Thieves steal 48 Wigan Athletic footballs from training pitch 2 days before Everton clash - mirror.co.uk
Thieves have left a Premier League club’s stars without footballs two days before a match.
Wigan’s squad ran out onto their training ground on Thursday to find 48 balls has been pinched.
Boss Roberto Martinez had to send his players for a jog as staff searched for replacements ahead of Saturday’s clash at Everton.
The culprits had made off with four bags, each containing 12 Nike balls, which had been left in the middle of the training pitch.
A spectator said: “One of the groundsmen came over to me and asked if I had seen four bags of balls. He said they had left five bags out but when the players came out, there was only one left.
“It was hilarious. The goalkeepers arrived first, took the one remaining bag and started practice. When the rest of the players arrived, they were just standing around with their hands on their hips. Some of them started wandering about looking for the missing balls.
“When the manager, Mr Martinez arrived, I said to him, ‘Where are the balls?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, but the police are on their way.’ Later, someone arrived with some replacement balls.”
It is believed a side gate had been left open, allowing the thieves to sneak in sometime after 10am.
No one at the club was available for comment, but police confirmed they had received a report of the theft.
ROFLMFAO!
Thieves have left a Premier League club’s stars without footballs two days before a match.
Wigan’s squad ran out onto their training ground on Thursday to find 48 balls has been pinched.
Boss Roberto Martinez had to send his players for a jog as staff searched for replacements ahead of Saturday’s clash at Everton.
The culprits had made off with four bags, each containing 12 Nike balls, which had been left in the middle of the training pitch.
A spectator said: “One of the groundsmen came over to me and asked if I had seen four bags of balls. He said they had left five bags out but when the players came out, there was only one left.
“It was hilarious. The goalkeepers arrived first, took the one remaining bag and started practice. When the rest of the players arrived, they were just standing around with their hands on their hips. Some of them started wandering about looking for the missing balls.
“When the manager, Mr Martinez arrived, I said to him, ‘Where are the balls?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, but the police are on their way.’ Later, someone arrived with some replacement balls.”
It is believed a side gate had been left open, allowing the thieves to sneak in sometime after 10am.
No one at the club was available for comment, but police confirmed they had received a report of the theft.
ROFLMFAO!
