Fifty aspiring players fall foul of football web hoax
12:10pm Sunday 7th July 2013 in Worcester By Neil Watts
ABOUT 50 aspiring footballers had their dreams of getting paid to play the sport they love crushed when they fell foul of a cruel internet hoax.
Trialists from as far afield as Carmarthen, Birmingham and Coventry turned up to Malvern Town Football Club?s Langland Stadium in the hope of securing a place in the first team squad.
They had been tempted to make the journey last Saturday after spoof posts were made on the UK Football Finder website promising to offer the players a rebate on train fares and pay of ?100 a game.
Malvern Town?s manager Les Jones said it was a ?horrible? situation for the players to be put in and he felt ?so sorry? for them as there were no trials scheduled and the pitch had not even been cut in preparation.
?Some of those lads had been let go by big clubs and they were trying to continue their dream of playing at a semi-professional club. It?s really cruel on them.
?It?s playing on somebody?s dreams. They were all 18 to 25 and they would hope to play for Malvern Town and get noticed and get back into full-time football.?
In a statement on their website the club claims the information was posted by a man named Steven Cole.
Mr Jones said: ?We don?t know whether there is somebody with a grudge against the club or just a prankster. We don?t pay our players, so it was totally fictitious.?
He also said the players will be offered trials in the coming weeks and possible game time during the club?s pre-season friendlies if they were able to attend.
The club?s football secretary and treasurer, Margaret Scott, said they had ?no idea? who the hoaxer was, nor why he would share the false information. A spokesman for UK Football Finder, which offers free club websites and a search for new players, said the user had been banned and apologised to the players and club but added that because it is a free website with an open forum it was not possible to check every member.
The club?s pre-season training starts on Monday and their first friendly is a home game against Worcester City on Wednesday, July 24, at 7.30pm. Go to pitchero.com/clubs/ malverntown or call Mr Jones on 07974 218315.
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