A WANDERERS fan whose second football team plays 4,000 miles away has hit American headlines, after booking a spur-of-the moment stateside trip while tipsy in the pub.

Matthew Catterall admits to having had a few ales when he ordered tickets to Ohio to watch his beloved Cincinnati Bengals, who play in the NFL's American Football Conference North division.

The 29-year-old was visiting friend and fellow Bengals obsessive, Jamie Wroe, in Manchester to talk NFL when he made the fateful decision.

“After a few drinks I thought it was the best idea in the world to go on my phone and buy tickets to America there and then,” remembers the fundraising manager from Deane.

“When I woke up the next morning there must have been a gap of about five seconds before I remembered what I’d done – I’d just spent £1,000 in one go.”

Not the best connected city for British long haul flights, Matthew’s trip to Ohio involved a 17 hour jaunt from Manchester via Toronto, but he says the trip was worth every second.

“Going into the stadium was amazing,” he said. “It felt like I was reaching my Mecca. I got caught up in the whole experience – singing the national anthem with hand on heart, even though it’s about getting rid of the British.”

But Matthew was a very welcome foreigner – he’d earlier tweeted Cincinnati Enquirer reporter, Jim Owczarski, with the hashtag #whodey – the Bengals’ chant.

Jim’s resulting feature on the Brit’s dedication for a relatively obscure NFL team has found him new friends online.

Jim said: "I keep a column on Tweetdeck using several Bengals-related hashtags. I thought it would be interesting to talk to them - and of course find out why they were Bengals fans. I mean, that's a long way to go.

"Fortunately for me they allowed me to be a small part of their trip and the reaction locally was incredible. Cincinnati-based fans really were impressed and Bengals fans from Russia to the Netherlands reached out, too. It was a really fun piece to do."

Matthew dates his Bengals obsession to a televised match nine years ago, when a bout of insomnia saw him flicking TV channels.

“I settled on an NFL game and realised I really loved the sport. It was the Bengals against the Indiana Colts and the Bengals got beat.

“I support Wanderers, another team that’s not very well know for winning things, so I thought I’d carry on following the underdogs.

“Now, if one team gets beat, I’m always hopeful that the other can make up for it.”

Matthew’s hopes were certainly realised during his trip, with the Bengals’ thrilling 24-19 victory over the San Diego Chargers on September 20 contrasting with the Whites’ 4-1 defeat to Huddersfield the day before.

Now, despite a slightly lighter wallet, the father-of-one says he’s looking forward to a return trip next year and making more friends.

“The last couple of days have been very unusual," he said. "I’ve been getting lots of new Twitter followers online. One woman who’d seen Jim’s report recognised having stood behind ‘a cool looking British Bengals fan at the airport!’

“I’m just a normal bloke from Bolton who got a bit drunk one night, but it’s turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done.”