An American who’s been a long time Cardiff City supporter has travelled all the way from Montana to watch his team for the first time ever at tonight’s game against Nottingham Forest.
Todd Kolembusz has both Slovakian and Welsh ancestors, and traced family back to the Welsh Valleys.
It’s a hard life for a Bluebirds fan living in Malta, Montana, where Todd says ‘99% of people’ in his small town of 1800 don’t follow football or ‘soccer’. His nearest major football team is in Calgary, Canada; 6 hours away.
After planning his trip to Cardiff for almost a year, Todd has finally arrived in the Welsh capital for his first game, and will also travel to London to watch Premier League games there on a ’12-day football odyssey’.
He thanked Cardiff fans and the club for the warm welcome he’s received, saying he was ‘overwhelmed’ by Wales’ hospitality.
It’s so much more than I expected… it would have been enough for me to go to the game and sit in my seat. The response has been overwhelming, thank you.
Todd Kolembusz
Todd won’t be the only one hoping for a result tonight, as the tenth-placed Bluebirds look to close the gap on promotion chasers Forest in sixth. They’ll have to do it without star forward Lee Tomlin, who has been ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury. Kick off is at 7.45pm.