Abingdon United, the Premier League football club, seemed to be on its way to a record after a 8-0 lead over rivals Abingdon Town in the first half, Saturday, but it was discovered that the opposing team had left the stadium between the two halves to get embarrassed.
The two teams play in the tenth-tier league in England, and United competes to climb for second place, while Town sits at the bottom of the table.
United advanced 4-0 after a quarter of an hour, then added 4 more goals before the first half ended, while Town players refused to enter the field after the break.
Town players left their clothes in the team room and left the stadium without justification.
“In 30 years in football I have never seen what happened,” United official John Blackmore told the BBC.
He added: “The match started well and there was no abuse for the opponent, but we advanced 8-0 in the first half, then the coach and the players of the other team refused to go into the second half.
“About 160 fans attended the meeting and were amazed at what happened like everyone else. We want to win the match but not this way.”
Town chief Brian Kirk said he was “in a state of frustration” to hear the incident.
He continued: “After all the problems in the past year, we were hoping to change the situation and provide stability for the club,” which was affected by financial problems.
“I cannot comment further before meeting the coach,” he added.
The defeated club issued a statement on Sunday apologizing for not completing the match.
Town said: “We are very sorry. We apologize to everyone who was looking forward to watching a 90-minute match, and we agree on the board that this position is embarrassing and does not belong to sportsmanship.”
