Carling Cup - Stoke players in mid-air drama

Eurosport - Wed, 28 Oct 09:46:00 2009

Stoke were involved in flight drama on their return from Portsmouth on Tuesday night when their private plane had to make an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport.

2009 Generic floodlights aeroplane (PA Photos) - 0

Players raised the alert about a burning smell in the cabin, after take-off from Southampton, and rather than continue to the intended destination of East Midlands Airport, the captain chose to land at the earliest opportunity.

According to Stoke, who detailed the incident on their website on Wednesday morning, the plane was a 50-seat aircraft which was met at Gatwick by fire engines.

Stoke lost their Carling Cup fourth-round clash 4-0 against Portsmouth and their miserable night was made worse when, after landing at Gatwick, they continued their journey home by coach at 1.35am.

Neither Stoke boss Tony Pulis nor 10 first team players who did not feature in the game on the south coast were aboard the plane.

PA Sport

Comment 56 - 75 of 75

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  1. maybe one had a spliff in the loo

    From steveles59, on Thu 29 Oct 2:56PM

  2. coming from an aviation background, I can assure you it­ would have been as quick, cheaper and greener to use a­ coach;
    david. r. (newark)

    From D, on Thu 29 Oct 9:39AM

  3. reminds me of a very funny song that we aint allowed to­ sing anymore cos they dont own the copyright so they­ dont make any money when we sing it to the lanc scum f­ k in cok suckers

    From lufcn4evaproud, on Thu 29 Oct 7:44AM

  4. Stoke is @#$% anyways,so who cares if that plane go­ down?

    From LAURIS, on Thu 29 Oct 5:21AM

  5. 4:0! @#$%! They should have been forced to stay in a­ 2-star hotel with breakfast then to split up and take­ various bus routes back to Stoke.

    From Kev, on Wed 28 Oct 11:13PM

  6. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME THIS STORY IS. YET AGAIN IT IS­ THESE SO CALLED BLOODY SPORTS PEOPLE.A COACH WOULD HAVE­ BEEN BETTER AND GREENER SO WHAT IF IT TOOK LONGER THEY­ HAVE NOT GOT A LOT ELSE TO DO APART FROM CLUBING AND­ DRINKING.

    From Diamond T, on Wed 28 Oct 10:57PM

  7. David p ,just a couple of things , 35 minutes from­ stoke to manchester airport? really, takes 30 minutes­ for me just to get to macclesfield and i live 8 miles­ north of stoke ground, more like close to 50-60­ minutes, about the same for them to get to east­ midlands. As for the plane journey, 45 minutes maybe,­ but factor in the journey time off route to the­ airport, checking in waiting etc.,..... if you left the­ football ground at the same time you would beat the­ plane

    From paulhancock1123, on Wed 28 Oct 10:20PM

  8. Dont worry Pompey will show you what they can do, if­ Scummers can raise their game so can Pompey as shown in­ the past. Its all a case of sour grapes, talking about­ knocking a man when he is down. Keep up your game­ Pompey with your 4 goals a game as you have done in the­ past, this is one of Pompies faithful even if it be­ from the armchair.

    From Joan, on Wed 28 Oct 10:06PM

  9. 1. Why The F Were They Flying Anyway? Whats Wrong With­ A Coach?

    2. So What Caused The Burning Smell? Lazy,­ Lazy Journalism As Per Usual!

    This Article Probaly­ Took A Minute To Type And Was Pretty Much Cut And­ Pasted From The Press Release I bet!

    Can I have A Job?

    From visadebit15, on Wed 28 Oct 10:05PM

  10. Well, this is only in the news because they're­ footballers!!

    If this happened to you or me, well, i­ dont think if would be here!!

    From Lewis, on Wed 28 Oct 9:02PM

  11. it takes 45 mins from east mids­ to Portsmouth by plane­ so why not do it if you can rather than spend 2 and­ half hours on a bloody bus , dont know why they went­ to east mids airport it takes 60 mins to get to should­ have gone to manchester airport only takes 35 mins from­ stoke , enough sad facts they all should have stayed in­ stoke after that score line !!

    From DAVID P, on Wed 28 Oct 8:54PM

  12. hi its exactly 161 miles

    From P, on Wed 28 Oct 7:10PM

  13. wot a sad bunch of loosers

    From brian, on Wed 28 Oct 7:07PM

  14. yer it takes 4 hours on the coach nob heds i was there

    From STUART, on Wed 28 Oct 7:00PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    What an awfully pointless story. Stoke players in­ mid-air drama !!

    No 1st team choices were on the Plane­ that apparently took off and had a burning smell - so­ landed asap. What was the drama, was anything wrong­ with the plane.
    C'mon Yahoo your news headings are­ a tiny bit misleading :(

    From jboyo2003, on Wed 28 Oct 6:43PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    why the hell did they use the PLANE to go to­ PORTSMOUTH!!! they have brains the size of my pet ant.­
    p.s i dont actually have a pet ant its just their­ brain is the size of 1.

    From Sina, on Wed 28 Oct 6:38PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Private plane!! Stoke!!

    From Karen, on Wed 28 Oct 6:34PM

  18. glad to see a football team going by plane,as this geen­ con is being feed to the beliveing sheep it showa what­ most of the people think,unless your a sad @#$% that­ belives all this hype.

    From jack, on Wed 28 Oct 6:30PM

  19. I just can't believe the amazement that­ 'Stoke' led to smelling smoke....what did they­ expect....?

    From JojO, on Wed 28 Oct 6:30PM

  20. I would like to see the bus that can travel from Stoke­ to Portsmouth in 2 hours

    From DAVID, on Wed 28 Oct 6:18PM
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