Spanish lads travel 1,000 miles to Alfreton Town FC for stag do to complete Football Manager dream

A stag party travelling from Alfreton to Spain to watch a Barcelona game sounds perfectly plausible - but how about a stag party from Barcelona travelling to the UK to watch an Alfreton game?

Well, that's exactly what Cristóbal Novo Gonzalvo and his mates did.

They travelled 1,074 miles (1,729km) to watch the National League North side take on Darlington at Alfreton's Impact Arena Stadium on 4 March.

Cristóbal opted to manage the club on Football Manager after he visited the town on holiday 12 years ago, and from there his love for the Derbyshire side has grown and grown.

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"I was on holiday and I came to the town. It was wonderful and I fell in love right away," the 34-year-old explained.

"As soon as I got home I made them my team on Football Manager.

"I don't really know why I love the team so much. It could be the red strip they play in or their original name or the fact that they are a small town so far away from me, I just love them.

"I have been successful on the game but I wanted to see them in real life."

Not only did the engineer get to see them, his beloved club also arranged for him to be mascot as a special stag do surprise, and after the side's 2-2 draw, the party were treated to a tour of the stadium and beers with the players.

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"It was a brilliant day. The game was very entertaining and I was honoured to me made a mascot for the day. It was a crazy thing to happen," he said.

"I was so desperate to see the town again my friends arranged for me to come over for the game.

"My friends were impressed with the kindness of the people. They know that I like Alfreton and we have friends there and they decided to go for my stag there.

"It was incredible. I got to go on the pitch and meet the manager and it was great. The main event of the stag do was the trip to Alfreton Town FC.

"Over the weekend many beers were consumed, and we had a great time."

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Cristóbal will tie the knot with fiancée Elena Villar, 33, on 15 April - and she knows trips to Alfreton are part of the deal.

He said: "My future wife knows about me and my crazy problem with football and also Alfreton.

"I have already said we will go together to watch Alfreton next season so hopefully they will win."

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Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey