Tour diary: Albion to Albion provides epic journey

That was the story of John Soder and his wife Kim, who travelled south across the United States to watch their first ever live Baggies game – from a fitting home town.

The couple were born and bred in Erie, Pennsylvania, with no links to the UK or to the West Midlands.

But when the sports-mad couple relocated to the small town of Albion, they were shocked to turn on the TV and find a Premier League side with the same name.

They have been Baggies fans from afar ever since and, when the club announced details of their US tour, made plans immediately to make the epic drive south for last night's game in Richmond, Virginia, against Richmond Kickers.

They spent the weekend mingling with fellow Baggies and met up before the game at the Mellow Mushroom pub, a short walk from the Richmond City Stadium.

They were not alone in travelling huge distances to be a part of the tour. Expat Joanne Klein, who emigrated to Canada at the age of 12 from West Bromwich, travelled for 16 hours with her two children, who are staunch Baggies fans despite being born and raised on the other side of the Atlantic.

One man who did not have to travel as far was a familiar face to several of the Albion players.

Darren Eales used to be the Baggies' secretary and legal expert before leaving The Hawthorns in 2010.

But Eales, who played football in the US, where he met his wife, is now back Stateside as president of the new Atlanta United MLS team, who will start playing in 2017.

He drove four hours to Charleston to watch his old club in action on Friday.

"When I got the offer to start a whole team from scratch it was something that not many people have the opportunity to do," he said.