Spanish cousins travel 1,400 miles to watch League One team they chose on Fifa because they 'liked the badge'
- last year
A group of Spanish cousins travelled 1,400 miles to watch a League One team they chose to support after playing as them on FIFA - because 'they liked the badge'.
Fernando Batallon, 25, and his relatives became unlikely fans of Derby County after they randomly started a FIFA Career Mode as them three years ago.
And they grew to become so fond of the East Midlands club that they based their very first trip to England around watching them play at Pride Park.
On Saturday (4/2) the seven cousins travelled three hours from Lugo, in northern Spain, for the unglamorous League One clash between Derby and Morecambe.
Fernando said they discovered Derby by chance following a party when his cousins wanted to play FIFA - and chose them as they liked the 'charming' club emblem of a ram.
They then began following the team in real life after researching more about the club's history and how they won the old Division 1 under Brian Clough.
Fernando told the Derby County FC podcast, 'Steve Bloomer's Washing': "It was one of the best weekends of my life, really.
"It all started with a FIFA career mode. We were coming back from a party one night and a cousin of mine wanted to start a career in FIFA.
"We didn't know what team to pick. So we decided to pick the team with the badge which we liked the most.
"He showed us and we liked it. It's charming, I can't explain why but we loved it instantly. This was around 2019/2020.
"To start with we just played as Derby and then I discovered there was a film about them, 'The Damned United’.
"We saw the film and thought it was awesome and we started researching the team and the history.
"We knew that Derby were not in the Premier League but we knew that they had won the league with Brian Clough.
"We loved the team, we loved the history and then we started to follow the team in real life.
Fernando landed at Luton Airport following a two hour flight but because of train strikes they were forced to catch a one-and-a-half-hour cab to their Airbnb in Derby.
Luckily, they made the game and were treated to a 5-0 thriller, including a David McGoldrick hattrick, which kept Derby in the play-off places.
They were able to mix with fellow fans in the pubs around the ground and were even allowed onto the pitch by staff to pose for a photograph with their flags.
"It was the cheapest [game we were looking at] and a weekend everybody could do.
"Pride Park was bigger than we thought, I did not have this image in my head. It's not the same seeing the matches on your phone and seeing the stadium.
"Derby have suffered a lot, just like our club Lugo in Spain, who have had problems with owners, so it is a similar situation.
"I thought the British beer was very nice and also very big because in Spain we don't drink that size of beer.
"We had such fun in the pub, we met two guys who were 60/70 and they were so nice. I have really loved Derby as a city too. I thought it was cute.
Fernando Batallon, 25, and his relatives became unlikely fans of Derby County after they randomly started a FIFA Career Mode as them three years ago.
And they grew to become so fond of the East Midlands club that they based their very first trip to England around watching them play at Pride Park.
On Saturday (4/2) the seven cousins travelled three hours from Lugo, in northern Spain, for the unglamorous League One clash between Derby and Morecambe.
Fernando said they discovered Derby by chance following a party when his cousins wanted to play FIFA - and chose them as they liked the 'charming' club emblem of a ram.
They then began following the team in real life after researching more about the club's history and how they won the old Division 1 under Brian Clough.
Fernando told the Derby County FC podcast, 'Steve Bloomer's Washing': "It was one of the best weekends of my life, really.
"It all started with a FIFA career mode. We were coming back from a party one night and a cousin of mine wanted to start a career in FIFA.
"We didn't know what team to pick. So we decided to pick the team with the badge which we liked the most.
"He showed us and we liked it. It's charming, I can't explain why but we loved it instantly. This was around 2019/2020.
"To start with we just played as Derby and then I discovered there was a film about them, 'The Damned United’.
"We saw the film and thought it was awesome and we started researching the team and the history.
"We knew that Derby were not in the Premier League but we knew that they had won the league with Brian Clough.
"We loved the team, we loved the history and then we started to follow the team in real life.
Fernando landed at Luton Airport following a two hour flight but because of train strikes they were forced to catch a one-and-a-half-hour cab to their Airbnb in Derby.
Luckily, they made the game and were treated to a 5-0 thriller, including a David McGoldrick hattrick, which kept Derby in the play-off places.
They were able to mix with fellow fans in the pubs around the ground and were even allowed onto the pitch by staff to pose for a photograph with their flags.
"It was the cheapest [game we were looking at] and a weekend everybody could do.
"Pride Park was bigger than we thought, I did not have this image in my head. It's not the same seeing the matches on your phone and seeing the stadium.
"Derby have suffered a lot, just like our club Lugo in Spain, who have had problems with owners, so it is a similar situation.
"I thought the British beer was very nice and also very big because in Spain we don't drink that size of beer.
"We had such fun in the pub, we met two guys who were 60/70 and they were so nice. I have really loved Derby as a city too. I thought it was cute.