Soccer Fans' Mistake Just Cost Their Own Team $50K

They thought Crystal Palace bus was rival Middlesbrough's bus, vandalized it
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 27, 2017 9:43 AM CST
Soccer Fans Accidentally Vandalize Their Own Bus
Dumb.   (Twitter)

Fans of a British soccer club in the Premier League may need to take their zeal down a notch after an incident over the weekend that reportedly ended up costing their own team nearly $50,000, reports the Telegraph. Crystal Palace devotees determined to make a literal mark on rival team Middlesbrough the night before the two teams faced off descended early Saturday upon what they believed to be the Middlesbrough bus parked at a hotel in a London suburb. The vandals spray-painted "Crystal Palace FC" on the side of the vehicle in red, white, and blue—a move that did little but serve as an ownership tag, because the bus was actually Crystal Palace's.

A groundsman for the CP team grumbled about the incident on Twitter in a now-private tweet, noting, "£40,000 worth of damage on our coach thinking it was the Boro coach. Nice one!" The Sun notes that the hotel where the bus was parked, near Crystal Palace's home stadium, is often frequented by visiting soccer teams. Despite an assertion by Sky Sports that the vehicle was on loan to Middlesbrough from Crystal Palace because they'd flown to the match, the BBC reports that was not the case. The Guardian notes the CP team had to arrange for another bus to take the players to their Middlesbrough matchup, which they won 1-0. A Crystal Palace rep says the cops have been notified. (This soccer player's national anthem protest was foiled—by the opposite team.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X