MICHAEL DUBERRY COLUMN

On Saturday morning I woke up and decided I would have a little flutter on a football coupon.

It would just be made up of all my old teams – Chelsea, Stoke, Reading, Leeds, Bournemouth, Wycombe, Oxford United and St Johnstone.

They would all come together and win me some money, I thought.

While playing I could never bet on my own games or any other matches as it was banned by the FA, which saved me a few quid over the years.

Latest Sport news

To be honest, I am not a massive gambler. I just like to have the occasional flutter.

A visit to my local betting shop was my mission and obviously it had to be done before 3pm.

My first gamble happened before I even got to the bookies, as I decided to run there without getting a ticket for the car park.

Home or away win was the only box I ticked on my coupon, depending on where my teams were playing. I just kept telling myself it was my lucky day.

I looked at the fixtures and was thinking how they would go.

A Chelsea home win against Villa was my banker, Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth would triumph at home to Wigan, and Leeds would taste victory at Brentford in front of new boss Darko Milanic.

St Johnstone were going to win at bitter rivals Dundee United, I fancied Wycombe to continue their terrific start and beat Cambridge United at home, while Oxford were going to get their first league away win of the season at Luton and kick-start their campaign.

Reading were playing on Sunday at the Madejski Stadium against high-flying Wolves, but form meant nothing in my head.

It was going to be my lucky day.

Stoke were at the Britannia Stadium on Monday night, and I fancied them to win and pile the pressure on Alan Pardew and his Newcastle team.

Those two fixtures would bring it home for me after my Saturday teams had completed their tasks.

A £25 bet, which if I won would produce a healthy windfall, with a celebration in Nandos with the kids.

With no parking ticket on the car windscreen when I came out of the betting shop, I had won my first gamble, which reinforced my belief that it was my lucky day.

A day out at the famous Camden Market followed, and I wanted to avoid hearing, seeing or knowing about any football result until I got home.

This meant not going on my beloved Twitter as you can’t avoid any news on there, let alone football results.

As soon as I got back in, I turned on Sky Sports, and the first thing I saw was that my beloved Chelsea had won 3-0 against Aston Villa.

It was a great start, but far too early to be ordering Nandos.

Bournemouth won. Yes, the bet was still good.

But after that high it all came crashing down.

Leeds lost at Brentford, St Johnstone were beaten at Dundee United and Oxford went down to Luton.

Only Wycombe joined Chelsea and Bournemouth with a win.

It was disappointing to say the least.

I was gutted for my teams as well, especially Oxford, as I desperately want to see them rise up League Two.

Reading only managed a draw on Sunday, but what a game it was with six goals.

Stoke won on Monday against Newcastle, but the coupon was dead by then, so I was only happy for the Potters, but gutted myself.

I am going to leave the gambling for a little while now and just cheer on my old teams with no added incentives.

Good luck next week to all my old teams.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.