Father and son flying from US to be at FA Cup match

A father and son from the Unites States will be catching three flights to support their team at an FA Cup match.

Exeter City fan George, who is originally from Exeter, and his son Charlie, 11, are travelling from San Diego in California to watch their club take on "big premier league team" Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium for the FA Cup third-round tie on Saturday.

They were flying from San Diego to Chicago before taking a flight from Chicago to Dublin and another to Manchester. They hoped to arrive on Friday afternoon after travelling 6,160km (3,830 miles).

Charlie said he was "very, very excited" for the match and had convinced some of his American friends to support Exeter City.

George said they would be meeting up with friends who had travelled to Manchester from Exeter for a "pre-match build up before the big game".

Charlie, who plays football, said it would be great to see Exeter City win but good just to see the team play at Etihad Stadium.

"I do hope we can keep it tight and they've been having some good results recently," George said.

"If you asked me a month ago, I would have been extremely scared of the result, but we have been coming into a bit of form."

"If we get a moment like that, like a goal, that would be great."

George said the head coach at his home club, the Coronado Youth Soccer League, had a connection to Exeter City.

"Simon Hayward used to be the academy director at Exeter City," he said.

"On his first day he saw Charlie walking across the field in his Exeter City shirt, and he thought someone had done it as a joke because he couldn't believe there was an Exeter fan in California.

"We are enjoying having him out here in Coronado," said George.

Manchester City is one of three league teams Exeter City has never played. The game, starting at 15:00 GMT, will not be lived streamed in the UK.

Charlie, who likes to play in defence at his local football club, predicted Exeter City to win 1-0 with an "early goal".

But George predicted either Exeter City would win 1-0 or lose 6-0.

He added: "We did it before in Manchester in 2004. Three of my friends went to that game so we're meeting up in Manchester again.

"That game wasn't chosen for TV, and we got a result so there's a number of good omens to get the 0-0 at least."

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].