A DEDICATED football fan based in New York became an Albion follower after splitting up with his girlfriend...who is a fan of arch rivals Crystal Palace.

Andy Bajana showed his devotion to his then partner by supporting her club. However, she told him to look for his own team and after they broke up Andy decided to pledge loyalty to the Seagulls.

The 23-year-old said: “As a young American kid, I didn’t really have a special connection to any Premier League team. I liked Everton because former goalkeeper Tim Howard was my American connection, but after he left for Colorado, I lost interest in the club.

“I began dating this girl who was a Crystal Palace fan. I wanted to support her club because it’s what a good boyfriend is supposed to do, and I would rather support a local team as opposed to the Manchester and Liverpool-based teams that Americans hop on the bandwagon for.

“When she broke up with me in August, I knew I couldn’t keep supporting her team. I thought to myself, ‘who hates Palace more than any other team in the Premier League?’.

“That’s when it hit me. It was my destiny to support Brighton. I joined a Brighton Facebook group to tell people about my situation and they absolutely loved the story of why I picked Brighton.”

Inspired by the fans’ encouragement, Andy visited the Football Factory at Legends, which is the only bar in New York City that shows Albion games, and other Premier League matches.

He said: “I did some research on the club’s history and I fell in love with the story of how far the team has come despite everything they’ve been through.

“After meeting the locals at the bar, they were also very welcoming to the point that I genuinely wanted to help establish a solid supporters’ group for Brighton fans to watch games in New York City, and that’s how the New York City Gulls were born.

“I love how far the team has come despite all they’ve been through. Brighton and Hove Albion almost didn’t survive but it was the fans who kept the team alive.

“The team was homeless for so long and it reminds me of my local club, New York City Football Club, who currently play at a baseball stadium since we don’t have our own stadium. My favourite player is Gaetan Bong.”

So far the club has 15 members who regularly join Sussex visitors at the Football Factory.

Andy has plans to visit Brighton for the first time in February. He posted a video of himself on Twitter singing a song about looking for romance in Brighton. He said: “To be completely honest, I posted the video as a joke. I recently got out of a relationship so I’m actually not looking for a relationship, which is why I had no problem making a fool of myself in the video.

“I really never expected the video to go this viral, but if there are any Brighton women out there interested in me, I’d be happy to move you to New York.

“If you love a fast-paced environment and big cities that never sleep, this is the place for you. New York City is the place of opportunities.”