A local football team that lost 26-0 in a game are being put through their paces by Jimmy Bullard to help improve their fortunes.
Dubbed ‘the worst football team in Manchester, Cavaliers FC went on a torrid run of form which saw them lose 12 games in a row including the embarrassing hammering by Avenue FC in Division Two of the Manchester Football League.
The devastating loss fort the Stockport based team, prompted fed up manager and founder Ben Gage to post an appeal on Twitter calling for more players after team morale had hit rock bottom and number of players had left the club.
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Speaking of the infamous loss Ben said the team’s bad performance was down to a lack of quality from former players he described as ‘donkeys’.
Ben told the MEN that on the day of the match, he only had two defenders and no goalkeepers, which resulted in him going in goal.
The team then went behind only ten seconds into the match and one of the defenders got injured and had to go in goal to prevent the team from playing with 10 men.
Ben said the rest of the players ‘playing wherever they wanted’ which played into Avenue FC’s hands who racked up the score that day.
Speaking to the MEN he said: “I founded the club, with the hopes of working our way up to semi-pro football.
“But we just couldn’t get the players, we got players who’d never played 11-a-side before or who hadn’t played for years, and we just struggled.
“Eventually it culminated in a match where we had one defender and no goalkeeper.
“The other team were really up for it and they were just faster and stronger and we lost 26-0.
“I put out an appeal on Twitter asking for new players because we were down to the bare bones at that point, some of those players couldn’t play, it just wouldn’t work, they were just donkeys.”
Ben said after his tweet, better players have joined the club and they have seen an improvement which even saw them win their first game back in January, a 2-1 win over Brightmet United.
One of the new players and scorers in Cavaliers’ historic win was striker Errol Turgutalp.
Speaking of the win he said: ”Scoring in that win felt like a monumental moment,
“Considering that I was fairly new to the club it kind of felt almost normal, I wasn’t even expecting to start because I was getting my fitness back, and then I was told I was starting, and I put in a really good 70 minutes.
“When I heard about the 26-0 I couldn’t believe it,
“Coming in I do see a bit of improvement in terms of attitude but still a lot of work has to be done.
“It’s a mentality issue for a lot of people.”
It wasn’t just Errol who saw the tweet either, Premier League legend Jimmy Bullard and Specsavers offered their support to the Cavaliers with the goal of helping them move up the league.
Over the next few months Jimmy will put the squad through their paces with a series of drills, challenges and workshops.
On meeting the boys and putting them through their paces Jimmy said: “I loved the manager Ben – he’s just one of these guys who’s in it for the love of the game - obviously not getting paid and throwing his heart and soul into it.
“The boys were enthusiastic to listen to me and get involved with some of the pointers I was giving, and you can’t ask for much more than that.
"However, they seemed a bit heavy on boys who want to be the next Ronaldo so I’ve told those ones to slow down and understand you have to do your bit for the team and hopefully they have taken that on board.
"I gave them some wicked little drills to sharpen them up and hopefully they can turn it around a bit!"
Specsavers has also provided the Cavaliers with a slick new kit and given them nutritional supplements and they will be using the might of their own social media channels to help recruit new players.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to turn their season around the Cavaliers are always looking for new players.
You can get in touch with them via their website and Twitter.
You can also keep up with the team's progress on their dedicated YouTube channel.
