Brechin City goalkeeper makes 80 mile journey to wrong stadium!
Brechin City goalkeeper Graeme Smith has admitted he turned up at the wrong stadium for his side’s match against Stenhousemuir, as per reports on the Daily Record. Smith had to travel back 80 miles to Glebe Park in order to make it for the Scottish League One clash on Saturday and shockingly this was not the first time he has got his wires crossed over the venue for a match.
The 32-year-old arrived at Stenhousemuir’s Ochilview Park, only to realise that he had arrived at the wrong stadium and the match was scheduled to take place at Glebe Park, which was 89 miles away from the opponent’s home ground. Realising his blunder, he had to travel back home. Lucky for him, he returned in time to start in goal for his side.
Fortune did not favour Smith that day as he continued on the pitch with his side crashing to a 2-1 defeat. The Scottish goalkeeper could not prevent Alan Cook and Colin McMenamin from scoring. In an interview Scottish daily, Smith has revealed he made a similar mistake during his youth days with Rangers.
“I thought it was a bit strange when I arrived as I didn’t see any of the City players and Alan Grieve our kit man who’s always early was nowhere to be seen,” he said.
“When I saw another team arrive with different coloured track suits it suddenly clicked that I was in the wrong place. I phoned my wife to find out where I should be and she told me we were playing at Glebe Park.”
“That left me with just under an hour and a half to get myself to Glebe Park which is just over 85 miles away. Luckily the roads were fine and I arrived 25 minutes before kick-off.”
‘Not the first time this has happened to me’: Smith
Smith further added: “Incredibly, this is not the first time it’s happened to me as when I was a kid with Rangers I remember turning up to the wrong ground. It’s something that I don’t want to make a habit of so I’ll be keeping a close look at the fixture card in future.”
Smith’s mishap had brought the attention of Jeff Stelling and his team on Soccer Saturday with the host commenting: 'There's a great story coming out of Scotland at the moment, Graeme Smith, the Brechin City goalkeeper, may not feel it so funny because he turned up for today's game against Stenhousemuir at their Ochilview ground, only to realise he was 83 miles away from where he should be because it's a home game and he was meant to be at Brechin!’