Football supporters often have teams they follow overseas, looking out for their results when matchday comes around, but some Bristol Rovers fans have taken that to another level.
During 2014/15, Rovers completed their exchange of fans with Catalonia-based CE Sabadell, who play in the Spanish Second Division.While a number of Sabadell supporters visited England to attend Rovers' final Conference home match against Alfreton Town in late April, a 50-strong Gas contingent flew over to Catalonia earlier this month for Sabadell's last home game, against Osasuna. Some of Rovers' Dutch following also joined the party in Barcelona.
The connection between the two clubs, separated by approximately 1,000 miles, was established through their respective kits – both being blue and white quarters.
La afición del @Official_BRFC disfruta en la Nova Creu Alta: http://t.co/H7YroJTo8O#CESpic.twitter.com/AvBG08KYuo
— CE Sabadell (@CESabadell) June 8, 2015The campaign asks fans to register their country and city of residence via a dedicated microsite at representyourclub.com, so whether you are a supporter of Accrington Stanley in Argentina or York City in Yemen you can show your support of your club.
The site includes an overall leaderboard so fans can see where their club’s global fan base ranks compared to the other 71 Football League clubs, as well as a map displaying where in the world fans are from.
Rovers, who will compete in Sky Bet League 2 in 2015/16 after promotion last term, are 19th in the Stand Up & Be Counted leaderboard with hundreds of Gas supporters entering so far.
Thousands of Football League supporters from around the world have registered so far, with fans entering from countries in all four corners of the world.