Trailing 8-0 at halftime, soccer team calls it quits

English side Abingdon United was set to record one of its most memorable wins on Saturday when it was 8-0 up on rival Abingdon Town, only to find the opposition had left the stadium at halftime to spare itself of more embarrassment.

The two teams play in the Hellenic League Division One East, the 10th tier of English football.

Second-placed United is chasing promotion while Town is at the bottom of the standings with only two wins all season. The hosts were 4-0 up in 15 minutes and added four more before the break, after which Town’s players refused to come out for the restart.

Instead, the visitors left their kits behind in the dressing room and left the ground without any explanation.

“In my 30 years of football I’ve never known anything like that to happen,” United secretary John Blackmore told BBC Sport.

“There was a reasonable crowd there of about 160 people and they were as gobsmacked as anybody else. We want to win a game, but not in this sort of fashion.”

Abingdon Town chairman Brian Kirk said he was “incredibly disappointed” to hear about the incident.

“After all the problems we had last year we hoped we had turned a corner and could stabilize the club,” Kirk said, referring to financial issues that nearly saw the club fold. “I can’t make too many more comments until I can get hold of the manager.”

The club also released a statement on Sunday apologizing to spectators.

“We are clearly disappointed, and continue to find ourselves in a tough position and struggling to recover from previous club management. This has not helped us get back on our feet,” the club said on Twitter.

“We on the board agree this is embarrassing and not in the spirit of the game.”