WHOOPS........

When an English Sunday League amateur side arranged a pre-season friendly in West Germany in 1973 they thought they were to play a side of a similar standing. In fact they had arranged to play Mainz, a senior professional side, who thought they were to play Wolverhampton Wanderers. The match, played on 15th August 1973, attracted a 'sizeable attendance'. The Germans didn't need a penalty shoot-out, they won 21-0!

*********
Two other Englishmen probably also wished that they had a German GCSE between them when they followed England to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. The non-German speakers carefully wrote down the street they had parked their car in before attending one of England's matches. Afterwards they couldn't find their car and were a little surprised at the comical expressions the locals gave when they showed then the piece of paper the road name was written on. Until someone translated it for them - 'one-way street'.

*********

The Football Supperters' Association fan zones or 'embassies' were a popular feature of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. One England fan left his ticketless girlfriend with one of them while he went to a match - but he forget to collect her after the match. Presumably ex-girlfriend would now be a better description!

*********

Spelling mistakes have always been a fact of life in programmes as they are in any printed publication. But the proof reader of the programme for First Division match between Fulham and Nottingham Forest at Craven Cottage in 1960 must have been particularly embarrassed by the mistake that was missed on the cover!

*********

When Middlesbrough played their first ever European competition match in September 2004 against Banik Ostrava fans must have wondered if Middlesbrough were 'going posh'. Printed on the tickets was "It is a condition of entry that gentlemen wear a jacket, collar and tie. Jeans, tracksuits and trainers are not permitted". It was another misprint - the wording should have been only used on tickets for the hospitality boxes but had been included on many of the tickets on general sale.

*********

Perhaps the most embarrassing misprint was in the Birmingham City club diary for 2007. Not having the fullest of trophy cabinets City fans discovered that the diary detailed club honours which included winning the European Cup, League championship and FA Cups. The diary had printed the honours of another club by mistake - but not just any other club but City's near neighbours and great rivals Aston Villa. Full Story.

*********

The Selhurst Park faithful had a new chant at the start of the 2004/05 Premier League season - 'There's only one h in Palace'. Amazingly Diadora - Palace's shirt manufacturer - had supplied the club with a batch of shirts with a badge that had the club name printed as Chrystal Palace! They did well on ebay! 

It is more normal to 'drop the aitch' and that is what happened on the shirt that David Beckham wore at Wembley for the 1997 Charity Shield match against Chelsea. His name was spelt Beckam! Beckam - sorry Beckham - said 'I thought the lads were winding me up. Then I saw it for myself. It was too late to do anything about it, so we all had a laugh instead.'

Other 'wardrobe malfunctions' include David Bentley becoming Betnley when playing for Blackburn against Manchester United in November 2007 and John O'Shea becoming S'hea when playing for Manchester United against Real Madrid in a Champions League tie. So it only happens in low-profile matches then!

*********

Birmingham were on the wrong end of another embarrassment in the 1921/22 when they didn't play in the FA Cup - they didn't get their entry in on time! Not that they are alone with several other League clubs also missing out on playing in the FA Cup for the same reason - Clapton Orient in 1906/07, QPR in 1927/28 and Nelson in 1928/29

Brighton & Hove Albion did get their FA Cup entry in in the 1932/33 season but didn't tick the box that gave them exemption from the qualifying rounds. As a result rather than start the campaign in the 1st Round proper they started in the First Qualifying Round. Mind you, perhaps that mistake was a forgiveable one with the club scoring 32 goals in their four qualifying round matches (full results).

*********

There was a bit of a diplomatic incident after the Czech Republic played a friendly in Prague in May 2008. The programme had the Latvian team picture with all the right names printed and the Latvian flag with all the right colours. There was a perfect rendition of the Latvian national anthem before the match. But they were playing Lithuania!

*********