ANDY TOWNSEND had his fellow Ireland legends in stitches as he revealed a “coin” prank he pulled on Jack Charlton during the 1990 World Cup.
A host of former Republic of Ireland internationals were on the Late Late Show to commemorate Italia 90.
Andy Townsend, left, revealed a prank he pulled on Jack Charlton[/caption]
Jack Charlton led Ireland to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup[/caption]
The Boys in Green got to the quarter-finals of their maiden World Cup under the stewardship of the legendary Jack Charlton.
However, there was room for fun and games in the lead-up to the last-eight clash against the host nation.
That was revealed by Andy Townsend, who told the story of a coin prank that he pulled on Big Jack.
He outlined: “There is lots of silly antics.
“Trying to pass all the hours sitting around in hotels and you get bored and you do daft things back in the day.
“I used to get a coin and you have done it probably at home with your kids.
“You squeeze a coin on your forehead and pick it off and it feels like it is still there.
“I said to Jack, ‘you have six bangs on the back of your head to get this coin off’ and I said, ‘if you do it, I will give you a tenner.’
“I get the coin and I push it on his head an I have got it in my hand but I am staring at the coin.
“I am staring at it and I am saying, ‘go on Jack’.
“He starts banging his head really hard.
“He got to about ten and the guys are all falling around laughing before it suddenly dawned on him that it wasn’t there.”
The story left his fellow greats Mick McCarthy and, particularly, Niall Quinn in stitches, with Townsend admitting: “I was very lucky I wasn’t sent home for that.”
Ray Houghton added further context, explaining: “When Andy did that, it wasn’t just the players and the staff, it was the Italian police looking after us.
“They are looking at a former World Cup winner, the manager of the national team going into the quarter-finals of the World Cup, banging the back of his head with the players counting.”
Townsend added: “The funny part is he is banging his head, to them, for no reason at all.
“There is nothing there.”
And Ray concluded: “He has got his hand out trying to catch the coin!”
