THERE ARE FEW things worse than being caught short when on the football field — thousands of eyes watching and all you can think of is when you might be able to relieve yourself.
For many amateur footballers, the site of players disappearing mid-match to the toilet is not an unfamiliar sight, but those watching Salford City’s National League North clash with Bradford Park Avenue got more than they bargained for yesterday.
With Salford 2-1 up in the closing stages, goalkeeper Max Crocombe was shown a red card in mysterious circumstances, with no one quite sure what the New Zealand U23 international had done wrong.
It soon materialised, however, that Crocombe had chosen to urinate by the side of the pitch rather than wait until he was able to return to the dressing room at full-time.
Crocombe — who will face a suspension of at least three matches — later apologised for the incident, writing on Twitter: “I’d like to sincerely apologise for the incident today. I was in a very uncomfortable position and made an error of judgement which spoiled a great win.
“My intention was never to offend anyone and I’d like to apologise to both clubs and both sets of supporters and it won’t happen again.”
Salford City are owned by members of Manchester United’s famed ‘Class of ’92′, with Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Phil Neville all involved in the day-to-day running of the non-league outfit.
