It's My Ball, I'm Going Home!

A slightly humorous story for a Sunday evening courtesy of the Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

Eccleshill United were left in limbo as their home clash in Division One with AFC Emley was abandoned in the 88th minute in farcical circumstances.

Emley keeper Mike Clark was trying to run the clock down when he fumbled the ball over his own line under pressure from the Eagles’ Victor Balas.

A goal was awarded to make the score 1-1 despite Clark’s claims that Balas had handled the ball.

He refused to give the ball back to the referee to restart the game, was shown a yellow card and then ran off into the dressing rooms, with the ball, and refused to come back out.

Clark eventually returned to the pitch but still refused to hand over the ball to the officials or team-mates. The referee gave him another yellow card and the requisite red but Clark would not leave the field of play, at which point the referee abandoned the match.