The Premier League is now under a month away and clubs have jetted off around the globe to prepare for the 2019/20 campaign.
Chelsea have already played in two of their pre-season matches as Frank Lampard starts his tenure with the Blues, While Man United defeated Perth Glory on the weekend as their tour of Australia started.
In light of every club’s preparation for the gruelling league campaign ahead, talkSPORT.com has identified five bizarre friendlies that have taken place in the recent past which have simply left people wondering: ‘Why?’
Have a look at our five choices below…
Every Premier League club’s confirmed pre-season fixtures
Oxford City vs West Ham, July 28 1994
Although the fixture isn’t unusual, this pre-season friendly between Oxford and West Ham was bizarre for one special reason.
Harry Redknapp brought a young Hammers side with him and at one stage summoned a rowdy supporter to get his kit on and play in the match after he mouthed off a little too much.
Redknapp, who has recounted the anecdote on many occasions, told the officials the match-goer was a new Bulgarian signing.
Incredibly, the fan banged in a goal (although it was ruled out for offside) as West Ham breezed to a 4-0 victory.
Despite his goal and a decent display for the Claret and Blue outfit, Redknapp was unwilling to give the fan a contract.
Thailand vs Liverpool, July 22 2009
It’s not often you seen an actual country lined up against a club, it’s more like something out of FIFA – but that’s exactly what happened when Liverpool took on Thailand in the summer of 2009.
The match took place as part of the Reds’ tour of the Far East in 2009.
Rafa Benitez and co. travelled to Bangkok for the match and a young Ryan Babel gave his side the lead in the first-half.
Thailand grabbed an equaliser for the ‘War Elephants’ in the second half and they would go onto frustrate Liverpool, earning a 1-1 draw and setting the tone for a miserable seventh-place finish for the Reds in the Premier League.
The Reds also played the Thai national team in 2013 and won 3-0.
Heaton Stannington vs Gabon, July 22 2012
The Gabon national team were in England in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games and originally they had planned to take on Newcastle to prepare for the tournament.
However, the Magpies were embarking on their own pre-season tour and therefore weren’t available for the match.
Heaton Stannington, a team in the 11th division of English football, astonishingly stepped up and announced they were keen to host the the African outfit at their home ground, Grounsell Park.
The match finished in a 4-0 victory the visitors, which represented a monumental effort from the Heaton side who were made up largely of amateur players.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was then a player for Saint-Etienne, attracted large crowds to the stadium.
And as we all know, Aubameyang would go on to sign for Borussia Dortmund and later Arsenal in January 2018.
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ATV Irdning vs Everton, July 14 2018
In Marco Silva’s first match in charge of the club, Everton absolutely trounced their European opposition 22-0 in one of the biggest victories ever.
Kevin Mirallas scored five times against the Austrian side and astonishingly eight other squad members were also on target.
Despite Mirallas’ impressive display he was quickly offloaded by Silva and signed for Fiorentina on loan for the 2018/19 campaign.
Walsall vs Ajax, 20 July 2018
Ajax may have reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, playing some blistering football and beating Juventus and Real Madrid in the process, but it’s easy to forget they were taught a lesson or two by League Two side Walsall before the season had even started.
Andy Cook scored a double to send the Saddlers on their way to an unlikely victory over the Eredivise outfit.
Although the Ajax side were without some of the names that are doing the rounds in the transfer rumour mill at the moment, such as Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, their side still consisted of first-team members such as Kasper Dolberg and Siem de Jong.
Ajax would go onto to win the title and progress to the semi’s of Europe’s elite competition, while Walsall were relegated to League Two – which somewhat shows that pre-season results should often be disregarded.