NON-LEAGUE soccer side Harrogate Town scored an unwanted debut when the first streaker in the club's history took to the Wetherby Road pitch.
The teenage male invader raced on to the field late into the second half of the pre-season friendly between Town and Leeds United.
After raising one of the biggest cheers of the night, the streaker pranced around the penalty area before beating a hasty retreat.
Mayor of Harrogate Coun Bob Nash, himself a keen sportsman and chief guest at the match with his Mayoress wife, Pat,said: "It was just a bit of bare-faced cheek. But quite frankly I don't think it was needed at what was very much a family occasion with a lot of young children there."
After his 30 seconds of glory the naked Leeds fan dashed for cover, melting into the crowd.
A Harrogate fan, brushed aside as the streaker climbed over the boundary fence, said: "It's not the sort of thing we're used to here. Streakers and pitch invasions don't go hand-in-hand with the Wetherby Road image."
Leeds won the match 3-1.
Updated: 12:06 Tuesday, August 14, 2001
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