A football match like no other, said to have occurred on the bloody battlefields of Flanders during World War I, is the subject of a new research project by a professor from Lancaster.

Iain Adams, who is principal lecturer in outdoor education at the University of Central Lancashire, wants to get to the truth behind the myth of games that took place between British and German troops at Christmas, 1914.

He has already undertaken secondary research into the legend of the truce and is about to delve deeper into the subject of the football match.

He will use sources from regimental museums and the letters pages of newspapers of the day to get to the truth - but says he would be delighted to hear from anyone owning WW1 letters which describe that Christmas.

Little is known about the game - when soldiers from both sides stopped fighting to join each other in No Man's Land, burying their dead, sharing short church services, singing carols, exchanging gifts and gaining brief respite from the horrors of war.

Iain, who is a senior lecturer in sports management, says: "Some historians dispute the validity of the match but I believe that small games occurred on an ad-hoc basis all the way down the front line.

"There was no authorised truce between the two armies but we know from historical records that two thirds of the British and German front line took part in localised cease-fires on December 25."

He goes on: "However, this is probably the first detailed study on the subject of the football match or matches.

"There is a feeling that the whole subject is a romantic notion, dreamed up by soldiers who would have liked it to happen. However, I'm planning to examine war diaries and combatant's personal correspondence to build up a picture of what really happened."

Iain has already uncovered evidence of the British and German regiments which took part in the truce, including the Lancashire Fusiliers.

In a wartime letter, Lieutenant Johannes Niemann, of the 133rd Saxons, describes the Scottish players as not wearing underpants beneath their kilts and recalls that the Germans won the match 3-2.

The ground breaking research is due to be completed by Easter 2004 and its findings will be published in the International Journal of the History of Sport.

Iain also plans to write a primary school Christmas play on the subject for Christmas 2004 - the ninetieth anniver-sary of the famous game.

He can be contacted on 01772-894915 or emailed at: icadams@uclan.ac.uk.