THREE soccer teams were today preparing for a marathon journey to a world-class tournament after a timetable blunder left them stranded.

Blackburn Celtic Youth players thought it would be plain sailing to the prestigious World Youth Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden.

But when they arrived in Newcastle to catch the ferry, they saw the ship leaving dock - and then discovered they were an hour late.

Now the team is back en-route after another firm stepped in to help.

Coach and secretary Danny Riley said: "We're all gutted. We were told by Scandinavian Seaways that we had to pick our tickets up at Newcastle and the ferry left at noon. "When we got into the car park at Newcastle at 11am we saw the ship leaving. We weren't the only ones told the wrong time. Everyone is furious."

Cruise firm Colourline then agreed to help and the teams were setting off to Norway at lunchtime today. A coach was expected to meet them at the other end before a 15 HOUR journey to Gothenburg.

Danny added: "We'll all be shattered when we arrive - it's the last thing you want before a major tournament. Our first game is on Monday.

"If Colourline hadn't taken us under their wing, we would have been well and truly stuck.

"Scandinavian Seaways just didn't want to know. We've had a massive fund-raising campaign to pay for the trip and we're going to have to have another when we get back to pay for the journey to Norway. It's going to cost us about £50-a-head and that's at a special rate."

One of the teams, made up of teenage girls, was featured in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph last month.

The Gothia World Youth Cup has attracted 25,000 participants from around the world. The teams, including an under 14s and under 16s boys squad, will be playing in front of up to 30,000 people during the week-long tournament.

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