He’s been an avid Bradford City fan for a quarter of a century – so with his team about to play at Wembley, football mad Nick Allan is refusing to let half a world stand in his way.

Mr Allan, who lives in New Zealand, is jetting almost 12,000 miles and across 13 time zones to support City on Sunday.

And after only a weekend in England he is flying all the way back again.

The epic journey will cost £1,500 – but that level of dedication is not totally out of the ordinary for Nick who once took a year out of university to follow his team.

The 34-year-old, who spent his early years in Australia, got his love for City from his dad Geoffrey who is from Shipley. He was able to follow his club properly after moving to Pool-in-Wharfedale when he was nine.

Now living in Wellington for two years he is planning to team up with his dad again to cheer them on in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley.

Mr Allan has already shown his dedication to his team when he took a year out from university in South Wales during City’s first season in the Premier League.

His father said: “In 1999 City won promotion to the Premier League. Nick was at University in South Wales and the only way he could guarantee he could get to the games was to come and live back here.”

Mr Allan was setting off from Wellington today, arriving tomorrow morning, and will leave Heathrow again on Monday night.

His father said: “He can’t afford any more time off work so he is just coming over to London and we will just spend the weekend together and then he will go back.”

But despite the fast turnaround he fully backs his son’s trip.

Mr Allan Snr said: “I think it’s terrific and I’m really thrilled. I think he is doing the right thing because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is the first time ever a club as lowly as City have got to the cup final.”