By Chris Wright
A small consortium of Poole Town fans are in line to win big(ish) after placing a £155 bet that Charlie Austin would score for England at some point in the future.
Austin was playing for Poole in the Wessex League Premier Division at the time having made his way up through the non-leagues while working as a bricklayer part-time.
After seeing the prolific striker bang in 48 goals in 42 games in his only season at Poole, 2008/09, the aforementioned group of 16 supporters clubbed together and staked £155 on Austin to continue his rise and one day score for England at odds of 50/1.
Austin duly moved onto Swindon then Burnley then QPR, scoring rafts of goals at every turn with his remarkable ascension from the non-leagues culminating in 17 Premier league goals in his debut season and a well-deserved call-up to the England squad.
Now, should Austin make his England bow during next Thursday’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland and find the net, the Poole fans will land £7,905 to split between themselves.
Okay, so maybe £500-odd each isn’t a life-changing amount of money, but it’s the repaying of long-held faith that’s the real prize here.
(Via ITV Football)