Pub Soccer Team Mismatched With Czech Pros
L O N D O N, June 15 -- The 24 players of Stockport Town, an amateur soccer club from northern England, thought they were in the Czech Republic for a relaxed tour: having a few beers, kicking a ball around.
So when they showed up — a little hung over from the night before — for their game against their Czech opponents FK Meteor, they had a surprise.
There were posters everywhere advertising the match. And it was to be held in a full stadium — with more than 1,000 paying fans already waiting outside.
It got worse inside. The Britons learned that the match would be broadcast on Czech radio, and the national press had been invited.
"They made a real fuss of us," Stockport manager Peter Healy told British newspapers. "They said, 'It's an honor to have you here celebrating our 150th anniversary,' and I just thought, 'You are going to get quite a shock.'"
And they did.
It turned out that FK Meteor are a top professional team. To celebrate their 150th anniversary, they hoped to play an exhibition match against Stockport County, a first-division English team. But they had contacted Stockport Town instead — a Sunday pub league team.
The Stockport visitors knew something was up, but they kept quiet and bravely took to the field.
Gracious in Victory
Within four minutes, the English side had already given up its first goal — and were feeling the pressure.
"Some of our lads were flagging after 10 minutes," fullback David Bunyan, 38, recalled later. "We got there on Friday morning and had been on the beer all day and night."
By halftime, they were down 9-0.
"By that time, the crowd had realized we were an amateur side and were cheering us," said Healy, a 35-year-old accountant.
The gracious hosts benched most of their starters for the second half, and brought out their reserves. Stockport managed one goal, but that was it.
At the final whistle, the scoreboard read: "FK Meteor 14, Stockport 1."
But the crowd thought it was a valiant effort, and gave the Stockport team a standing ovation.
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