Why Spain Took Over Part Of Wembley For The Bristol Street Motors Trophy Final

Why Spain Took Over Part Of Wembley For The Bristol Street Motors Trophy Final

As Peterborough United celebrated victory on the Wembley pitch following the Bristol Street Motors Trophy final, the majority of Wycombe Wanderers fans slowly started to head for the exits to make their way home.

Two late goals for Harrison Burrows, either side of a fine equaliser from Dale Taylor, had prevented Wycombe from lifting the trophy for the first time, and most fans didn’t want to stay to watch their rivals trophy collect the trophy from Bristol Street Motors CEO Robert Forrester.

There was however a notable, and vocal, section of the Wycombe support still present behind the goal in the West stand who were keen to savour every moment of their afternoon at the home of English football – even after seeing their team slide to defeat.

Those supporters were all followers of La Media Inglesa, a project launched back in 2010 to showcase English football to Spanish-speaking audiences around the globe.

Impressively, each of them had travelled from overseas for the occasion – with some coming from as far away as Latin America...

Founded by Ilie Oleart, La Media Inglesa has grown to a position where it now has more than 403,000 subscribers on YouTube and hundreds of fans made the trip to Wembley to cheer on Wycombe, having adopted the Chairboys as ‘their’ club.

Having previously travelled to England to cheer on the team in both League One and FA Cup action at Adams Park, La Media Inglesa members were also on hand at Wembley to cheer Wycombe on in the 2022 play-off final against Sunderland and visited Portsmouth back in May last year to cheer Wycombe on in a 2-2 draw.

The Spanish fans had been due to cheer Wycombe on at home to Derby on 6 April, but progression to the Bristol Street Motors Trophy Final meant that instead, they would take their place in the stands at Wembley – with fellow fans coming together to raise more than £2,000 to help cover the additional costs that emerged after Wycombe’s run in the Trophy resulted in a change of plans.

That support reflected the community spirit that has been seen throughout the 2023/24 competition, with hundreds of fans from various groups having had the chance to attend games this season using tickets gifted by Bristol Street Motors.

Whilst the result for La Media Inglesa may not have gone the right way, the enthusiasm displayed before, during and after the game was a reflection of how much the supporters had enjoyed their visit to Wembley in continued support of their side.

“I started this programme around 15 years ago as an outlet about English football in Spanish,” Oleart said. “I have always loved English football and thought it would be a nice thing to focus on, and we have grown to now be the largest Spanish-speaking channel on English football in the world.

“We have nearly half a million subscribers on YouTube and a huge audience in Spanish-speaking nations – including the likes of Argentina and Mexico – and as we have grown, people got in touch to ask which club they should support.”

Rather than simply tell fans who to support, Oleart and those behind the project reached out to all 92 clubs across the Premier League and the EFL to ask why a Spanish fan should give them their support – and it was Wycombe that made the biggest impression...

“When we contacted them, only 13 clubs replied and Wycombe Wanderers were the only one that did it in Spanish,” Oleart continued. “They invited us along to meet the players and we fell in the love with the club, whilst they were amazed at how wide the reach of our video was.

“Since 2021, we have been the Official International Media Partner for the club and they have shown our videos on the big screen at Adams Park, so we have developed a really special relationship – and we all love cheering Wycombe on.

“People have come from as far away as Mexico for this game so it shows how important it is. Coming to Wembley is a huge thing for someone from overseas and even though we lost, it’s been a great experience for us all.”

That relationship between the fans and the club extends to a limited number of replica Wycombe Wanderers shirts that carry the La Media Inglesa logo proudly on the front, many of which were evident amongst those who made the visit to Wembley for the final.

One such fan by the name of Santi had made the trip with his father, having also been present for the last visit to the iconic London stadium.

“The whole experience has been great and we just came here to have fun,” he said. “Of course we are sad that Wycombe didn’t win the game, but there are hundreds of us here from Spain and from Latina America who just wanted to have a good time with our friends.

“Coming to Wembley is something that me and my father never expected to do, and now we’ve been here twice. The Sunderland game in the play-offs was a crazy experience so to repeat it has been great and if the chance comes along in the future to come back here and cheer on Wycombe again, then we will!”

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