Expat Villa fan excited for team's Paris match

Villa fan Liz Medcraft, pictured with her partner Patrice, said she was looking forward to her team coming to her current home city of Paris

A British expat living in France says she will do whatever she can to try to watch her favourite football team play up close after years of supporting them from afar.

Liz Medcraft used to be an Aston Villa season ticket holder after falling in love with the team when she was 12, before moving to Paris.

"I became fan when I watched David Platt score the last minute, extra time goal against Belgium in the 1990 World Cup", the former Stourbridge resident said.

Aston Villa will play Paris St-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final with the first leg in Paris on 9 April.

"I wasn't born and bred a Villa fan", she told BBC Radio WM. But after watching Platt score, she said she was adamant to go and watch him play in real life.

"I was 12 at the time. I thought I love him. I want to go see him and then my dad took me to Villa Park the following season," Ms Medcraft said.

"I saw two games that season and the second game I saw he scored a hat trick against Tottenham and I was hooked."

After moving to Paris, Ms Medcraft said she was resigned to watching her team play on French TV on Saturday afternoons.

"I was a season ticket holder until I moved to France. I followed them home and away - and now I follow them from far away", she added.

But with Villa continuing their Champions League exploits with a trip to her current home city, Ms Medcraft said the excitement was starting to build.

"Its going to be quite complicated but I'm going to try and get tickets," she said.

"It's quite exciting - I've started to get messages from all my French friends.

"Some are season ticket holders so I'm going to try to wrangle it!"