Normally football players might blame poor defending poor finishing or even their manager for a string of bad results.
But New Mills AFC have confounded their fans by blaming the English weather for failing to win a game all season and letting in an astonishing 105 goals.
The club, who play in The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier - First Division North, have lost 27 of their 28 league games so far this season - drawing one match 2-2 during their calamitous run of results. They have also lost four cup games.
The side, which plays in the eighth tier of English football, are 19 points from safety in the league with 14 games to play but despite their disastrous run of results the club's manager Garry Brown insisted that survival is still possible. They play in the same league that Class of 92 Salford City won last year.
Most of the players earn around £20 per match and train twice a week around their full time jobs. Brown took over from managing duo Andy Fearn and former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater in September last year said the weather based in the hills of the Peak District in Derbyshire is to blame.
Brown said: "It gets the worst weather you can imagine. And it means we look forward to our away games because we just cannot get consistency. The people around us are fantastic, but the climate doesn’t help us. We have lots of games called off, a lot of pitch inspections. We often go weeks without a game because our pitch is so soggy and we lose our form. ''
Local firm MANFLU has since stepped in to help the side with a sponsorship deal offering players supplies of their energy products.
Cavendish Press' coverage of New Mills' plight went in the Sun and Mirror online after PR experts for Manflu contacted us to help with their publicity. If you have a story please contact us on 0161 237 1066 or email [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.