A club dubbed 'the worst football team in Britain' have been offered a lifeline by Specsavers and former Premier League footballer Jimmy Bullard.
Having lost every game of the season, including an 'embarassing' 26-0 loss to Avenue FC in October last year, Cavaliers FC posted a plea for help on social media following the heavy defeat.
The Manchester-based side, who fielded a team with no goalkeeper and only one defender, wrote: "Help us improve our team. We lost 0-26 on Saturday so need new players..."
After seeing the tweet, Specsavers, along with Jimmy Bullard, offered their support to the self-proclaimed worst team in the country.
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The optical retail chain even provided free eye tests for the team as they try and help them progress up the league table.
In fact, over the next few months, former Wigan midfielder Bullard will put the squad through their paces with a series of drills, challenges and workshops.
As well as making sure the players’ eyesight is up to scratch, Specsavers has also provided the Cavaliers with a new kit and given them nutritional supplements.
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And they will be using the might of their own social media channels to help recruit new players.
Bullard, who made a total of 90 appearances in the Premier League during his career, is desperate to help Cavaliers FC in their quest to move up the league table.
"The squad are desperately in need of a bit of help from The Bulldog," he said. "They’ve been trounced in every game this season and I’m telling anyone who will listen if we don’t get involved now it’s very clear they are going to end up smack at the bottom of their league.
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"Never fear though, together with Specsavers, we are hoping to turn the tables on their fortunes by refocusing the team, driving new player sign-ups and ensuring the lads are on top form for their matches.
‘I’m looking forward to taking these underdogs, Cavaliers FC, under my wing and sharing my tips and experience to help them win their upcoming games.
"There is a lot of hard work to be done but hopefully this will set them on a path to league glory, or at least winning a game this season."
Ben Gage, who is first team manager at Cavaliers, is eager to turn things around for his Manchester League division two team.
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He says: "We started the season full of optimism and things went absolutely brilliantly – for the other teams. As things stand, we’ve now played 11 matches and lost all 11 games. We scored a total of five goals and conceded 113.
"In our first game we lost 3-1 but we were feeling confident going forward. However, in our second match we then lost 16-0 and everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong in that game.
"Since then, we’ve continued to lose every game, including a huge thrashing where we lost 26-0 in a game where we had no keeper and just one defender. Our players are fed-up and starting to lose interest.
"That’s when we issued our plea on social media to find some new experienced players and swap the squad around."
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He adds: "In the future we’d like to progress up the leagues and perhaps eventually get into semi-pro, but for now we need to just concentrate on winning our first match of the season."
Specsavers will be documenting the team’s progress on a dedicated YouTube channel with the help of resident armchair fans, Statman Dave and Stephen Tries.
In fact, episode one of the series dropped earlier today. You can watch it below.
Topics: Football