Football booted over the fence during a youth game in Scotland is finally found — 1,000 miles away in Norway
The football was kicked over a fence during a Banks o' Dee FC match and presumed lost by the club, until a friendly Norweigan man contacted the club saying he had found it
A football belonging to an Aberdeen club and used in a Scottish club game has been discovered more than 1,000 miles away, washed up on a beach in Norway.
Banks O' Dee Football Club under-19s thought they had lost the mitre ball when it was kicked over a fence and into the River Dee during one of their league matches.
So managers from the amateur team were understandably shocked when they received an email saying the ball – which had the name of the club printed on it – had been found on the small Norwegian island of Vanna.
The ball was found by a local man called Johnny Mikalsen, who felt duty bound to track down the owners of the ball when he saw the name of the club scrawled in pen on the side of it.
“Hi! You properly have one of the best long distance kickers in the world," he wrote in a letter to the club.
“A friend of mine found a football with your club name on by the seaside.
“It has travelled quite a distance. We are located 1,800km (1,118 miles) north of Aberdeen, on an island called Vanna, 10km [six miles] north of Tromso, the capital of North Norway.
“The football is just a little bit dirty after such a long distance, but fully useable. See enclosed picture.”
The ball is thought to have floated down the nearby River Dee in Aberdeen, into the North Sea and on to the island.
Banks O' Dee’s club secretary, Tom Ewan, said that was delighted to be reunited with the ball – if a little surprised.
“It’s the Norse saga of the long distance football,” he said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies