Hampshire Premier League game abandoned as Paulsgrove reduced to six while trailing 8-0

Andover Town's Hampshire Premier League Division One match against Paulsgrove on Saturday was abandoned early in the second half after Paulsgrove were reduced to six players while trailing 8-0. Andover had scored seven goals in the first half and added an eighth shortly after the interval before the game was called off.

Andover Town sit mid-table in the 16-team division, which the article describes as part of the 12th tier of the English football pyramid. Paulsgrove are bottom and have lost all 10 games this season, including three completed matches where they were beaten by eight goals or more. BBC Sport asked the Hampshire Premier Football League for Paulsgrove FC's contact details but the request was declined.

According to Andover's account, four Paulsgrove players did not come out for the second half when the score was 7-0, and the visitors initially returned with seven players. Andover scored almost immediately to make it 8-0, after which another Paulsgrove player went off injured, leaving the team with six players. The laws of football say a match may not continue if either team has fewer than seven players.

Andover boss Robbie Skeates commented on his club's website: "I've been involved in football a long time and I've genuinely never seen anything like what happened today from an opposition side. "All 11 of their players walked off perfectly fine at half-time with us 7-0 up. "They eventually came back out with seven, so apparently four must have managed to get injured in the changing room. "We scored pretty much straight away to make it 8-0 and from there it became a complete farce."

Posts on X appearing to come from Paulsgrove's official account claimed the players were all genuinely injured, and one reply to a post from Skeates read: "Sadly can't make injured player [sic] continue". Andover Town have said they will submit a report to the league.

A Hampshire Premier Football League spokesperson said: "As is standard for any abandoned game, an investigation is under way and until that process has been completed, we cannot make any comment."

The confirmed next steps are that Andover Town will submit a formal report and the Hampshire Premier Football League investigation will proceed before any further comment or disciplinary action is announced.