West Ham United supporters can famously be found all over the world.
One, British Ambassador to Chile Jon Benjamin, has been supporting the Hammers from postings on five different continents!
After graduating with a degree in Languages (German and Swedish) and International Relations, the 50-year-old joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1986. Since then Benjamin, whose four-year stay in Santiago will end in March 2014, has worked in Australia, Indonesia, Turkey, the United States and Chile during his 27-year career in the diplomatic service.
During his time in South America, he has made some fantastic friends, including one of the 33 Chilean miners freed after 69 days trapped underground and former West Ham defender Javier Margas!
The Ambassador began by explaining that claret and blue has long run through the veins of the Benjamin family - Jewish immigrants who settled in the East End.
You can follow Jon Benjamin on twitter @JonBenjamin19
"My Mum was born in Mile End and my Dad in Stepney," he said. "Their house took a direct hit in the Blitz and they had to move out to near Windsor. In fact, the whole street he lived in - Skidmore Street - was so badly damaged that it doesn't even exist anymore.
"My Dad sadly passed away last year, aged 93. When I was back in the UK a few months before, we took him on a very happy day trip to all his old haunts in the East End, standing where we were pretty sure Skidmore Street used to be - that will stay with me forever."
Benjamin's late father took him to the Boleyn Ground for the first time in 1974, at the age of eleven, for a 'thrilling' 4-3 win over Everton. Having seen Clyde Best, Billy Bonds and Trevor Brooking in the flesh, he was hooked.
"From the age of 16 onwards, I went to every home game and, for two seasons, every away game, including getting up at 4am to travel to places like Sunderland - before I went to university. Ever since, whenever I'm posted back in London for a couple of years, I get a Season Ticket again."
Benjamin, who names Alan Devonshire as his favourite all-time Hammer, has attended some memorable matches down the years, enjoying the rollercoaster of emotions that come with being a West Ham fan,
"I always remember that great Alf Garnett quote: 'Supporting West Ham is like life itself: there's the odd moment of joy down the years, but most of it is bloody misery!'.
"But I do have some terrific memories of games I was at - the 1980 FA Cup final against Arsenal where we won 1-0 against the odds; the Championship Play-Off final in Cardiff against Preston where the seven minutes of added-time almost finished me off!; that incredible 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United [in May 1995] which prevented them winning the title.
"Of course, I don't like dwelling on defeats but I do remember seeing us lose 4-1 at home to Dinamo Tbilisi in 1981 in the European Cup Winners' Cup - probably the most complete footballing performance I've ever seen.
"Many years later, in 1996, I got to visit Dinamo Tbilisi's home stadium in the Republic of Georgia to see England win a World Cup qualifier, in which Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand scored, so revenge of a sort!"
Georgia is just one of the dozens of countries Benjamin has visited during a career he planned to follow even as a child.
"I never really wanted to do anything else. When I was six, I wrote in that typical first primary school essay 'What I want to be when I grow up' that I wanted to be an ambassador, even though I spelt it all wrong. Well, it just took another 40 years to get that title!
"It's been a great and very varied ride, each posting highly memorable in its own right, with a couple of postings back in London in between, including three years as head of the Foreign Office's human rights department which included some unforgettable trips, above all a week in North Korea in 2004."
Since arriving in Chile, Benjamin has collected some 'fantastic memories', met his partner Carolina and celebrated the birth of son Louis.
Javier Margas and Jon Benjamin have become good friends
"I've travelling all over, including to remote and amazing Easter Island and spent the night in the lighthouse on Cape Horn island.
"My first full year here, 2010, was the most eventful: there was the world's fifth-largest earthquake in February, where I thought my house was about to collapse and then, of course, the famous rescue of the 33 trapped miners, one of whom has become a very good friend since.
"But, much more importantly than all that, in Chile I've finally, aged 50, started a family. Louis, now just over one, is naturally a big Hammers fan of the future. He's already seen a few games live here on Chilean TV, though he did fall sound asleep during the West Ham v Stoke game."
Father and son settle down in front of the television to watch live matches and highlights whenever possible, while Benjamin himself has also gained an affiliation with the Chilean national team.
"I have seen a few World Cup qualifiers in a great atmosphere in the national stadium. Chile will be in the World Cup next year, which is fantastic for the team and for the country."
Benjamin plans to return to the Boleyn Ground early next year, when he hopes to see a fit-again Andy Carroll banging in the goals. Whether he is overseas or at the Boleyn Ground, West Ham are never far from his thoughts.
"Through thick and thin, I will always be a Hammer and, of course, my little son, Louis, will, I hope, take the torch and hand it on in due course to more generations of the Benjamin family down the years!"