Spanish family travel to watch League One club randomly chose on FIFA because they ‘liked the badge’

A Spanish family say they took to travel over to watch a League One club they randomly chose on FIFA because they ‘liked the badge’.

25 year old Fernando Batallon and his relatives became unlikely fans of Derby County after randomly setting up a FIFA Career Mode as the club three years ago.

They grew such a love of them that they based their first trip to England around watching them play at Pride Park, and had the time of their lives by the looks of it.

🇪🇸 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗢𝗗: 𝗩𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗥𝗮𝗺𝘀!

We chat to @GalicianRams, who trekked to Pride Park for the first time after following #dcfc because they ‘liked Derby’s badge on FIFA’. They had ‘the weekend of their lives’….!

▶️ https://t.co/G33edyI8Np pic.twitter.com/hBV258iEX4

— Steve Bloomer’s Washing (@SteveBloomerPod) February 7, 2023

The seven cousins flew out from Lugo in northern Spain to attend the League One fixture between Derby and Morecambe, and it didn’t disappoint, unless you’re a fan of the Shrimps.

They were treated to goal-fest as the Rams came out as 5-0 winners, with the group already promising to return after the “best weekend of their lives”.

Fernando claimed that Derby was discovered by accident after a party at which his cousins wanted him to play FIFA. He chose them because they liked the club emblem of a Ram.

After researching the club’s history, and learning how they won the old Division 1 under Brian Clough, the group began to follow the team in real-life.

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.

“Another cousin of mine who knew Derby, I’m not sure how, but he knew and he said Derby’s badge was the best.

“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.

“I was shocked when I found out Derby had won the league because at first when we didn’t know the history we thought it was like a little club, so that was pretty shocking to me.

“We had been talking about coming over to England since the pandemic in 2020 when we couldn’t travel.

“And also because we had to wait to afford it as it has been a very expensive weekend for us.”

Fernando and his six cousins had never been to England before.

Their first trip there came at the weekend – they travelled from northern Spain to Pride Park having played as Derby on Fifa career mode because they liked the badge 🐏

Football ❤️ pic.twitter.com/RBq2UZBb2q

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) February 6, 2023

💔💔. See you next time. It’s been an awesome weekend. GO RAMS #DCFC pic.twitter.com/HgEZm8c1CK

— Galician Rams 🐏 (@GalicianRams) February 5, 2023

This was our arrival at the stadium 🐏🐏🐏🐏 pic.twitter.com/exsTe9X9LW

— Galician Rams 🐏 (@GalicianRams) February 6, 2023

After a two-hour flight, Fernando and his family arrived at Luton Airport. However, due to train strikes, they had to take a one-and a half hour taxi to their Airbnb in Derby. Welcome to the UK guys!

They made it through the game and were treated with a 5-0 thriller that included a David McGoldrick hat-trick.

They had the opportunity to meet other supporters at the pubs and bars nearby, and were allowed onto the pitch by staff to take a photo with their flags.

Fernando, who works for a law firm, added: “The game we chose was complete luck.

“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.

“And also now we are not in the Championship we can’t watch the games in Spain. It’s been impossible this year.

“Derby have suffered a lot, just like our club Lugo in Spain, who have had problems with owners, so it is a similar situation.

“We just seemed to pick a club in the same situation as Lugo.

“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.

“It was like an explosion [watching Derby score a goal] we were shouting and celebrating the most I think. The game was awesome.

“We knew Derby had been winning but I didn’t know the game would be so good as we haven’t been watching them the last few months.

“We haven’t decided yet but we are already talking about coming back. We are trying to come back for the last game of the season.”

This is what fans said as a Spanish family travel to watch the League One club who they randomly chose on FIFA because they ‘liked the badge’…

@shellyhay: Love this story 🖤🤍🐏 welcome to our Rams Family and what a first game to see at Pride Park, glad you enjoyed yourselfs, hope to see you all back in Derby soon, You Rams🐏

@donbracko: I’m so glad you enjoyed your visit! Must be especially nice when you get to see a performance as good as that. Hopefully, you’ll be back to see the Rams soon. 🐏🐏 COYR

@therealpwf: Great effort lads. Proper Rams 🐏

@StevenN08496223: You are always welcome 🙏

@DerbysNed_Kelly: We need Spanish rams scarfs! 🇪🇸 🐏

@yeloooh: love the dedication 💙💙💙🐏

@JimmyRamBelieve: Welcome ❤️🐏🕺🙌

@MimiJ9: You are welcome anytime. 🇪🇸🐏🖤🤍 COYR

@Tommopj1985: No worries at all, hope you had a great day 👏👏👏

@M_J_TheBarber: You are welcome any time 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🐏🇪🇸

@AD_Derby: All CD Lugo aren’t we? Who’s up for it

@mattbeardmore: I saw them before the game. They looked like they were having a good time even before kick off 🍺

@SalWilson111: These guys sat in front of us today in the North stand. They looked like they had a fantastic time! 🩶🖤🐏⚽️

@hudsonjames1981: That’s awesome up the Spanish Rams 🇪🇸🐏

@ademannion: We saw these lads on the way to the ground. Wondered where they from. Looks like they had a cracking time

@swigger67: Hope they had a wonderful time and remain Rams fans!

@Phodge99: They couldn’t have chosen a better game to attend 👏👏👏

@L1Guardiola: I saw them around town, loved the fella with McGoldrick on the back of the 21/22 shirt 😂😂😂

@iancbarker125: Saw them outside the ground. Would have said hello if I’d known the back story. Hope they enjoyed the day. I did.

@AdamNew85: This is what football is all about 🙌

@Byrnze08: They sat a few rows in front of us in the north stand and the were absolute jokes 😂

@JimmyRamBelieve: What a brilliant story ❤️😇🕺🐏