Islanders fans from UK travel to MetLife Stadium to cheer for their beloved team
The U.K. Islanders Fan Club is a group of 20 hockey-loving, Union Jack-wearing, long-distance fans from all over England.
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From Mastic to Midtown, thousands of Islanders fans made the trip from Long Island to MetLife Stadium for Sunday's outdoor game against the Rangers.
But nobody came farther than these fans: the U.K. Islanders Fan Club is a group of 20 hockey-loving, Union Jack-wearing, long-distance fans from all over England.
The group shared stories about how in the world they became Islanders fans, 3,000 miles away from Long Island.
"A friend who I met watching my local hockey team in the U.K., he was an Islander fan and I didn't have a team at the time, so I was like, 'I'll just follow them,' said David Grant, of Sheffield.
"When I arrived in New York, Rangers game was $90 and an Islander game was $20, and I went and I loved it," said Jack Woolston.
Andy Welsh is the group's founder and organizes trips to hockey games in England throughout the year... but he says England is not exactly a hockey hotbed.
"When people go to watch it, they're hooked. It's getting them to come watch it, that's the issue," Welsh said.
These mates are mad for it, however. They chose an outdoor game and a record setting crowd to kick off their first ever trip ever to New York. They bundled up, gathered up and added a British accent to the Islanders cheers from the crowd.
The U.K. Islanders Fan Club will be at the UBS Arena on Saturday as the Islanders face off against visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.
