So how did a teenager growing up in a city on the west coast of Finland ever hear about Watford Football Club? It is best to let Kimmo Nyman explain.

“In Finland we have been able to watch English football since the 1960s,” he says. “So I would watch it on Saturday when I was younger.

“I decided to support Watford because of their rise from the bottom division to the top division thanks to Elton John and Graham Taylor.

“Watford played sexy football and they had exciting players with the likes of John Barnes and Luther Blissett. So it was an easy choice.”

Since his teens the now 47-year-old had supported Watford from afar. He has watched games on television, listened to commentary online and read countless match reports.

He even attended the Play-Off final defeat to Crystal Palace in 2013 at Wembley Stadium but a visit to Vicarage Road remained elusive.

But that changed on Tuesday night against Fulham. Kimmo went to the match with his friend Jason Standen, a former Watford season ticket holder who moved over to Finland ten years ago. Both were guests of the club.

“It was very emotional to come to Vicarage Road,” Kimmo explains. “I had planned to come over sooner but four kids, a nagging wife and debts meant I wasn’t able to.

“Both of us can only really do it once a year and we have to be able to fit in two games, that is because it costs almost €800 to come over to England.

“It also takes me 15 hours to get to England because I had to travel 450 kilometres in Finland to get to Helsinki airport.

“But I suppose we have fans in Australia and the USA, so I expect it takes them even longer to get here. It is worth it though.”

As part of Kimmo and Jason’s visit, Watford organised for the pair to spend time at the club’s London Colney training ground on Monday afternoon.

They met Troy Deeney, Odion Ighalo and Joel Ekstrand and spent half-an-hour discussing football with Hornets head coach Slavisa Jokanovic.

But it wasn’t the first occasion Kimmo has spent time in the company of Watford’s players. It is an interesting story.

He explains: “In 1987 Watford were on a pre-season tour of Finland. I travelled to see them and I met club captain John McClelland, he invited me onto the team coach and I spent the day with them.

“It was a fantastic experience for me. But the crazy thing is that two years ago we travelled over for the Play-Off final against Crystal Palace and who was the first person we saw coming down the stairs at Watford tube station? John McClelland.

“I rushed over and after 35 years he remembered me. That is proof of how big this club’s heart is.”

Kimmo continued: “We are a family club. Graham Taylor marketed the club like that and it really is the case.

“Fans at a lot of clubs are similar but with a smaller team like Watford, you can interact more with people.

“You get to speak to the manager and 35 years after meeting you in Finland, the captain at the time remembers you. That doesn’t happen if you support a team like Liverpool or Manchester United.

“If you support a team like Watford, it shows something about your character.”