A DEVOTED football fan travelled 5,500 miles from Asia to watch his favourite team for the first time, Accrington Stanley.

South Korean Jung Min Yoo had never travelled to Europe before watching the League One side at the Wham Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Despite Stanley’s 4-0 loss to Peterborough United, the Seoul student said the day was unbelievable and added: “The result was terrible, but I enjoyed watching the football and meeting amazing fans.”

Chairman Andy Holt, who had a pint with the 25-year-old at the end of the match in The Reds Bar, said: “I’m proud to say Stanley is becoming a worldwide brand.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

Jung Min started supporting Stanley in October 2017, before they were crowned League Two champions in May, after reading a BBC article about good football team owners.

Before then the part-time convenience store worker mostly watched Bournemouth in the Premier League but said he took a shine to Accrington when he found out about the community spirit within Mr Holt’s club.

When Mr Yoo first announced his plans to travel to East Lancashire six months ago he was jokingly told to ‘order a whisky’ by his friends and family.

The Stanley fan, who lives with his parents and has three younger siblings, said: “They had never even heard of Accrington so they asked me about my trip several times. I went to Yokohama, Japan, in January, so this is my second trip abroad.”

For several months the Hankuk University student saved more than £1,000 for the 5,440-mile trip to the UK as he flew from Incheon International Airport to Manchester, via Heathrow, and arrived on Friday for his nine-day stay in the country.

On Saturday morning, Jung Min left his Salford Quays hotel room and made the two-hour bus journey to Accrington.

After arriving at the stadium, at around 11am, Mr Yoo was treated to a tour of the ground and given a warm welcome by the chairman, first team players, staff and manager John Coleman.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Goalkeeper Connor Ripley, 24, even gave a pair of his gloves and boots to Mr Yoo, who spent £264 on a season ticket despite only seeing one game. He said: “I think holding a season ticket is a symbol for your support.”

Jung Min was able to watch Accrington's final game of the year with 2,671 other fans in the stadium, instead of having to keep track of updates on his phone at midnight in South Korea due to time zone differences.

He was stood in the William Dyer Electrical stand for the 90 minutes and said: “I was very surprised by the good attitude shown by fans and staff. I’m just a fan but they gave me a warm welcome.”

After the game he spent a couple of hours at The Reds Bar for a few drinks with supporters before heading back to his hotel at around 7.30pm.

He will be making one more trip to the Wham Stadium next Saturday when Stanley play Ipswich in the third round of the FA Cup at home before making the 12-hour flight back home next Sunday.