7 Haunted Football Stories That Will Scare Your Socks Off

Football is the beautiful game but we can guarantee you that it gets really spooky sometimes and what better time to revisit those really spooky stories than during Halloween season. Here are 7 haunted football stories that will scare your socks off. Make sure you're sitting down for this one because it gets really scary. Let's dive into it. Number 1. Lightning wipes out a team. Back in 1998 it was reported that lightning wiped out the entire starting line up of a Congolese football team on their own home ground. It was so suspicious because while it wiped out the entire home team and injured some other members of their squad it didn't affect any member of the away team so people immediately blamed it on witchcraft. Apparently it wasn't unusual for witchcraft to be used to influence games in that part of the country back then. However we would later find out that the home team had metal plated boots while the away team wore rubber plated boots and so were insulated. That explains it doesn't it? But let's see if you can find an explanation for this next one. Number 2. Sunderland ghost. In the early 2000s when Sunderland were chasing promotion to the Premier League they themselves were reportedly being chased by a ghost who was always hanging around the training ground. Two of the squad physios reported that they once chased the said ghost down a corridor. Marcus Stewart who was playing for Sunderland at the time had this to say about the ghost. What made me think it's true is Stephen Elliott has seen it. He's adamant that he's seen something. Stephen Elliott was his teammate at Sunderland at the time by the way. And we're not saying anything here but when the Sunderland staff and players started seeing the ghost happened to coincide with when their 8 game winning streak was snapped. To cap this all up some Sunderland fans attested to once seeing a groundsman working on the pitch only for him to disappear into thin air seconds later. Till today there still isn't any reasonable explanation for any of it. You want to try explaining it? Hit us with your theory in the comments. But maybe this next one will be much easier to explain as just incompetence. Number 3. Ghost goal in the Bundesliga. Hoffenheim once lost a Bundesliga game to Bayer Leverkusen thanks to a ghost goal by Stefan Kiesling. The striker obviously headed the ball into the side netting but somehow it ended up in the back of the net. Kiesling had his head in his hand because he knew he'd missed the header but the referee awarded the goal and there was no protest from the opponents so he just played along. Even the commentator could not tell that the ball had entered through the side netting in real time. As a matter of fact it wasn't until the replay was shown that fans figured out that the ball had creeped in through a hole in the side netting but unfortunately there was no VAR to save the day back then. Hoffenheim asked for the game to be replayed but the DFB refused to grant them that. But can you really blame the referee for that ghost goal? Number 4. Haunted house in Barcelona. There's a particular house in Barcelona that you can pretty much say is cursed. If Barcelona signs you and you move into that haunted house you just know you're going to flop real bad at the club. Don't believe it? Ask Coutinho and Vermeulen who stayed in the same house at different times. You know who else stayed there? Fabregas. Things were going great for Cesc Fabregas until he moved into that villa. How can you not blame it on the house? Oh and we didn't even add that the house was burgled during the time Coutinho was an occupant. Someone needs to go and make sure that's not the house Rafinha is currently living in. Number 5. Haunted St. Mary's. Now who the hell told Southampton that it was a good idea to build a stadium on a former graveyard? We all watch movies don't we? We know that this is a dreadful idea but those guys went ahead to construct St. Mary's on a former graveyard and moved there in the early 2000s. After they moved in, things started going south for them. They started sinking in the Premier League, changing coaches like underwear and being involved in relegation battles every season. They once had three different managers within the space of just eight months. Then the club chairman went ahead to do the unthinkable and hired Harry Redknapp who was the coach of their bitter rivals Portsmouth. And he happened to be the one who put the final nail in Southampton's coffin. They dropped down to the Championship after 27 straight seasons in the Premier League. After that, he resigned and the chairman followed suit. Southampton remained in the Championship until 2012 when they finally came back up again but it wasn't before the club called a pagan white witch to cleanse the ground after rumours that their new home ground was haunted had spread exponentially through the fan base. Number 6. Goalkeeper Witchcraft in Rwanda. If you don't believe in witchcraft then tell us how else you'd explain this. In a game between Makura Victory and Rayon Sports in the Rwandan League, Rayon were down 1-0 and were missing a load of chances. Then at some point their striker Musa Kamara ran to the opposition's post and picked something from just beside the upright. Once he picked it, he was chased by the goalkeeper but he managed to make it to the dugout and handed the item over to a member of his technical staff. Guess what? Just a couple of minutes later, Kamara himself scored the equaliser. Now how are you going to explain to Kamara that the thing he picked up wasn't the witchcraft that was stopping him from scoring the entire game? Number 7. Haunted Highbury. Herbert Chapman was coach of Arsenal between 1925 and 1934. He was Arsene Wenger before Arsene Wenger was Arsene Wenger. He absolutely revolutionised the club, turning them into a successful team. In his nine years managing the Gunners, he won six trophies including two First Division titles. He was named ninth greatest manager of all time by World Soccer in 2013 and 24th by France Football in 2019. That's how good Chapman was. Unfortunately, he died of pneumonia while still in charge of Arsenal in 1934 but weeks before his death, while his health was declining, he still managed to drag himself to go watch the Gunners live, attending three games in one week in January of 1934. This led to his health deteriorating rather quickly and ultimately his unfortunate demise. Following his death, it was said that Chapman's ghost continued to haunt Highbury until Arsenal moved out in 2006. Some people said that they could hear the ghost of the former boss pacing up and down the stadium at night back then. Which one of these stories has spooked you the most? Let us know in the comments and also be kind to tell us who you are for Halloween. If you enjoyed the video give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. Also turn on the bell notification so you never miss out on new content and we'll catch you in the next one. Bye.