Darryl Webster’s debut as a writer, is a great read for anyone who is a Manchester City fan, fan of travel, or just hijinks. He’s a Toronto based musician, sport apperal shop lover, who decided to follow the 2013-2014 Manchester City team by visiting as many supporter clubs around the world as he can. To do this, he started a crowd funding campaign. What came out of all of this, was Pitch Publishing’s ‘Pride in Travel’.

His love of City starts off after failed attempts at following other clubs around the world. As a note unlike in Europe, the North American’s don’t grow up with a club, we research of have one brough upon us. Darryl’s sister was living in Manchester in 2004, and asked him what type of gift he’d like for Xmas. He told her a “Shirt from City, because he looks better in blue, and everyone wears United shirts.”While she did get him a City jersey, it wasn’t the blue one, which made him panic. This one of the many stories in the book that will make you laugh hard. He began following City, in Canada on a dialup internet connection. This talks to so many North American fans of the sport in the early days. Before social networking and the expansion of internet, the only way to get the results were online. And we’d only see the Champions League matches.

Along the way Darryl spends many nights on friends couches, sharing a pint or three with new friends, while learning about each supporters club he goes to. The colorful characters like Johnny Danish in Washington DC, carrying a shot and a beer while humming a long forgotten television tune from a show with a talking car. In DC, he samples a local ale while meeting a DC United fan while watching a match against Cardiff.

We follow him in the US to New York City, and then he takes a memberable trip to Chicago where he meets an attractive lady at a concert, who he ends up spending a day touring Chicago with. She also buys a Manchester City jumper also. Score one for the EPL. He meets up with the Chicago Blue’s supporters and drinks too much, but wittness’ the derby. He’s paniced when he walks into the Globe, a Chicago football pub, and sees red, the scene is well worth buying the book for. If not the numerous other stories that he produces. In Chicago he meets Victoria a Sheffield born supporter living in Chicago, and a fun twitter follow.

You have to buy the book for the trip to Iceland, the Abu Dhabi trip and many other fun stories you’ll read. Football supporters and the books they have produced in the recent years has been another way to follow the sport. And spot on to Darryl for getting a Liverpool fan like me to read a book about the city down the road. Regardless of what club you support, please pick up this book, even if it’s to help you fill in gaps in your head about other clubs. While you are also reading this after the Christmas presents have been bought, and probably unwrapped, it would be a great after Christmas present to anyone who wants to read a very funny, great book.

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