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.

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