Five Bath City youth players red carded for underwear offense

The BBC wins for best opening sentence of the day:

Bath City had five players sent off as an FA Youth Cup tie descended into farce following a row over underpants.

Bath manager Billy Clarke was also sent off for dissent after the first of his players was shown a red for the underwear violation 20 minutes into their eventual 6-0 loss to Newport County in the FA Youth Cup qualifying match. The BBC explains:

Underwear must be the same colour as the shorts but Bath's white pants were visible below their black shorts.

"It was all very surreal. I was angry with the officials," said Bath managing director Paul Williams.

"Rules are rules but the officiating wasn't what it should have been for a youth cup tie.

"Why didn't the officials check the colours before the start?

Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben and his spandex leggings have fallen afoul of this rule in recent years, so it's not unheard of by any means. Still, Bath City have reason to be upset -- whether it be with themselves or the official -- because Newport's first goal in what I'm going to call The Underpants Thrashing was scored while two of Bath's players were changing.

Failing to qualify for the FA Youth Cup made it a costly lesson, but Bath City will certainly be sure to better co-ordinate their shorts with their underwear from now on.