Non league footballer travels 200 miles to the WRONG town for midweek match

A non league footballer travels 200 miles to the WRONG town for a midweek match and managed to play the last seven minutes of it.

24 year old Spalding United centre-half Lewis White set off from Leicestershire, but mistook his destination, driving to Bury FC in Greater Manchester.

But the Southern League Premier Division Central match was actually at Bury Town in Suffolk, and after realising his mistake, he headed to Bury Town’s Ram Meadow ground.

Mammoth midweek trip for Spalding footballer after going to the wrong town https://t.co/1sjeqGiYLC

— Mark Stephenson (@markstephenson2) September 24, 2025

If he drove to the right location, it would initially have just taken over two hours and covered around 110 miles. Instead it was a four-hour 212-mile journey.

Arriving late, he came on as a substitute as Spalding were winning 2-1 victory and a man down, having overturned a half time deficit with second-half goals from Bart Cybulski and Jack Roberts.

the result meant they climbed up to fourth place in the league table.

Spalding manager Jimmy Dean: “I’m going to say this, I know I shouldn’t, but he actually went, the Bury in Manchester tonight.

“So, he arrived here probably 15 minutes before the end of the game. And I do think everyone should know that.

“I actually asked the people at Bury, their staff, if it had ever happened before and they said it hadn’t, ‘no, never before’.

“He must have been in a world of his own but he’s come and helped see the game out for us and it’s always a fantastic feeling to win a midweek match.

“We carried on in the first half a little bit like we did on Saturday.

“We weren’t assimilated or playing to plan. They ran over us without creating lots of chances.

“It was a simple fix though. We identified it and nipped it in the bud at half-time.

“We probably should have had a few more goals in the second half but, whenever you come from behind to win a game, it feels great.”

On the game itself, Jimmy Dean expressed satisfaction with the team’s second-half performance following a lacklustre first half where they deviated from the game plan.

Simple tactical adjustments at half time led to that all important comeback, an outstanding goal from a well-executed cross and header, followed by another goal from a team play.

Dean highlighted the team’s impressive away record (6 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses in 10 league games) and praised the squad’s resilience despite challenges like injuries and a red card.

Looking ahead, Dean stressed the importance of the upcoming FA Cup match, urging fans to support the team against a tough, higher-level opponent, against National League South side Dagenham & Redbridge, who currently sit 21st in the table.

2-1 to @SpaldingUnited ⚽️⚽️ @JackRoberts_111 pic.twitter.com/PjyjXTqYjj

— Andy Whyte (@AndyWhy20855723) September 23, 2025

Fans reacted after the non league footballer travels 200 miles to the WRONG town for a midweek match…

SGW: The danger of assumptions. A problem since the year dot as evidenced by all the funny stories. You would think it’s likely to be a bigger problem now than previously, though, simply because of satnav and the laziness of the younger generation. I’m probably a bit anal about it but I wouldn’t dream of setting off for somewhere new without looking at my road atlas first to get the lay of the land. Whereas my son has never owned such a thing and will always blindly follow whatever the satnav is saying. Still, I think it takes exceptional levels of gormlessness to set off from Leicester in completely the wrong direction (presumably up the M1) and be completely oblivious to all those road signs indicating inconveniently northern cities like Sheffield and Manchester.

Haywain: Back in 1973, Luton had a home cup tie against Bury, but the programme cover said it was against Bury Town. Not quite the same, but the same theme of confusion.

Cannnary: And another, although Norwich had no excuse really for getting this wrong, given that Bury St Edmunds is only 42 miles away!

Pink Panther: I remember reading that a player had gone to Welwyn (Garden City) instead of Welling a number of years ago. In 1991-92 Devon Gayle of Harlow Town apparently turned up at Champion Hill to play Dulwich Hamlet and was confronted by a massive building site, oblivious to the fact Hamlet had been playing home games at Tooting & Mitcham United since the start of that season. No mobile phones in those days, so I don’t think he got to Tooting in the end. I remember our goalkeeper turning up late for a pre-season game against the now defunct Malden Town, having originally gone to Malden Vale (now Raynes Park Vale) by mistake.

Barnsley Dave: I’m pretty sure someone ended up at Ashford Kent rather than Ashford Middx a few years ago 😀

John Treleven: Another about 1992 was a player going to Feltham instead of Eltham

New Forest: A fair number of years ago, I was crossing Lea Bridge Road, Leyton at about 14.30 to go to the Hare & Hounds ground when a car pulled up with four guys in it. They were coming from the direction of Clapton and asked where do Clapton play. How many years ago did they move to West Ham! That was four players who did not make the kick-off.

leohoenig: Dale Watkins once went to Farnborough (Kent) when the rest of the Cheltenham team played at Farnborough (Hampshire)

leohoenig: Barton Rovers first round FA Vase game in 1976 was at Immingham. Someone at the FA has placed them in the regional draw, thinking they were from Barton-upon-Humber

miswell: A few seasons ago Aylesbury Utd signed a player (whose name escapes me) who travelled to Cheshunt instead of Chesham to make his debut.

Ashtree RockBee: That happened twice that I recall – the first time in 1985, when Ashford Town didn’t have ‘(Middlesex)’ as a suffix and a coachload of Fulham fans went to the wrong ground for a friendly, and the second time about five years ago when a carload of away players drove to Ashford United instead. There was also the time in 2000 when a carload of Chalfont St. Peter players decided to travel to Ashford Town (Middlesex) in the wrong and much longer direction around the M25, resulting in the side kicking off with nine players. When I hopped Chobham for a Combined Counties league game about 35 years ago the away team, Cove, started without their full squad. Ten minutes in, the missing players turned up. The manager used industrial language when asking them why they were late, and they admitted they’d driven to Cobham (who were in the same division) by mistake instead.

My god I love non league football @BuryTownFC @SpaldingUnited #nonleaguefootball pic.twitter.com/PIAnXfcbLJ

— Daniel (@DGWB_1) September 24, 2025