Buckingham FC kit arrives with Gambian namesake after year journey

The Gambian team received the kit on Saturday - a year and four months after it was shipped from Buckingham

A football team in Gambia have received the kit sent by their British namesake, over a year after it was shipped.

Buckingham United FC sent their old strip to Buckingham Street FC in Gunjur, a town in south west Gambia, after the teams struck up a Facebook friendship.

The shipment was posted in May 2017 but was mislaid at the airport in Gambia.

Player Famara Badjie said they received the kit with "extreme joy" and sent "a very big thank you" to the Brits.

Members of the club's youth teams gathered to see the the presentation

The British club renewed their kit after they got a new sponsorship deal. Their first team is in the North Bucks and District League

Adam Bray, the vice-chairman of Buckingham United, said the connection between the two teams began four or five years ago.

"Muhammed (B Sarr) liked our Facebook page... was liking and commenting on every single post, so after two weeks, we thought, 'who is this guy?'" he said.

They contacted him and discovered he was in a Gambian team with a similar name, inspired by the road they lived on, Buckingham Street.

When Buckingham United got a new sponsor, the committee decided to send their old kit to the Gambian team.

The Gambian team did not have a badge, but have now adopted Buckingham United FC's badge

But the shipment went missing after it arrived at Banjul International Airport airport in July 2017.

Mr B Sarr said the airport had been "congested with baggages", but with persistence the shipment was eventually discovered.