Nottingham footballer scores after 140-mile round trip to the wrong ground

Sam Wright misread the messages in Newark Town's group chat and ended up in Cambridgeshire

A confused Nottingham footballer endured a wasted 140-mile round trip after driving to the wrong ground - but still arrived at the correct venue in time to score a goal.

Newark Town's Sam Wright mistakenly drove 70 miles to opponents St Neots FC in Cambridgeshire, only to then realise his team were actually playing at home.

After dashing back in time for the second-half, Wright came off the substitutes bench to score the last goal in the Premier Division North League Cup victory.

The embarrassing error happened after Wright misread a message on the Newark players' WhatsApp group chat.

He quickly realised his mistake when he got there to find the St Neots ground deserted and phoned his manager for confirmation that the match was taking place at the YMCA Activity Village in Newark, Nottinghamshire.

Wright was not the only one to pull off a remarkable turnaround.

Newark trailed 3-0 at half-time, but staged a phenomenal comeback to run out 5-3 winners at the final whistle.

Wright was sent on in the 71st minute and restored his manager’s faith in him when he scored the team's final goal to put the tie beyond reach in the 88th minute.

Newark Town boss Luke Parson explained the moment an apologetic Wright contacted him to explain the mix-up.

"I got a phone call from him at the meeting time, saying, ‘Where is everyone?’" said Parsons. "I spoke to him and he said, 'I've messed up - I am in St Neots.’

"We normally meet quite early before the match and we knew he had enough time to get back so he could go on the bench."

Parsons added that it will probably be a while before Wright lives the mistake down.

"You know what lads are like, there was a bit of ripping into him and saying how can you be so thick and all this stuff,” he said.

"It was all laughter and giggles - I think it will always be remembered. To be fair, if it was at St Neots, we would probably have organised a bus.

"I need to be a bit wiser with the words I put in the group."

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