A married couple have travelled more than 3,000 miles to attend today's FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Sheffield United - but will be sitting at opposite ends of Wembley. Caroline Oatway, 32, is a City fan but hubby Shaun Littler, also 32, is a diehard Blade.
The couple were watching the moment when the teams were drew to play against each other at Wembley on April 22 live from their home in Boston, USA. And when they realised they would be visiting family then, they decided to get tickets - in their clubs' respective ends.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
The pair will even travel to London separately as bluenose Caroline plans to go with her friends while Shaun will travel with his family. Caroline, originally from Manchester, is confident her side will win but admits it's 'going to be a long flight' back home next week for whoever's team loses.
She said: "I certainly hope City are going to win. On paper they definitely should but football doesn't that work that way and I've followed City long enough to know that they don't always work that way.
"We keep saying it's going to be a long flight for one of us. We don't actually fly until next Thursday so there is a little bit of a cooling down period from now and then."
She added: "We were watching the draw live and we just knew it was going to happen. We knew we was going to be in the UK and kept saying how amazing and crazy it would be for the two sides to play each other.
"I wish we would have recorded our reactions because there was just about 30 seconds of silence with our heads in our hands. It was the draw neither of us wanted really because Sheffield United obviously wanted the best chance of reaching the final.
"I just thought that the next couple of weeks are going to be interesting living with Shaun and then seeing his family of Sheffield United fans."
Shaun, who works in financial recruitment, said that at first the couple didn't want the draw but they realised it would be a 'great day' for them both.
He said: "It's a funny one really because it's the draw neither of us wanted. We wanted the best chance to get to the final and we've drawn City and they are the hardest team who will completely destroy us to be honest.
"We realised we would be over for the game and then realised what a day out it will be. I think then we realised what a great day it will be for us as individuals and as a couple and for our families as well."
Shaun, originally from Sheffield, said: "My head says that we will probably get beaten by about four or five goals. My heart says that you never know and it's 90 minutes.
"I look back at the Wigan FA final in 2013 and they beat Manchester City - they were massive underdogs. Nobody ever gave them a slight chance of winning and they ended up beating them with a last minute goal.
"We'll just be hoping for the best."
READ NEXT
