World Football Strange but True: Manchester United or Daughter's Wedding?

It's a tough choice, really: Football, or your daughter's wedding.

Actually, with this crowd, the choice would be simple. But for regular, everyday, non-footy-mad people out in the real world, Chris Riley might seem a bit loony.

Chris Riley is the father of Rachel Riley, the lovely lady pictured below. Rachel Riley is the 26-year-old host of Countdown, which is a long-running British game show.

I've never seen Countdown, but with Rachel Riley hosting, it's clearly quite enjoyable to watch. But that's beside the point. The point is that Rachel Riley is getting married soon (lucky guy, whoever he is), and according to the Mail's Richard Kay, her dad won't be at the ceremony.

Why not? Because Chris Riley is a big Manchester United fan. So big, in fact, that he's allegedly told his daughter, his own blood, that he'll only attend her wedding if the date doesn't coincide with a United match.

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As a result, she has had to bring the date forward. ‘It’s going to be in the school holidays during the Olympics,’ says Rachel, 26, who has dated Jamie, 29, since 2004 — although they split briefly in 2009 before getting back together.

‘I’m a non-religious Jew and we’re both pretty atheist, so it will be a civil ceremony,’ she adds.

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That's so sweet I almost just shed a tear.

Ah, the crazy things we do for our teams. If Chris Riley's devotion to Manchester United sounds familiar, perhaps you've read a similar story about a couple of American football fans who did the same thing to their daughter.

Their reason? Her wedding fell on the same day as an Alabama Crimson Tide game.

Overreaching fan devotion, it seems, extends to both sides of the Atlantic and all forms of football.