A non-league superfan has won praise from across the footballing community, after a video of him chanting on his own during his team's most recent away defeat went viral.

Witham Town fan James Beardwell was captured by Twitter user Andrea Smith, who filmed him singing during his team's 4-1 loss to Bostik League rivals Grays Athletic on Saturday.

His rendition of "Beardwell's On Fire" - a riff on the popular Wigan Athletic chant for goalscoring hero Will Grigg - is heard throughout Grays' Parkside home ground.

The video has been seen by more than 600,000 people and has received attention from football legends such as Chris Kamara, and TV royalty like Jake Wood, better known as Eastenders' Max Branning.

Mark Nicholls, chairman of Witham Town Football Club, said: "James is fantastic for the club. A lot of people know the club because of James. 

"This is his moment and we want him to enjoy it.

"He is really good for the club and the club is really good for him. James is such a superb guy."

Mr Beardwell appeared on Channel 4's The Undateables in 2016, but got engaged to fiancée Claire Styles in December.

Here is James pictured at Saturday's game (Picture: Jim Purtill):

Echo: