Over the years, we’ve heard about footballers being jokers and funny personalities – a couple who took it too far, some right up to the line – Paul Gascoigne probably falls into this category, though he was so talented that he got away with it.
However, it is very rare that we hear about a joke being played on a footballer by an external party. In 1998 that is exactly what happened to Everton’s Swedish midfielder, Anders Limpar, (who also played for Arsenal) in one of the most elaborate football pranks ever recorded.
What Was The Premise Of The Prank?
The story begins when Swedish TV show, Blasningen put together a daring stunt which received considerable media attention at the time.
Limpar is about to board a private jet from Gothenburg to Stockholm with his friend Dan who is in on the joke (along with Dan’s partner who waved bye to them at the airport, along with Dan’s puppy).
Having taken their seats on the plane, they find out that they are sharing it with ‘scientists’ (really actors, in on the joke), who are ‘fiddling’ with computers. Mid-flight, suddenly the plane goes into a nosedive – there is ‘commotion’ coming from the cockpit.
One of the scientists then suddenly cries out: “we’ve done it!…we’ve travelled two years into the future!”
At this point, Limpar (the only one not in on the joke and unaware he’s been filmed the whole time), doesn’t know what to do. In what was a really genius move, two fighter pilots then appear on either side of the plane to really help sell it.
Upon landing, they’re greeted by military presence and fake media, while then being ushered into a private room for two days in the interests of ‘security’.
Much to Limpar’s horror, he is also then told that fierce rivals Norway won the 1998 World Cup, the previous year. To really sell it, Dan’s partner Mia appears (and thanks to some clever make-up looks older), along with a fully grown dog.
Limpar is then told that the King Of Norway had arrived to see them, with ‘His Majesty’ turning out to be the host of the TV show; Lennart Swahn who reveals the whole thing was a prank and he’d been filmed the whole time. Limpar took the whole thing in good spirits, praising the attention to detail, though became somewhat of a laughing stock for quite a while.
Other Practical Jokes In Football
Of course, there have been other practical jokes in football, though likely none as clever as this. Gascoigne, who we mentioned, was a joker, though his were more sledgehammer.
One time when he was at Tottenham and they were playing Newcastle away, he asked one of the trainer’s to drive his car up, so he could go on the team bus. After the trainer set off, “Gazza” immediately called the police saying his car had been stolen. Lo and behold, the Spurs team bus passed an incident on the A19, which was the trainer being questioned by police and all of the players laughing and gesticulating as the bus passed.
Mario Balotelli was never far from controversy either. Because of this, during one Premier League game, he had a white shirt underneath his Manchester City top and upon scoring, took it off to reveal the words: “Why Always Me?”, across the back.
