Soccer club apologizes for WWII photo error
Image depicts German soldiers rather than allied troops
A Scottish soccer club is promising it has learned a lesson after an embarrassing gaffe came about as a result of not knowing history. Airdrie United of Scotland’s Second Division issued a letter on its website apologizing for a Remembrance Day program that showed nurses handing out water to WWII German soldiers on a train along with the captions “Lest we forget,” and “Supporting our heroes.”
“I would like to unreservedly apologise for the error on our Remembrance programme which resulted in the wrong photograph being used for the front cover,” club chairman Jim Ballantyne wrote. “The original match sponsor for the game was Network Rail so I decided to base our Remembrance programme images on wartime trains. A number of photos were considered and when the final choice was made, the wrong image was lifted which was almost identical to the one that I had selected. Unfortunately it showed German soldiers instead of allied troops with the nurses.”
According to reports, the club sold hundreds of copies of the program until a supporter spotted the error and alerted the club with a phone call. Ballantyne, whose club lost the match to Livingston 1-0, noted the team’s longstanding support of Poppy Scotland, an organization dedicated to supporting Scottish troops. “Personally, I am devastated at this unfortunate mistake as I am immensely passionate about Remembrance and wear my poppy with pride,” he wrote, “however you can be assured that the same mistake will never be made again.”
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