A football club cried fowl play after being forced to postpone a match 30 minutes before kick-off after its pitch was covered in goose poo.

Non-league side West Allotment Celtic FC couldn't play its home game against Seaham Red Star after realising the far side of the football pitch was covered in the mess.

Chairman David Dodds, 62, thinks the birds have come from a nearby field that is now a housing development but joked that the in Newcastle-based team could now be nicknamed 'The Geesemen.'

He said: "Our team were warming up on one side of the pitch and the other team were warming up on the other side and that's when we were made aware that there was a lot of geese poo."

"We went out with plastic bags and tried to clear everything but the referee decided the game was off which was a bit disappointing. "

"I've never heard of a flock of geese stopping a football match like this. We might make our nickname 'The Geesemen' but we aren't sure yet."

After the incident on Friday (January 17) David is now doing a 'Grey Goose Vodka raffle' where you can win a bottle of the alcohol and get a 'I've saved a non-league club from goose poo' t-shirt.

He said: "We decided to turn the situation round and have done a 'Grey Goose Vodka raffle.'"

"If you buy more than five tickets, then you get t-shirts that say 'I've saved a non-league club from goose poo.'"

"People from Slovakia, Japan, Australia and Germany have all bought tickets and t-shirts."