The Danish fan has followed the Yellow Submarine for nearly 20 years
Patrick Hoff, aged 33, is an international Villarreal CF fan. Born in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, where he also lives, he was supported the Yellow Submarine since 2003, when he was just 14.
Patrick started to follow Villarreal by pure chance. Laughing, he explained: “I was on holiday with my family in Gran Canaria and I remember being in the hotel bar and on the TV, they were showing a football match. I didn’t know who was playing, but I remember being drawn to the team who were wearing yellow and blue, Villarreal, because they wore the same colours as Brøndby IF, the team I follow in my country. That’s when I knew Villarreal was the team for me.”
“If you ask my friends or my partner, they would probably say that I focus most of my attention on Villarreal, and that it’s been like that since 2003,” admitted the Dane, who added: “The UEFA Champions League semi-finals against Arsenal only increased my love for the team. That was the first, and at the moment, the only time, that I’ve cried at a football match.”
He also supports the team via social media. “Since 2013, I’ve had a Twitter account (@VillarrealCFDK) with the aim of making Villarreal more attractive to people from my country and so that I can share my passion for the team witt them. There aren’t many fans in Denmark, and because of that, with the account, I’m hoping that some more of my compatriots will also support Villarreal CF,” he explained.
The Danish Yellow, who normally watches the matches on TV at home, has visited the Estadio de la Cerámica four times, with the tie against Eibar (1-0) from the 2018/19 season the last game he saw live in person. He hasn’t missed a single game that Villarreal played in Denmark in recent years, going to the matches against Odense and Aalborg.
When asked about his favourite memories as a Yellows fan, he replied: “The first time I visited the stadium in 2009. I remember that I went to to a club shop near the stadium, where I met president Fernando Roig, and got a photo with him. That was a very special moment for me.” He added, like for every groguet, ‘2021 was a very special year because we won the first title in our history.”
Finally, Patrick, a true Yellow underlined that both Marcos Senna and Bruno Soriano are his favourite players of all time.
At Villarreal CF, in the ‘Yellows Around The World’ series, we feature the stories of some of our biggest international fans.
