Dirty TackleGreek Super League team travels 17 hours by bus for match
While Greece's cash-strapped amateur clubs take on brothels as shirt sponsors, the country's top-flight clubs, also cash-strapped, are taking far more tedious measures to balance the books. Veria FC, currently seventh in the Greek Super League, made the 497-mile trip to fourth-place Asteras Tripolis by bus instead of plane as one of two harsh measures to save money on the day.
From the AFP:
The northern Greek team traveled by bus to southern Tripolis on Sunday to play league rivals Asteras and they also avoided staying at a hotel overnight by returning straight after the match.
That meant leaving early in the morning for the eight-and-a-half hour drive to reach Tripolis, losing the match to Asteras 3-0 and then getting back on the bus for the return trip, a total of 17 hours in transit.
The team arrived back at their home base at 5am on Monday morning.
If you're going to re-evaluate your career as a top-flight footballer, I would imagine that a 17-hour bus trip sandwiching a 3-0 loss would be the time to do it.
