Imps' fans who have frequented social media over the last few years will have likely seen a number of supporters from overseas commenting on results and we wanted to speak to one of them to discover what it means to them to be a City supporter despite being thousands of miles away.
Yael Murillo, who is affectionally known as the self titled – ‘Mexican Imp’ hails from Aguascalientes and has followed The Imps’ fortunes after coming across the club digitally, but little did he know this chance meeting with the club would lead to a passion which now sees him waking early in the morning to see his side in action.
Yael said: “I first met Lincoln City on the Xbox video game FIFA 09. I liked the club logo and I made my career with Lincoln. I played an entire year with the Imps, we won some cups and championships in the videogame. From them I began to look for information on the internet about the real team but when the team got relegated from the League it was much harder (to do).”
That original ‘meeting’ with the club stayed with Yael, as City progressed in the FA Cup in 2017 his interest and support for the club grew from strength to strength and it’s become a bond which is now unbreakable.
“Well, I met this club 12 years ago, but I think I became a real supporter since 2017 with the FA Cup run. In January 2017 I found on YouYube the first game against Ipswich. I knew that Lincoln City was leading or second place of the National League and I started to follow that FA Cup run
“I watched the highlights from the second Ipswich game on YouTube, then the Brighton and Burnley game. This last victory was big news here in México. The first time that I was able to watch on tv, Lincoln City was versus Arsenal in the FA Quarter Finals.”
Following the cup run and the promotion back to the Football League, Yael had an ambition to come over to the UK and watch City in action. That dream became a reality in December 2018 as City headed to Stevenage in Skybet League Two, the welcome he received from the City fans who travelled to the game that day have left an indelible mark on him and reaffirmed his support for what he now sees as his football club.
“The most that I have enjoyed was the reception that I had when I was in England watching Lincoln City for first time on Stevenage on December 2018. I met fans who made me feel part of them, like David Smith, Graeme, Michael Norton, Simon Mills and Graham Burrell.
“I met Matt Rhead and Harry Anderson. They were very nice with me.
"This whole day was one of the biggest experiences of my life”
Back in Mexico, Yael keeps up to date watching The Imps on We Are Imps iFollow and he says it’s been great to keep up with things around the club and all the games as he’s unable to catch us on TV in South America very often. After realising his first ambition of seeing City in action live, his dream has now progressed to seeing his club dining at the top table of English football and beyond.
“I have before buy the half season iFollow ticket, and other times the month season ticket, I always try to be informed. When we play vs Premier League teams, I could watch Lincoln City on TV here in Mexico.
“My biggest Lincoln City dream is to watch The Imps playing in a UEFA competition, of course to get that get the promotion to Championship and then Premier League first. But I really love the cups like the EFL Cup and the FA Cup so we can play in Europe without being in the Premier League if we won one of them. But hey! To dream is free and one day we are gonna get that.”
