Chris Ulian with his scarf at Harvard University
The Club

CHRIS ULIAN: OWNER OF THE VIRAL SEVILLA FC SCARF

28/05/2017
The Harvard student explains the origins of his passion for the club

When Mark Zuckerberg did a live stream from his former Harvard University bedroom, there was a surprise for Sevilla fans around the world.

As the Facebook founder gave millions of followers a tour of his old digs, eagle-eyed watchers spotted a Sevilla FC scarf hung proudly on the mantlepiece. 

The owner is Chris Ulian, a 21-year-old from near Boston, USA.

A student at one of the most renowned universities in the world, Chris decided to spend a year in Spain and, through living with a family in Seville, quickly became a match-going Sevillista.

Since returning to university, his love for the club has not dwindled and his memorabilia takes pride of place in his residence.

"Here the university year has already finished, but I'll stay at Harvard during the summer while I work," Chris said. "The other day they told us that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, was coming to give a speech at a graduation ceremony and they said he might want to visit his room from when he studied here."

With such a famous face on the way, the University told Chris and friends to tidy their rooms, but the Sevilla scarf remained and caught the eye during Zuckerberg's Facebook live.

"A few minutes in I started receiving messages from friends saying that they had seen my scarf," Chris explained. "On the university's website you can see the room in 3D and there are a load of comments asking about the Sevilla scarf. For me it's a privilege to be able to promote my team like that."  

"I started receiving messages from friends saying that they had seen my scarf"

Since his time in Spain, Chris has returned to Seville on a couple of occasions. He was present for perhaps the stand-out moment of the season, when Sevilla came from behind to beat Real Madrid in January.

"It's been a very good season," he reflected. "And at that point we were all excited because we were challenging at the top." 

But being knocked out of the Champions League was a painful blow for Chris, despite watching the game in an enviable location. 

"We were on Springbreak and I watched the match in Florida," he explained. "I was on the beach and I went to a bar because I had to watch it. I told them which channel it was on, and to be honest the defeat was a shame. From then on the holiday wasn't the same for me."

In a country where American football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey are popular, Chris is hard-pressed to keep up with Sevilla's progress. But that does not stop him from staying up to date with the team, and he has passed on his passion for Sevilla as well.

"I've got a 12-year-old brother and he's now a Sevillista too," he said. "His friends at school are as well and on matchdays they all go to school with the team's shirts on."

Chris hopes to return to Seville soon, but for now he will keep showing his support with the flag that has now become quite the hit on the internet.