HIS grandad bought him his first Saints kit on the day he was born. Now, 27 years later, football-mad Nick Lawton is making an exhausting 54-hour journey from the other side of the world to see his heroes take on Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.

Determined not to miss out on the action, Nick is breaking off from a tour of New Zealand to travel back to Britain for the big game on Saturday, May 17.

The lifelong fan will begin his mammoth journey by driving from Doubtful Sound in the heart of the Fiordland National Park to the south-west tip of South Island.

From there, he will catch a ferry to Wellington on the North Island, before driving on to Auckland to catch his 35-hour flight to Britain, via Los Angeles.

Nick, whose family live in Chilworth, Southampton, will jet into London Heathrow this Thursday.

But he will not have long to unpack - the following day he is due to travel to Cardiff in preparation for Saturday's game.

He will spend a week in the UK before repeating the exhausting trek in reverse.

Speaking to the Daily Echo from New Zealand, excited Nick, who has shelled out £1,000 on his flight, said: "I can't wait.

"I am gutted to have missed such a good Cup season but it is fantastic to be going to the final.

"I have managed to get a ticket for my friend Dan too, who is in Australia at the moment. We are both absolutely buzzing. Everyone says there is a great atmosphere in Southampton."

Nick has his father Mike, boss at Southampton-based Lawton Communications Group Ltd, to thank for the pair of tickets.

"I am very lucky as my dad has a table in the executive club and has managed to get some tickets," he said.

"When I was younger, I used to wangle my way on to the table most weekends."

Nick spent five months travelling around Australia before reaching Sydney for the 2000 Olympics.

In January 2001, he began working for a PR and marketing firm, where he stayed until February this year before travelling on to New Zealand.

After the FA Cup final, he hopes to join a friend sailing to Fiji and around the South Pacific.

And his prediction for the big game?

"I would love to think it could be 3-nil to Saints, with a Beattie hat-trick," he said.