The Wizards of Oz Own goal! So it’s free beers all round
T
HE FOOTBALL match was almost over and the home side was cruising towards a crushing 8-0 victory.
One of the midfielders, Rab ‘Psycho’ McKenzie, neatly trapped the ball halfway up the pitch. Without warning, he suddenly whirled round and headed back towards his own goal.
Cheered on wildly by a delirious home support, he lashed in a scorcher of a shot past his keeper, and grinned with satisfaction at his spectacular own goal. The opposition stared around at each other in bemusement.
Why did he do it?
Club rules state that, should ever they beat their opponents 8 -1, or indeed be beaten 8-1, free beer would be provided for the boys aſterwards in the local pub, the Coach and Horses. An own goal obviously was required to bring about that desirable state of affairs.
Thus was added another legend to the already mythic status of Barnstoneworth United FC, an amateur football club in Sydney, Australia, which takes its name from a classic, and still fondly remembered, BBC TV comedy series, Ripping Yarns, broadcast nearly 40 years ago.
It starred TV world traveller and film star Michael Palin as the super-fan from hell who exploded in paroxysms of rage as, every week, he witnessed his beloved team suffer yet another humiliating defeat. “Eight bloody one” was a catchphrase used by Palin in the series. Cats and dogs - and his nearest and dearest - knew to keep out of his way on match days.
August 2015 75
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100