FOWL PLAY

Braga’s Portuguese league encounter with Estoril had not even kicked off, but the home team had reason to celebrate. After all, it’s difficult to catch a chicken.

Flying winger Pedro Santos finally got to grips with the black chicken after Braga’s fans had unleashed a bird onto the field for the second time in as many months.

This was not some sort of angry protest by Braga supporters, Blackburn style, but a hopeful attempt to somehow inspire their men to victory – black chickens are thought to be lucky charms in Portugal.

‘’Braga were awful,” says supporter Jorge Sequeira. “Someone suggested this idea, which was a mixture of a joke and tradition. Boavista’s supporters had also tried out the same thing recently. Perhaps, it’s time we substituted scarves for black chickens in all of the club shops.”

Sadly, the scheme didn’t go to plan, as Braga lost 1-0 away at Porto on the black chicken’s debut, then only drew at home to Estoril. It’s almost as if putting a chicken on the pitch changes nothing. Who knew?