In the latest column written by United fans, KOTARO SUMITA explains his overseas loyalty

A TYPICAL English football supporter only has one club in his or her life.

A typical Japanese fan will visit stadiums in the UK to support Japanese players, like Shinji Okazaki at Leicester City, Shinji Kagawa at Manchester United, Hidetoshi Nakata at Bolton Wanderers and Junichi Inamoto at Fulham.

As soon as players move clubs, Japanese fans lose interest and stop supporting that team.

Why have I kept supporting the U’s for 17 years? For me, Oxford is like my birthplace – “Oxford till I Die”. I have lived here and visited many times.

Of course, I have favourite players – Matt Murphy, David Connolly, Jake Wright and Benji Büchel.

Jake showed kindness talking with me when I visited the training ground.

Benji gave me a fantastic surprise – I was at Heathrow Airport on August 29 when he suddenly found me and said hello.

I was wearing the U’s training kit at the time and he had seen me at the training ground and recognised me. We chatted and took pictures.

Benji is my first Liechtenstein friend and I am praying for his success with the national team and the U’s.