Here in North America, sports franchises use the most obvious cover art for their game day programs. New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter fist-pumping after a playoff victory. Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson doused in champagne.
Surely things are the same over in the UK, but last week Scottish soccer club Airdire United attempted something a little more historical with its program in honor of Remembrance Day. The commemoration backfired. Airdire officials thought last Saturday’s program portrayed jubilant Australian troops returning by train from a World War Two battlefield. Instead, the photo features German soldiers – ahem, Nazis.
Superimposed over the photo were the words “Lest We Forget” and “Supporting Our Heroes.”
According to an Australian newspaper, club officials claim PoppyScotland, a war veterans charity and remembrance project, supplied the photo. The organization says otherwise.
In any event, Airdire chairman Jim Ballantyne apologized: “We always have a minute of silence and we also played in special strips bearing the poppy, all of which makes the programme gaffe very embarrassing.”