football fan once walked into his own minute's silence after PR blunder

Interrupting a minute's silence is usually a big no-no - except when it's being held for you.

One football fan bizarrely walked into his own back on February 27, 1993. Fred Cope was Congleton Town's oldest supporter at the age of 85.

Shortly before the non-league side were set to take on Rossendale United, news spread of Fred's supposed passing. With little time until kick-off, then-programme editor Chris Phillips scrambled to arrange an appropriate response.

A quoted by The Independent, he said: "The secretary informed me that Fred had died. So I wrote off an obituary, stapled it into the programme and informed the referee that we needed a minute's silence."

As the players made their way out on to the pitch pre-match, Mr Phillips was given the shock of his life when Fred came walking through the gate alive and well.

"I had to announce on the tannoy that the minute's silence would be to honour Bobby Moore," he added, with the England legend having passed three days earlier. "Fred said he wasn't quite ready to go yet."

Fred's fellow supporters were just as baffled as he was, admitting he received "a few funny looks" as he made his way through the crowd at Booth Street.

"It wasn't until I saw the programme that I realised why. I've been bad over the last week - but not that bad," he joked.

It was only up for Fred from there, as Congleton went on to win 6-1 and he landed a £10 prize, which equates to around £25 today, in the half-time raffle.

When he did die, the legendary fan was given another minute's silence at the ground where he spent many a Saturday afternoon for years.