Bradford City fan will cross the world to see his team play at Wembley Stadium

Nick Allan has shelled out nearly £2,000 to fly from Wellington to London to catch the Capital One Cup final against Swansea City.

Mr Allan has supported the Bantams since he was four, following in the footsteps of his dad – a born and bred Bradfordian – who he will be reunited with at the match, along with his two step-brothers.

The 34-year-old begins the first 11,686-mile leg of his journey at 3pm today, landing at midday tomorrow in time for the fixture on Sunday, before starting the slog back on Monday.

He said he had been so excited about the match that he had not been able to sleep properly since he got his ticket.

“I can’t wait to get to this game, the long journey is a pain but totally worth it,” he said.

“There was no way I was going to miss this match. All those times seeing them play at places like Aldershot and lose, I’m not going to miss them play at Wembley.”

He added: “I can’t wait for the game and we should get spanked 6-0, but even if that is the score, no one’s going to remember who won, only that the Bantams were playing.”

With the eyes of the world on the club, lobbying group Bradford Breakthrough is seizing the opportunity to show off all the city has to offer, launching a series of events exhibiting Bradford’s businesses, cultural assets, community projects and landscapes.

The first three will coincide with the Bradford International Film Festival in April, the Academy of Urbanism Conference in May and the BBC Bollywood Live event in June, with others planned for later in the year.

Chief executive Colin Philpott said: “We believe Bradford needs to be better at shouting about its strengths and its exciting future plans. We will be honest about Bradford’s challenges but we feel that there are so many great things going on in Bradford of which we can be very proud.”

City at Wembley: Page 24.