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Football fan travels 5,000 miles to meet hero
Carl Nixon travelled more than 5,000 miles from Las Vegas to watch Rotherham United and meet striker Paul Mullin, despite the team losing 2-1 to Swindon Town. Inspired by the documentary *Welcome to Wrexham*, Nixon admired Mullin’s openness about raising a child with autism and wanted to meet him after his move to South Yorkshire.
The £2,000 trip was Nixon’s first football match. He also felt drawn to Rotherham because it reminded him of his hometown of Akron, Ohio, an industrial town seeking to reinvent itself. Rotherham gave him a hat, shirt and scarf, invited him to read the team sheet over the stadium PA, and arranged for him to meet Mullin before the game; Mullin scored 110 goals in 172 appearances for Wrexham.
In short
- Las Vegas fan Carl Nixon travelled over 5,000 miles to see Rotherham.
- He met Paul Mullin, whose story inspired the trip.
- Rotherham helped make his first football match memorable.
Explained simply
Rotherham United is a professional football club from South Yorkshire, while Swindon Town is based in Wiltshire. Paul Mullin is a striker who became well known during his time at Welsh club Wrexham, where he scored 110 goals in 172 appearances.
The documentary Welcome to Wrexham follows the club and its community, and introduced many viewers to Mullin. His openness about raising a child with autism resonated with Carl Nixon, a fan from Las Vegas who also saw similarities between Rotherham and his hometown of Akron, Ohio, both shaped by industry and efforts to find a new direction.
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