- Harborough Town fans were stunned when Spaniards arrived for their match
- The surprise guests attended as part of a partnership with a YouTube channel
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More than 100 Spanish football fans travelled around 1,000 miles to support a non-league English team – only to see them lose.
Supporters of Harborough Town FC were left stunned when the Spaniards descended on their tiny ground to watch them play St Ives.
Footage shows the stands full of fans wearing the Bee’s yellow kit as they chant and sang in Spanish during the Southern League Premier Division Central clash.
However, the continental backing failed to inspire 7th place Harborough as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Bowden Park last Saturday.
The surprise guests travelled from sunny Spain and opted for the East Midlands rather than Liverpool, London or Manchester as part of partnership with a Youtube channel.
They were all subscribers to La Media Inglesa (LMI) which covers English football matches for Spanish speaking fans across the world.
More than 100 Spanish football fans travelled to watch non-league side Harborough Town
The fans travelled as part of partnership with a Youtube channel covering English football
Harborough Town, who were beaten 2-1 despite the support, play in the seventh tier
The channel – which has more than 440,000 subscribers – began organising trips to watch UK games in person in 2018.
LMI said that the interest in Harborough Town came from their Barcelona-born founder Ilie Oleart who wanted to find a small English club to get involved with.
He got subscribers to vote for which club they should connect with – and Harborough Town FC emerged as the winner.
An agreement was made with the club chairman, and their first ever trip to watch a game in person was organised.
Mr Oleart, who supports La Liga side Espanyol, said: ‘Our aim was to transform a small local English club into a small local club with a global fanbase.
‘I met people at the club in September to get to know their history, the town and the facilities.
‘We thought they were the perfect club with the right values to share with our audience.’
Carlos González León, who works for the channel, said: ‘Some of them didn’t understand and were shocked – but in a good way.
‘Once we explained everything to them then they were all really happy. Some of them were even joining in with us to sing the Spanish chants.
Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, boasts a population of just over 24,000 people
The fans chanted in Spanish during the Southern League Premier Division Central match
Subscribers to the YouTube channel picked Harborough Town and arranged the visit
Local fans admitted their surprise but described the Spanish contingent as being ‘amazing’
‘I noticed that everyone there was really pleased with our attendance and support. We made a lot of noise. It was something huge and groundbreaking.’
Harborough Town games in the seventh tier of English football will now be live-streamed on the LMI YouTube channel for Spanish fans.
Carlos says that they might return to watch more games in the future, as the quality of the match exceeded their expectations.
He added: ‘The seventh league is much better than people would think. The level of professionalism, the facilities, the quality of players- it’s massive.
‘The atmosphere is quite good. It is similar to the third or fourth division in Spain.
‘If Harborough goes to the playoff we’ll return, maybe not with 100 people, but Le Media Inglesa staff will definitely come.’
Madrid-born and new Harborough Town fan Alvaro Sanz told the BBC: ‘Some of the local fans were quite surprised, probably wondering what 100 Spaniards were doing there.’
Harborough fan Rick Wood added: ‘The Spanish contingent were amazing, added to the atmosphere and all credit to them their behaviour was exemplary.’
