Jedd Cooley, a 28-year-old from the county of Wiltshire made a 1,098-mile trip to Tuscany to watch Serie C outfit San Donato Tavarnelle take on Siena on Sunday, inspired by his Football Manager career.
The inspiration behind the trip came in the form of a Football Manager save, in which Cooley took the Tuscan minnows from the lower depths of the Italian football pyramid to footballing greatness.
“It all started on Football Manager. I took San Donato Tavarnelle because they wear the same colours as the amateur club where I play, Dilton Marsh Wanderers,” Cooley explained to Cronache di Spogliatoio. “I went on with the seasons: now I’m in 2036 and I’ve won everything.”
The Tuscans were promoted from Serie D at the end of last season and are aiming to maintain their place at the higher level by the end of this campaign.
San Donato, based in the rural area of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, has a local population of just under 8,000 people and is one of the smallest clubs to have reached professional status in Italy.
On 1 November 2022, the recently converted San Donato superfan sent a message to the club’s Instagram page asking whether it was possible to purchase a replica shirt.
Gobsmacked by the notion that the club had a fledgling following in the south of England, representatives from San Donato kept in contact with Cooley, who made the trip out for Sunday evening’s local derby against Siena.
So high were his levels of passion for the Tuscan side, Cooley convinced his wife, who is pregnant and expecting a baby boy, to accompany him to Italy.
After their flight to Pisa and following a further two-hour train ride over to the province of Arezzo, the couple made it to Siena’s 15,000-capacity Montepaschi Arena.
San Donato, 15th in the group B table of Serie C, held out for an important 1-1 draw against their neighbours, who sit comfortably in eighth place in the division.
The club also set up the opportunity for Cooley to meet some of the stars of the side, including strikers Leonardo Ubaldi and Edoardo Marzierli and was presented with a shirt from the former to take back to Wiltshire.
Cooley also made a significant promise that this will not be the last time he flies out for one of their games, adding: “I will come back to see you with my son.”