Zero points

Ever heard of the Lancaster City Football Club? No? I wouldn't blame you. Until last week, I hadn't heard of them either.

What makes Lancaster so special is because this season, with only three games to go before the end of the football season in England, the team is languishing in the Conference North league with ... zero points.

After playing 39 games, Lancaster do not have a single point and are 41 points behind second-from-bottom Scarborough.

Early in the season, they actually started off with two wins and three draws. That's worth nine points. Then the club went into administration last December. Pok-kai. Bankrupt. They were punished by having 10 points deducted. Because of this, they were suddenly thrusted into negative territory.

"Zero makes us look as though we have lost every game this season but we haven't," Lancaster chairman Mick Hoyle said. "We had nine points but all the players left because we couldn't afford to pay them.

"After we released our big stars and those on higher wages, we went looking for players from the local leagues. We brought in local boys and they picked up a point. That would have taken us to 10 but with the deduction we are on zero. But we would like to finish with plus points.

"Morale is good and spirits are high. The lads may lack strength and a bit of confidence but they go out there with a great sense of pride. We just pay them basic petrol expenses to get to the games, so we have gone from a club with wages of £5,000 to £500."

Hoyle intends 's to reach further into the local community by recruiting some players from Lancaster University. "We will keep going," said Hoyle.

Note: They've now also lost their 40th game on 21 Apr 2007 by a 0-2 score. So still at zero points.