Pic: Alison Bagley
By Russ Taylor
HEARD the story about the team who lost 15-1 but still got a point? No? Well neither did they.
United Counties League One side Irchester United gained national notoriety last weekend when it was announced by Jeff Stelling on Sky Sports' Gillette Soccer Saturday that they had been well and truly hammered.
“Now there's always someone's side that does worse than yours…” Stelling said wrapping up the show, “Cherry Red Records Division…Redhill 10 Cove 0, but…United Counties League One, Irchester 1 Blackstones 15!” Cue gasps from the panel.
“My phone went about 6pm” recalls coach Ben Thomas, the caller rubbing it in, “I see you've been hammered again!”
Confusion
“I said ‘No we haven't, we drew 1-1'. It was then I was told ‘I think you should watch Soccer Saturday.'”
By the time Thomas had the chance to check the clip 15 minutes later on Facebook it had already had been viewed over 10,000 times. The Northamptonshire club had suddenly become an internet hit.
So, what happened? Was this in fact a rare lapse by the all-knowing anchorman? No. In fact, the Romans didn't have to look too far for the guilty party – and the Sky Sports cameras were there on Tuesday night for Irchester's home game with Stewarts & Lloyds of Corby to hear a confession.
“I have to text in the result to the FA's automated system” admitted manager Steve Sargent, “I texted in ‘Irchester 1' and then our scorer Ty Clark in the 15th minute, and then I put ‘Blackstones 1' but the computer must of read it as we lost 15-1!” Now, that's Unbelievable Jeff!
