Jude Winter of BBC News in East Midlands reported an unexpected turn of events at Harborough Town’s home ground in Leicestershire. Despite being a far less common attraction for foreign football tourists compared to Wembley, Old Trafford, or Anfield, more than 100 Spanish sports fans made an appearance at the non-league club’s match against St Ives Town. The Spanish visitors were subscribers to a Spanish YouTube channel dedicated to English football, which has recently started organizing trips for fans to attend games in person.
The channel in question, La Media Inglesa (LMI), was founded by Barcelona-born Ilie Oleart and caters to Spanish-speaking football enthusiasts around the world who are interested in English football matches. Since its inception in 2011, LMI has amassed over 440,000 subscribers and began offering trips to the UK in 2018 to provide fans with the opportunity to experience live games. The next goal for LMI is not only to showcase English football but also to establish some form of involvement with an English football club.
Following discussions with various lower league clubs, Harborough Town FC emerged as the choice of the subscribers. The partnership entails live-streaming Harborough Town’s seventh-tier matches on the LMI YouTube channel, allowing Spanish-speaking fans to become “virtual supporters” of the club. With the club already making headlines this season by reaching the FA Cup second round and having former Brazilian international Sandro play for them, club chairman Peter Dougan sees the collaboration with LMI as a chance to expand the fanbase and income through a global audience and potentially secure sponsorship deals.
Despite a 2-1 defeat to St Ives Town in their Southern League Premier Division Central encounter, the Spanish fans, led by Ilie Oleart, expressed their satisfaction with the experience. The fans occupied an entire stand, cheered fervently throughout the game, and engaged in cultural exchanges with the local supporters. The influx of Spanish supporters was a spectacle for the town residents, who witnessed the arrival of two coachloads of fans singing Spanish songs before the match. Looking towards the future, both club officials and LMI representatives are eager to strengthen and build upon the alliance, with plans for more fan trips and collaborative efforts in the works
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