Sunday league football team once discovered an unexploded WW2 bomb under their pitch
A Sunday league football team avoided a close call when an unexploded World War 2 bomb was discovered under their pitch on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, after moving from the ground one year prior
Football fans have come to hope for fireworks on the pitch when they're supporting their team - but Portland United almost had explosions of the wrong kind in 1995.
An unexploded World War 2 bomb was discovered on the Isle of Portland, off the coast of Dorset. The location of the bomb had been the home of Portland United from 1921 to 1994.
The club had moved from their former home, Grove Corner, in 1994 when a quarry purchased the land. It was shortly after the quarry began excavating the found that the object was spotted just under what had been Portland's pitch.
Some reports had the bomb underneath the centre circle, but the exact whereabouts under the pitch remain unknown.
Reports also suggested it was a miracle that the bomb hadn't exploded in the 50 years that Portland had fulfilled their home fixtures above the device - that was supposedly extremely sensitive.
4,000 residents of Portland had to be evacuated as an exclusion zone was set up and specialists went ahead diffusing the bomb - that was believed to have been dropped in 1943 when the area had been targeted by German aerial attacks.
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In 2019, police were called when reports of an unexploded World War 2 bomb were filed just yards from West Ham's London Stadium.
However, on that occasion, it was a false alarm and a spokesman said: "Reports that a WW2 bomb has been ‘unearthed’ yards from London Stadium are wrong.
"The object has not been unearthed and it has not been identified. Police were called as a precaution and after initially putting in a small cordon their experts were satisfied that contractors should continue their work which will safely establish what the object is."