Spartans ... by land, sea or air!

Members of the crew are pictured with the shirt which has been signed by the title-chasing Spartans squad after fan Craig Blackburn, front row second left, asked their captain if they could smarten up their mess with a few framed football shirts.

The request to send the kit across the ocean from the EVO-STIK NPL's Premier Division's leaders was granted and the shirt was due to be framed and mounted when the Albion-class assault ship put in at Plymouth this month after returning from being on the frontline of action in the Mediterranean during the migrant crisis.

During the summer, the amphibious transport ship normally tasked with delivering Royal Marines by sea and air, helped rescue nearly 3,000 migrants off the Italian coast attempting the crossing from Libya before assisting with the security for the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of State Government meeting in Malta.

The Admiralty won't have been surprised by the request to display the club's famous green and white colours as they are already flying proudly alongside the Royal Navy’s famous White Ensign on HMS Blyth, a Sandown Class minehunter.

Last season the club's proud officials were forced to send out a replacement flag, pictured, to replace the weather worn version the ship's crew had been using since teaming up with them to cement their links with the town's club and its supporters.

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