Back in 2010, Charlie Austin left Poole Town in the ninth tier of English football to join Swindon Town in League One, and while some of his former teammates have admitted they thought he would struggle, others were far more confident of the young striker's ability.
This season Austin has bagged 17 league goals and will be considered one of the few positives of a campaign that ended in relegation for Queens Park Rangers, and this fantastic debut season in the Premier League was enough to earn the striker a call up to the England squad to face Ireland and Slovenia next month.
As he was leaving Poole Town to join Swindon, a group of 16 fans, including the club's commercial chief Mark Bumford and some of Austin's friends, gathered together £155 and arranged a bet with a local bookies with a 50/1 price that Charlie Austin would score a goal for the senior England team.
If Austin scores for England the group will earn £7,905 between them. Bumford confirmed the bet to the BBC earlier today:
The local bookies are aware they might have to cough up. They don't mind. It's good publicity.
He was always confident and sure of himself. A little cocky. But with 46 goals in 46 games in his first season, then 18 goals in his last 11 matches for us, including five in his last game, he could afford to be.
Not bad for a syndicate taking a punt on a home-town hero.
We hope he wins the bet for them... Against Slovenia, that is. Not Ireland.
via BBC.com
