A TEAM of local footballers lost a cup - without even kicking a ball!

As reported in the BEN, Darcy Lever Football Club hired an open top bus and toured the town to celebrate winning the Bolton Sunday League Third Division title.

In spite of the rain, the two-hour open top parade was a big success, with people waving and drivers pipping their horns.

But the cup - worth £700 - was lost during a lengthy tour of Bolton town centre pubs after the bus trip.

Darcy striker Craig Maher, aged 27, was in town with ex-player Geoff Morris, aged 30, when the cup disappeared.

Craig said: "The cup was being filled with beer and passed around the pub. There were a few lads in there who I used to go to school with and who I used to play football with.

"They disappeared with the trophy on their own lap of honour and we were left empty-handed. "I have taken a lot of stick over it!"

Next day the lads made a series of anxious phone calls, but were unsuccessful in their quest.

So detective work became necessary the following day.

The lads retraced their steps - and their pints - in all the pubs they had visited on Sunday night.

But the cup had still not turned up when they went back to their local in Darcy Lever.

It was only then that they found out that the cup was safe in another pub.

It had been rescued from a shelf in The Hogshead on Bradshawgate and taken to the Moss Rose in Kearsley!

Craig phoned the Moss Rose and went in a taxi to reclaim the cup.

He explained: "A few of the lads out on Sunday night are regulars at the Moss Rose. "They said the cup had been left on a shelf in The Hogshead. We went there twice and were told that the cup had been taken out of the pub."

The cup had been taken from The Hogshead for safe keeping by the landlady at the Moss Rose. Craig continued: "She must have rescued the cup from the Hog's Head and I gave her a big kiss when she gave it back to me!"

On a more serious note Geoff said: "We could have been stripped of the title or banned from any league administered by the Lancashire Football Association if the cup had not turned up." Craig added: "The bus tour was absolutely brilliant.

"Everyone really enjoyed themselves and the tour went down really well."

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