It was somewhere in the north, a small place, not even a dot on most maps. No airport, barely a main street, and I still don’t know how I ended up there. It was one of those random detours on a long world trip. A missed train connection, a bus going nowhere, and suddenly I’m in this town called Lurness.
Never heard of it before. I still don’t know the correct way to spell it.
I was walking around looking for food when I heard a loud cheer coming from a muddy field behind what looked like an abandoned post office. I followed the sound, and that’s when I saw them — Team Disquantified.
Yeah, that’s their actual name.
Contents
No Jerseys. No Real Stadium. All Game.
No uniforms. Most of them were wearing mismatched shirts. A couple didn’t even have cleats. The ref looked like someone’s uncle. No scoreboard. Just a whistle, a ball, and eleven guys playing like it was the World Cup final.
And I’m not exaggerating — they were good.
Tight passes. Sharp decisions. Real chemistry. Not the kind of “trying hard” you usually see in lower-league teams. This was different. These guys knew what they were doing. The whole team moved like one unit. You could tell they’d been playing together forever.
I stood there for 15 minutes before I even remembered I was hungry.
Who Are These Guys?
After the match (they won 3–1), I asked around. The guy selling soda out of a cooler told me they’ve been playing together since they were kids. No one funds them. No official league. Just weekly games and a local crowd that shows up like it’s Sunday church.
They call themselves “Disquantified” because — in their words — they’ve been disqualified, rejected, or ignored by almost every proper league or scout that came through. One scout told them their style was “too street,” whatever that means. Another team manager said they didn’t “look like professionals.”
So they just owned it. Turned the insult into a badge.
Shouldn’t Be This Good
It honestly bugged me for a few days after I left. How can a team this good go so unnoticed? No one’s recording them. They don’t have an Instagram page. They don’t have sponsors. Nothing.
But maybe that’s what keeps them sharp. No pressure. No outside noise. Just football.
They’re not trying to go viral. They’re not trying to prove anything.
They just play, and they play better than a lot of semi-pro teams I’ve seen.
Final Thought
There’s no official article about them. You won’t find them on Wikipedia.
But if you ever find yourself lost in a town called Lurness, and it’s around 5 PM on a Sunday, follow the sound of the whistle.
You’ll find Team Disquantified.
And you’ll be glad you did.