RAMSBOTTOM'S finest footballing talent spent last week touring Germany.

The Ramsbottom Raiders trekked across the country playing friendly matches on four consecutive days in Bielefeld, Frankfurt, Wurzburg and Munich.

Tour organiser and team manager Alex Kirkley enthused: "The trip was absolutely fantastic and our German friends were the perfect hosts, putting on barbeques and beers after every game. The pitches we played on were like golf courses and put most English professional surfaces to shame."

The Raiders won only one of the four games they played, but the lack of sleep combined with travelling in a cramped minibus and copious amounts of German beer were largely to blame for their poor showing on the field.

It took until the third game for that victory to come against a Wurzburg University side.

Dave Johnson won the Golden Boot award (a sweaty Puma King boot nailed to a plank of wood and sprayed with gold paint) for the tremendous achievement of 5 goals in 4 games.

Rob John Charles Greenhalgh was voted Player of the Tour for being 'the shining light in a team of flickering bulbs'.

Alex added: "There were moments when it was like watching Brazil, but our schedule was arguably tougher than that of the Territorial Army's, so we finished with about 6 fit players from 14 who started the tour!"

The team were sponsored by Manpower, Bury's biggest employer, who contributed towards the costs of the team's strip and a return to Germany next year is well into the planning stages.

The Ramsbottom Raiders also played a friendly against a team of Galaxy 102 presenters, which raised money for Kirsty Howard's Appeal for the Francis House Hospice.