Knock-out header by a hapless fan!

World Cup football will soon be upon us, with no doubt many a football tale to be told regarding this knockout competition. In the 1950s, while watching my local team, I witnessed a different kind of knock-out. The weather was awful, forcing the small crowd to huddle together in a stand. one player shot for goal and was way off target.

We watched the heavy, sodden leather ball making a high parabola towards the corner. The whole terrace was deserted apart from a lone spectator who, for some reason, had his back to the play, unaware of the danger heading his way.

The odds were astronomical but the ball, which weighed a ton, struck the hapless chap. It must have felt like one of Henry Cooper’s specials. Mean-spirited, the whole stand erupted with the biggest cheer of the day (including me, I’m ashamed to say).

He must have been a hardy fellow, for he got up almost immediately to our cheers. I was hoping he would give us a show of appreciation, but he was probably still counting the stars flashing before his eyes. It was our only excitement of the day. David H. Cox, Kidlington, Oxford.