came up. I saw there was a team there, which was semi-professional and founded in 2019, and I looked into that.”
He eventually convinced his wife Megan to visit England with him in October with the deal of also seeing York, Bath and London. The holiday cost £4,500 and took them 18 months to save up for.
But Ian was left devastated after the match at Be Well Support Stadium on October 21 was postponed due to scheduling issues.
And three days later unlucky Ian was left “crushed” after the back-up game was abandoned due to torrential rain. The recruitment manager said: “I was crushed.
“It was one of those things where you get a pit in your stomach. It had been raining most of the day, and it was coming down really hard.
“I think the disappointment was spread out of a few hours. As it kept raining more and more, I could tell that the game was definitely going to be postponed.
“It was really hard when I told my wife and got back to the hotel, saying ‘We are not going to be going to the game’. I felt a little bit emotional in that moment, but we had to move past it.”
But Ian was still able to squeeze in a stadium tour of Wakefield, which had been saved from administration by US wealth management firm VO2 Capital in 2021.
And his bad luck has not put him off, with Ian declaring he will be back to try again in a couple of years to try and absorb the “authentic experience” of non-league football.
He added: “In America, big NFL stadiums with 60-80,000 seats are a dime-a-dozen. There’s something exciting about being in a huge, packed stadium and the energy that brings.
“But it’s an incredible corporate league, and you’re a customer, and it’s about ‘how many butts can we fit into these seats?’ and ‘how much can we charge?’
“Ultimately, what has always been attractive about Wakefield is it’s more of a local, authentic experience.
“The plan is to come back in a couple of years. The dream is to see Wakefield play in a pivotal game while they’re challenging for promotion. That would be incredibly exciting.”
