Club chairman's anger at 'horrendous' treatment of 17 naughty nun footballers arrested on tour in Crete



Members of a football team who were arrested in Crete after a scandalous night out clad in naughty nun outfits have slammed authorities for overreacting - and admitted the ordeal was one they will 'never forget'.



Club chairman Mick Underhill and 16 other current and former players for Hanham Athletic and Hanham Sunday league team, based in Bristol, were arrested in a bar in the seaside resort of Malia on Saturday night dressed in nuns' costumes, lingerie and wimples.

They spent a night in police cells after being arrested for causing offence to the Catholic church.

Bystanders look on in bemusement as 17 British men dressed as naughty nuns and handcuffed together appear in a Crete court yesterday

Mr Underhill, 59, said he and his team-mates, aged 18 to 65, were marched into a courtroom in the Crete capital of Heraklion yesterday morning still dressed in the risque garb after spending 40 gruelling hours in a 'cramped' and 'disgusting' prison cell.

Speaking from a bar in Malia, now a free man, Mr Underhill said: 'The last 48 hours have just been unbelievable. It's no doubt something we will never forget.



'The prison facilities were horrendous. You wouldn't let the dog use the toilets in there. There was graffiti all over the walls. We were all squeezed into one cell with eight concrete beds - and we had to buy food if we wanted to eat.'

The men, all football players, ranged in age from 18-65



The men were part of a high-spirited football tour: The Hanham Sunday Tour, made up of current and former footballers of Hanham Athletic and Hanham's Sunday league team, based in Bristol.

The group had been out partying in Hania, a lively Mediterranean town with a reputation for drunken antics.

Apparently the locals have decided enough is enough, however, and the footballers were arrested and accused of causing offence to the Catholic Church with their outfits.

The men had not finished their first drink of the night when they were thrown into the back of a 'riot' van, Mr Underhill said.

'We have a couple of drinks, and then we parade around the street in costume for one night of the holiday,' Mr Underhill said.

The men traipse off to appear before a judge and prosecutors in their 'scandalous' gear

'It's an end-of-season celebration and tradition. We're laughing at ourselves and the other people laugh at us too. It's harmless.

'We hadn't even finished our first drink when we were arrested and in the back of a van.'

The naughty nuns even had handcuffs - not part of their costumes, but a little addition by the police.

They were held for 'scandal and misrepresentation of a costume or uniform' - and were led into court still in their bizarre outfits.

But the tale had a happy ending when the prosecutor decided to drop all charges against the men after no one showed in court to testify that they had been offended by the odd performance.

All 17 men were released - presumably to head straight back to their hotel for a change of clothes.



Mr Underhill said that when they appeared in court there was trouble with interpretation - and some of the men signed documents without fully understanding the content.

Fortunately for the men, the prosecutors decided to drop the charges after no one showed to testify that they had been offended

'We're all strong-minded men but we were shaken up by the experience, especially some of the younger lads,' Mr Underhill said.

But once released, a weight was taken from the team's shoulders, Mr Underhill added.

'We had to get back to Malia still dressed as nuns - but the costumes are in the bin now,' he said.

'We're going to try and relax and enjoy the rest of the holiday, but some of us have already said we're going to look into the way we were treated. We don't think what happened was right or fair.



'But we've got a lot of comedians at the club, and they're already having a laugh about it. It will be easier to giggle when we're back home.'

The players will be arriving back in Bristol late tonight.

Nuns in Crete wear their habits considerably longer than these British tourists, however

The Hanham Sunday Tour is an annual trip started in the Sixties by the Sunday league team, which now plays in the Bristol Sunday League Premier division.

And you may not be surprised to hear this is not the first time the players have gone out in fancy dress while together overseas.

In previous years the men have dressed up as St Trinians schoolgirls in Portugal and babies in Cyprus.

Britons account for about 15 per cent of the 15 million tourists who visit Greece every year and some have gained notoriety for drunken and occasionally violent behaviour.

In 2007, Malia residents staged a march against British tourists and the town was featured in a documentary ‘Sex on the Beach’ that followed the exploits of a group of young British holidaymakers at the resort.

A 20-year-old British woman was charged with infanticide last summer after giving birth to a baby in her Malia hotel room while she was on holiday with her sister and a friend.

Last year, authorities on Crete arrested dozens of tourists in a crackdown on binge-drinking and crime at Greece's coastal resorts.









