West Ham nearly missed pre-season friendly vs Bayer Leverkusen after pilot had passport STOLEN in shambolic trip
WEST HAM will be once again jetting across Europe this season.
But the Hammers are keen to avoid a repeat of a disastrous trip to Bayer Leverkusen in their final warm-up game.
David Moyes’ side were thumped 4-0 by the Bundesliga outfit on Saturday after being 3-0 down by half-time.
But fans will be sympathetic once they learn the full story behind the shambolic trip.
West Ham were due to leave for Cologne at 4.30pm on Friday from Stansted’s private terminal, which is used by VIPs.
But just 30 minutes before the flight was due to leave, the club were told that the pilot’s passport had been stolen from his vehicle, which had just been broken into.
West Ham waited at Stansted until 6pm but another pilot could not be located and the players returned home even though the Leverkusen kick-off was at 1.30pm the next day.
Understandably, chief Moyes and the rest of the squad were deeply unimpressed.
The Hammers’ stars all woke around 5am on Saturday, drove separately to the terminal at 6.30am and landed in Germany at 10.30am local time, THREE hours before kick-off.
Then there was a 30-minute bus drive from the airport to the Bay Arena.
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So, it was little wonder West Ham, who will compete in the Europa League, had a poor first half against Leverkusen.
They will want to start off in better fashion away to Bournemouth in their Premier League opener on Saturday.
FANS WING IT
SAVVY Chester fans had much more success taking to the air on Saturday.
Some of the 300 who travelled to Bishop’s Stortford for the game did not fancy the train or bus ride to Hertfordshire for the National League North fixture.
So instead they flew at 8.30am from Liverpool to Dublin and then caught a flight from Ireland to Stansted, landing at 11.45am. The return tickets cost £60 — much less than the train.
They then needed only a ten-minute cab ride to the ground, although most probably wished they had not bothered as Chester lost 2-0.
VARANE CALL SO MUDDLED
RAPHAEL VARANE has called the new rules for added time “dangerous”.
The centre-half, 30, claimed Manchester United had a meeting with the FA last week.
Varane was clearly slightly muddled as it was the PGMOL, the refereeing organisation led by Howard Webb, who paid a visit to see the squad.
However, the FA will be sending a delegation to Carrington this week.
That is part of their commitment to visit all 92 clubs to talk to the players about their behaviour, anti-doping, gambling and other issues.
WHAT’S ENG STORE?
ENGLAND’S Euro 2024 qualifier with Italy on October 17 is a Wembley sell-out — but fans can still see the Three Lions ahead of the finals in Germany next summer.
England plan to play two home fixtures next March plus two warm-ups in June, with one of those being away from the national stadium.