Masked men force non-league game to be abandoned as hearse left on pitch

A pre-season match between non-league teams Dunston and Gateshead was forced to be abandoned after two masked men drove a hearse onto the pitch and left it behind. In extraordinary scenes during the half-time interval, the referee had no option but to call off the game when the incident occurred on Friday night, with a funeral car left in the middle of the pitch in front of dozens of spectators and police in attendance.

Dunston and Gateshead had been due to play the second half of their match in the clash after drawing 1-1 at the break. However, events took a bizarre turn when two cars entered the field – one of which was a hearse.

The cars were driven by men wearing masks and video footage surfaced on social media of the vehicles making marks on the football pitch as they drifted around in circles doing donuts.

The driver of the hearse then got out of the vehicle and opened the door of the silver car, before it drove off and left the hearse stranded on the grass.

Leaflets appeared to be thrown from the car while it drove along and fortunately, no people were injured during the brief incident.

But there appeared to be damage done to gates as the drivers drove smashed their way through on their way out as they escaped the stadium. One stadium staff member reportedly tried to prevent the men from leaving but was unsuccessful.

One anonymous eyewitness recalled how the events unfolded. “It was surreal. As my wife and I were driving down, there were these three guys with snoods high up and hats on about 500 yards from the stadium,” they told the Daily Star. “She said ‘those three guys look dodgy’, but it was one of them comments that you say and think nothing of.

“We get into the stadium and look across to the right and those three guys are there. Again, she said they look dodgy but look nothing of it.

“The referee blows the half-time whistle and the players walk in, then one of the guys tried to open the blue railing around the pitch to get on. ‘Open the gate, open the gate’ they were shouting. There is a bit of an altercation between two guys trying to close the gate, but they were adamant to open the gate.”

They added: “At that level of football, you don’t get security, so it took about 10 minutes before police came, then there were seven or eight police cars and a helicopter. It was scary. You have got young children there.”

Another anonymous witness said: “It was horrible to see. There were loads of kids in tears. It all happened so fast, in probably less than a minute. At first people were just watching what was happening but then people started running away. I heard people say they had guns and people were running for cover. I’ve never seen anything like it. I just hope everyone is okay.”

National League North side Gateshead and Northern Premier League outfit Dunston each released a statement on their Twitter account to confirm the match had been called off, although no official reason was given by the club for the cancellation of the game.

The statement from Gateshead read: “Due to an incident on the pitch occurring shortly after half time, tonight’s match (at Dunston FC) been abandoned by the referee.”

Fans left gobsmacked by the events took photos and videos as they could scarcely believe what was happening in front of their eyes.

One spectator @andrewbeharie said: “I know I’ve seen a lot in my years watching football, but someone driving a hearse into Dunston’s ground during their game with Gateshead tops the lot by a country mile.”

One user @Schrise tweeted: “Didn’t have Dunston vs Gateshead being abandoned due to a hearse doing donuts on the pitch on my Friday night bingo card.”

Twitter user @bradrobson2605 wrote: “Quiet night at the Dunston v Gateshead match then…”, and @Rossc9210 added: “Never a dull moment in Gateshead.”

Express Sport have contacted Northumbria Police for comment on the incident.