Manchester United are investigating how players’ boots ended up getting lost before their crucial Women’s Champions League qualifier in Norway on Thursday.
United officials had to buy replacement boots from a local shop after discovering some had gone missing on the trip to Bergen.
The boots’ absence was not noticed until the day of the game as United had trained at Carrington before departure.
Club officials arrived at the Torshov Sport shop less than three hours before kick-off at 16:30 local time and bought 15 pairs of boots and 20 sets of shin guards.
“We are a big store but they were very lucky we had enough boots in stock that were the right size,” shop owner Andre Gullord told BBC Sport.
“They paid between £200 and £230 for each pair of boots and £30 for the shin guards.
“We have had the odd player come in because they have left their boots behind but never the entire team.”
He added: “Maybe we should have told them we only had boots with no studs to help the local team!”
At Gullord’s estimate, the unscheduled shopping spree would have cost just under £4,000.
Marc Skinner’s side lost the first leg 1-0 to SK Brann as they look to secure a place in the main draw for the first time in their history.
United midfielder Lisa Naalsund, who is from Bergen, confirmed to TV2 after the match she had asked her mother to bring some boots to the stadium.
“There were a few shoes that disappeared,” she said. “We haven’t quite figured out where they are yet. It was right before we went to the stadium so there was a bit of chaos.”
United had taken a charter flight to Norway from Manchester for ease of travel given they have a Women’s Super League trip to London City Lionesses on Sunday.
“A bag containing some of our players’ boots went missing during the journey to Bergen,” said a United spokesperson.
“We are investigating how this happened.
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- Football
- Women’s Football
Source: BBC
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