Plymouth Argyle's US-based fans watch matches together

Ken Seelman made the journey from Michigan to Plymouth in 2006 to step foot on the pitch of Home Park Stadium

Two Americans who set up an English football team support group in the USA have created a network of fans that watch matches together thousands of miles away.

Argyle USA was started by Ken Seelman and Troy Mayne when they realised they both followed Plymouth Argyle Football Club (PAFC) on social media.

The men, from Michigan and Wisconsin, began hosting PAFC game watch parties.

They have since found supporters in Turkey, Russia and Brazil.

Mr Seelman, from Michigan, said football was international and "we might not understand what everybody's saying, but we will know if we score, if we get scored on".

They each have "quirky reasons" why they support Argyle, said Mr Mayne, from Wisconsin.

Troy Mayne visiting Home Park in 2006

Mr Mayne said he had multiple links to the south-west of England, including being a descendant of Myles Standish, who was on the Mayflower that sailed from Plymouth to America in 1620.

PAFC currently play in League One, the third tier of English football.

Mr Mayne started supporting the club in the mid-90s, after being introduced to English football by his brother who lived in London.

"I didn't want to go from not following English soccer at all to following one of the top teams in the country.

"I needed to find a team that I could maybe suffer with a little bit and dig into the back story."

Mr Mayne said further genealogy research showed his ancestors were also Cornish miners that came over to Wisconsin in the 1840s.

"So I looked to the South West and Plymouth Argyle is the team I arrived at," he said.

Ken Seelman (right) and his former coach Ralph Teagle (centre right) travelled together to visit Home Park

Other cofounder, Mr Seelman, said: "I started playing soccer over here in the states back in the 70s and our coach was from Plymouth originally and Plymouth Argyle was his team.

"He would stop at half-time and tell us stories about going to Home Park and watching games.

"As I got older, I needed to have a team to follow, and I thought of course I'm going to choose Plymouth because I have been following them since I was seven or eight," he said.

The Argyle USA Twitter page has more than 600 followers

In October 2019, Mr Seelman and Mr Mayne began the Argyle USA Twitter account which now boasts more than 600 followers.

Mr Mayne said it was created "as a place to plant a flag, so that any American-based fans could find each other, develop that camaraderie and know that there were others.

"To our delight we'd add a follower here, a follower there, some would write and say 'I'm based in California', and we started picking people up one at a time," he said.

Argyle USA also watch PAFC games together on Zoom, which includes the club's Chairman Simon Hallett who also lives in America.

Ahead of his visit, Troy Mayne wrote to PAFC to tell them that he was an American fan due to attend a game, and they provided him with a tour of the ground

"It's just like your group of friends that you'd go to the bar with before the game, except we are doing it on Zoom at our own houses.

"It's just good to see everybody, we've become friends through Zoom," Mr Seelman added.

The time difference often means that the group have to be ready to watch the games at 09:00 (CST) or 10:00 (EST) to watch a 15:00 (BST) game on a Saturday.

Mr Seelman and Mr Mayne have since met in person to watch their American soccer teams they also support play each other.

Although, Mr Seelman said he wore a PAFC shirt so that Mr Mayne could spot him in the crowd.

One day they both hope to get the whole Argyle USA group to make a trip to Home Park Stadium to watch a match in person.