It was only a friendly – so Oldham Athletic can be excused for putting out their ‘bee’ team.

A swarm of the winged insects caused chaos earlier today after invading the squad’s Boundary Park pitch.

The bees attached themselves to a goalpost, meaning a large area of the ground had to be cordoned off, delaying the Latics’ pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers.

Fans were kept outside of the ground and a specialist team of beekeepers in protective gear and armed with a leaf blower were then called to clear the bothersome buzzers from the immediate vicinity.

And the sighting of the swarm also helped inspired some stunning punning from the club, who shared the bizarre story with its fans on Twitter.

It also announced to supporters that it had been ‘an absolute hive of activity here today’ over the public address system once they were in the ground.

But it’s not the first time that a mass of bees has caused a fuss, after the phenomenon also occurred just a few days ago at a postbox in Cheadle.

Residents managed to capture an image of hundreds of insects crawling around the box just outside the town’s main Post Office.

(Image: Don Brown)

And after a similar incident involving a post box in Swansea, an expert said the bees could have been using the box as a ‘staging post’ to ‘get themselves organised’ while searching for a new home.