Non-league defender adds 200-mile diversion onto trip to wrong Bury

The Spalding United defender mixed up Bury St Edmunds and Bury FC, but still managed to make it onto the pitch with time to spare

Spalding's Lewis White accidentally found himself at Gigg Lane, home of Bury FC, rather than the Getaway Cars Stadium in Bury St Edmunds (Getty Images)

A non-league player endured an unexpectedly long drive to the scene of a match this week, tacking 200 miles onto his trip by accidentally driving to the wrong Bury.

Lewis White, a defender for Spalding United, was selected for the Tulips’ Southern League Premier Division Central match against Bury St Edmunds.

The 24-year-old opted to drive himself to the fixture from his home in Leicestershire - but rather than driving east to Bury St Edmunds, he mistakenly drove north to Bury in Greater Manchester.

LincsOnline reported that he drove all the way to Giggs Lane, home of Bury FC, before realising his error. Rather than simply heading home in defeat he then completed the 200-mile diversion to arrive in time for the final few minutes of Spalding’s match at Bury Town.

He was introduced with two minutes of normal time remaining and with Spalding down to 10 men, and helped them cling on to a 2-1 lead.

The planned trip to Bury St Edmunds would have taken a little over two hours and covered around 115 miles; instead White spent seven hours making his round trip, for a total of seven minutes’ playing time.

Spalding manager Jimmy Dean said: “I actually asked the people at Bury if it had ever happened before and they said it hadn’t.

“He must have been in a world of his own but he’s come and helped see the game out for us and it’s always a fantastic feeling to win a midweek match.”

Spalding fell behind in the opening half but two goals in five minutes in the second put them on top, before substitute Lamine Sheriff was handed a straight red card for a poor challenge with six minutes remaining.

White then arrived in time to play the hero, introduced to shore up the visitors’ defence and see out the remainder of the game.

The Tulips moved up to the fourth in the division as a result, four points off leaders Harborough.