Meet the Leeds United fan from Czech Republic who travels every week to watch his beloved team at Elland Road

Mark Calvert, 49, has been a season ticket for four years and was determined not to let a move to the “middle of nowhere” in the south of the Czech Republic last year get between him and his passion.

“It’s like going to church, for me”, he said. “It’s my second home. I’ve met so many friends there and it’s about going and sharing it with them. It’s difficult to put it into context but I couldn’t go without it.”

By the end of 2024 he will have taken 68 flights from Bratislava and Vienna via Dublin, Nantes and various other airports to ensure that he can see The Whites.

Mr Calvert got in touch with the YEP about his frequent excursions after making his first round trip over in a single day on Saturday to watch his team batter Plymouth 3-0.

The trip saw him leave at 4.45am for Bratislava in Slovakia, where he then flew to Manchester before getting a train to Leeds, walking to Elland Road, enjoying the game and then being taken to Leeds Bradford Airport where he flew back to Bratislava and drove home.

He said: “I was in bed at 12.30am after 20 hours of travelling. It was a great win and three points though so well worth it.”

Mr Calvert, who was born and raised in Leeds, became a generational United fan and went to his first game at Elland Road in 1988, where he watched them beat Bradford City 2-0.

Having been to games ever since, he has also developed further ties with the club through his former businesses that he set up and also lived in close proximity to some of the club’s stars while living in Wetherby before setting off for the Czech Republic last April.

He explained that after folding his last business, he and his wife, who is of Czech origin, decided to move to the village of Milotice, where the couple were married, with their three-year-old son Marek.

“I quickly became pretty well known in the village”, Mark said. “My Czech’s limited but I can swear like a trooper. And I drive around in a Range Rover with right-hand drive and a ‘Marching on Together’ number plate.”

Since the move the couple have been running a village pub - where Czech lager costs an enticing £1.20 - and Mark said that there was little question over whether he would still make it to the Leeds United games.

He said: “My wife was great. She said it was fine when I asked if I could keep my season ticket because eventually I’ll want to take the young boy. And the waiting list for is about 27,000 long!”

Mark made it to Wembley at the end of last season to watch Leeds in the play-off final and has spent hours travelling across Europe to make it to Elland Road every other week.

“It’s a fair commitment”, he said. “People think I’m mad.

“A lot of people associate going to airports with going on holiday and fun but for me it’s like getting a bus.

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“But to me Leeds United is the biggest club in the world. I’m not religious but for me it’s like a religion. The guys in the village call Elland Road ‘kostel’ because I call it church.

“I’ve brought some of them over for games and they’ve never known anything like it. They had goose bumps when the teams come out and ‘Marching on Together’ is playing.”

The club’s success in the opening quarter of the season has also made the journeys more bearable, with Mark saying: “I think we will go up automatically. I think they need to strengthen in January but some of the recent signings have been quite good.

“I think the quality of the league is not what it was last year as well. I don’t think there’s anyone we should fear.”

Mark is also feeling optimistic about the club’s future under its new and ever-growing stewardship, saying: “Everyone was worried that the club would become Americanised but I think so long as they remember the club is for the fans and they keep the traditional values; I haven’t got a problem with it.”