A LIFELONG Spennymoor Town fan is travelling from Russia with love to see his team play at Wembley in the FA Carlsberg Vase.

John Oxenham is to fly 1,800 miles from Moscow, Russia, to cheer on his beloved club at Wembley in the cup final this weekend (Saturday, May 4).

The 60-year-old hails from Hartlepool, in Teesside, and lived in Spennymoor, County Durham, from the age of two. He moved to Russia, due to work commitments, 12 years ago.

On Friday he will fly 1,800 miles to London  to see the biggest match of Spennymoor Town’s history the next day. He will then fly back to Russia on Sunday.

John said: "I only make it back to England a few times per year for special occasions. A trip to the home of English football with my home town team certainly falls into the special category.

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"Reaching Wembley is an exciting day out for the fans. It is an outstanding achievement by Jason Ainsely, the club manager, and the boys and will be remembered for a long time.

"I still follow the team through my good mate Billy Beasley,  on the official Twitter feed and on the club’s website.

"I was at the FA Trophy semi-final defeat against Leatherhead in the 1977-78 season when we missed out on Wembley last time, so to put that to bed and finally make it is a great feeling."

John has a long-time link with Spennymoor Town and was a board member of the club when it was previously known as Spennymoor United. He runs his own company and he is a kit sponsor for the club. His family run the Clem’s fish and chip restaurant business.

John thinks the Wembley trip is down to the hard work of the manager and players.

Mike Rowcroft, a director of Spennymoor Town, said: “It’s amazing that someone is coming from Russia to see the game.

“He is the Spennymoor fan who is travelling the furthest to watch the team at Wembley. It adds to the specialness of the occasion.

“We’ve had requests for tickets from Spennymoor fans from across the country.”