When Diego Sanchez decided to follow an English club he was seduced by Simon Weaver’s men in yellow and black rather than the more obvious options.
The 17-year-old schoolboy lives in Buenos Aires, almost 7,000 miles away from Wetherby Road.
He first heard about the club after reading an article about cult favourite Simon Ainge who became an unexpected goal machine in 2016.
Two years ago Diego then set up a Twitter account called Harrogate Town Argentina that has amassed over 1,000 followers and charts the highs and lows of the club in Spanish.
Fiery passion
Despite being so far away, he might just be the most passionate Town fan there is online.
Tweets include ‘HOYYYYY JUEGA EL HARROGATEEEEE’ (Today Harrogate plays) and ‘MARK LA COBRA ESCOCESA BECK ARRANCO ON FIRE EN DARLINGTON’ (Mark ‘The Scottish Cobra’ Beck is on fire at Darlington).
He also celebrates like he’s there in the ground every time the team score a goal:
https://twitter.com/HarrogateArg/status/1559620586627891201?s=20&t=SYjtMXY488eTTQ4fWpy3Pw
Committed fan
It’s not easy following a club on the other side of the world and Diego says it requires a lot of patience and commitment.
Fortunately, games are now streamed live over the internet and the time difference is only four hours.
His favourite player is Jack Muldoon and social media gives him the chance to interact with his heroes. He describes the feeling when a player likes one of his Tweets as being “a caress to the soul”.
He said:
“[Jack Muldoon] is a player that when he catches the ball he gives you the illusion that anything can happen.
“Another thing that makes me very happy is being able to interact with the players or with the club’s coaching staff. Any small gesture like a thank you for an edit or a like on a tweet is like a caress to the soul.
“My favourite player was Connor Hall (who has since left for Port Vale) because I was able to interact with him through social media. He seemed a very good person. I am very happy for him and for what he is achieving at his new club”.
Read more:
- Harrogate Town make four transfer deadline day signings
- Simon Weaver: Harrogate Town have been through a ‘cycle of change’
Diego is also a River Plate fan, who plays in the 100,000-seater El Monumental stadium. The fiery atmosphere there is legendary and a bucket list visit for football fans around the world.
But Diego yearns to be in the kop end at the EnviroVent Stadium and would love to visit Harrogate one day to watch a game.
Credit: River Plate FC
Diego said:
“If one day I get to attend a Harrogate match it would surely be crazy for me.
“I still haven’t imagined it, but if it happens, I would try to enjoy it as much as possible.
“Here in Argentina, the fans are among the best in the world, I know El Monumental and the atmosphere there is crazy.”
Trust in Weaver
Harrogate Town are on a bad run of results and have lost their last five games but they can always count on the support of their fan in Argentina. Diego added:
“I feel a bit worried about the recent form in the last few games but I fully trust the guys and Weaver to come through.”
You can follow Diego on Twitter here.
