Huddersfield Town's new signing Nahki Wells has become Bermuda’s biggest export, sparking a surge of interest in the club.
Huddersfield has suddenly become the focus of football-mad locals on the Atlantic paradise isle.
Bermudian Wells, 23, became the island’s first £1 million player when he made the 10-mile journey from Bradford City to the John Smith’s Stadium.
Wells is 3,000 miles from home and Huddersfield and Bermuda are certainly a world apart.
The striker, the match-winner on his debut against Millwall, became Town’s record signing and interest in the club exploded at home and abroad.
Sales of shirts with Wells’ number 21 on the back flew out of the club shop as fans basked in the spotlight of a transfer window coup.
James Burton, a reporter for the Bermuda Sun newspaper, said at first Bermudians were a little perplexed that their hero had opted for relatively-unknown Huddersfield.
“I think initially Bermuda fans were unsure because there had been a lot of talk of Premier League clubs and, dare I say it, teams like Leeds and Wolves, who are perhaps more well known on the island because of their recent top-flight history.
“But once he’d signed, scored on his debut and more information got out there about the club, the excitement and pride quickly came to the surface.
“It won’t be long before Huddersfield ‘Wells 21’ replica shirts start popping up in Hamilton, that’s for sure.”
Bermuda is best known for the fabled Bermuda Triangle, where planes and boats disappear into thin air, and – of course – for gaudy Bermuda shorts.
Football and cricket are big on the island but Wells is by far their biggest sporting export eclipsing other Bermudian footballers who made it in England.
Clyde Best was one of the first black players in the old First Division when he starred for West Ham in the 1960s and 1970s.
Also-retired Shaun Goater, best remembered for his time at Manchester City, is another famous Bermudian as is Kyle Lightbourne, who played for the likes of Fulham, Stoke City, Cardiff and Hull before his retirement.
Wells, who shot to prominence for Bradford City last season, scored in the play-off final at Wembley as the Bantams were promoted to League One.
Mr Burton added: “In all the hype surrounding Nahki’s move it was easy to overlook the fact that he has now become Bermuda’s first �1 million footballer, overtaking the likes of Best, Goater and Lightbourne on that front.
“That’s huge and incredible when you think that three years ago he was playing for Dandy Town in the island’s amateur Digicel Premier Division.
“There is a lot of recognition on the island from fans, players, coaches and even politicians for the hard work he has put in to succeed in England.
“He is already up there with the best footballers Bermuda has produced and, at 23, he has time on his side.
“Clyde Best was a pioneer not only for this island but also for black footballers during his time at West Ham, while everyone knows about Shaun Goater and his impact at Man City.
“The other guy in the island’s elite bracket is the lesser-known Arnold Woollard, who played for Newcastle back in the 1950s and was the first Bermudian to play in England.
“Nahki is well and truly in this group and, having already become the first Bermudian to score at Wembley, has been quick to write his own history.
“The great thing about him, apart from the obvious ability, is that his ambition and determination to succeed shows no sign in fading.
“If anything, the more he has achieved the more he wants. He’s a single-minded guy.”
Mr Burton’s colleague Simon Jones, who left the UK for Bermuda in 2009, said: “Bermuda may be isolated but its people are welcoming and well-travelled.
“The island is a unique blend of different nationalities and cultures – the vast majority of whom appreciate how fortunate they are to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.”
Bermuda is a British overseas territory and is run by a UK-style government called the One Bermuda Alliance.
It is an island paradise in the middle of the Atlantic boasting some of the most beautiful beaches in the world as well a humid, sub-tropical climate.
Bermuda fact file
Bermuda is the oldest British colony.
The capital is Hamilton.
The island is surrounded by more than 400 shipwrecks dating back to the 1500s.
Bermuda was used to house prisoners of war during the Boer War and the Second World War.
Bermuda is home to more golf courses per square mile than anywhere else in the world.
Rainfall generates the island’s only supply of fresh water.
The typical breakfast in Bermuda is codfish and potatoes.
Bermuda is made up of 181 coral covered lava based islands and has about 155 miles of roadway.
