‘Twig arms’ to blame for no poppy armband

A footballer playing for an English League 2 side has blamed having “twig arms” for why he was unable to wear a poppy armband during his side’s game on Saturday. Jamie Devitt was the only one of his Carlisle United teammates not to have an armband, with a poppy crest on it, during the 3-2 victory over Newport. But Devitt was anxious to clarify that there was no deliberate snub of the poppy in its absence, and instead blamed his physique. He wrote on Twitter: “Because I have twig arms it was falling down when I moved so after the minutes silence I decided to remove it as it wouldn’t stay on.” Carlisle’s Twitter account added: “He highlighted it before the game and did the best thing he could in the situation, in our opinion.”