In the first of a new series, Ian Faulkner provides an insight into the life of an Oxford United fan abroad, as Rage Online attempts to discover the experience of fans worldwide.

Growing up in the 80's in a village in West Oxfordshire, even though Oxford were in their prime, school was awash with Man Utd and Liverpool fans. I'd love to say I was an exception, but for some reason I chose to follow Everton. However, this all changed in the early 90's, after becoming friends with some older lads who followed Oxford all around the country.

The experience that sticks in my memory was being taken to Birmingham City for a midweek match. Even though losing 3-0, I was hooked. The journey, the atmosphere, the hostility from those lovely City fans, it all left quite an impression on a 14 year old kid.

From that evening onwards, I started following Oxford home and away, luckily with the full (moral and financial) support of Mum and Dad. Joey Beauchamp became my God, with a quid being chucked away every week on a rather unsuccessful 'Beauchamp to score first, 2-1 to Oxford' bet.

I was lucky enough to see virtually every game of the '96 promotion season. I'm sure many will agree that those last 2 or 3 months were some of the best months of our lives. That feeling when we went to Bristol City and turned them over