8: "It means everything to me" - William Dalton, London – San Lorenzo

William Dalton is from London and has been a supporter of San Lorenzo for 7 years.

He discovered the club while looking to spend some time in South America to learn Spanish, after his trip where he just immersed himself into the club and the culture, he started the twitter handle @SanLorenzoEng on his return to London.

His club legend is local boy Leandro Romagnoli, William talked about why being a local boy means so much in Argentina. We discussed why loyalty from players means so much as football fans.

San Lorenzo are well known for their songs. William shared a few with me and spoke about the creativity that goes into the chants and songs created by a group called  'Escuela de tablones' (School of the Terraces). 

We talked about how big the Club World Cup is in South America. Where fans will take out loans, in some cases selling their cars or even quitting their jobs just to be able to travel to the games.

One of the reasons Will was so drawn to the club is because much like his local club Charlton Athletic, San Lorenzo too lost their ground in the 70s. While Charlton eventually got their club back through a unique political campaign, San Lorenzo is at the moment in the midst of trying to get back to their old stadium.

Part of which was a great campaign where San Lorenzo fans could buy a symbolic meter square of the ground where the stadium once stood. 

 

Will told me fantastic stories about finding a fellow San Lorenzo fan on the streets of London, the incredible generosity of the San Lorenzo fans and his little collection of gifts and mementos from them.

He says that his journey with San Lorenzo has impacted his life in a big way. It helped him learn Spanish. In what he calls the best weekend of his life, he saw them win and met Lili, who would go on to be his wife. He says following San Lorenzo has been the best decision he has ever made.

We’d love to hear from you about your journey with a football club, get in touch with us on Twitter @FarAwayFanPod or on Instagram.