🔗 Share this article I have Witnessed Awful Things at Soccer Games – Yet The Thing That Fell on the Field Last Week Was Truly Appalling Something took place at last Saturday’s football game – but it turned out to be anything but amusing. My team, West Brom, were outplaying their opponents yet failing to succeeding to score a goal. Usually, during the latter part progressed, I would have succumbed to pessimism, believing how for all our dominance, they’d not score, whereas the opposition miraculously might, and I’d end up disappointed. But on this day, I really believed the match would be ours. That was until it occurred. A Bizarre Interruption in Play The action abruptly came to a halt, for reasons which remained at first unclear. A few footballers peered an object lying on the pitch. Gingerly, uneasily, they edged closer to what lay there. Bizarre. Since binoculars are not available on the backs of seats in stadiums, it was impossible to identify it. Eventually, an employee of the ground staff arrived, wearing rubber gloves. He walked onto the center of the field, picked the object , and returned to the sidelines carrying half a pigeon – dead, naturally. Yes, part of a deceased bird dropped from above on to the field. My first thought wasn’t for the pigeon’s welfare, or even where it had fallen from. All I could think of concerned that the game had turned against us. There’s not any side in the world able to survive this obvious omen of disaster. Half a dead animal dropping out of the heavens? Good heavens, I’ve seen plenty of horrible things at West Brom, yet none like this. I haven’t seen the famous series, but I assume that’s the kind of thing happens there constantly. A Bird of Prey Revelation Upon inquiring a club official what had happened. It turns out we’ve long had a peregrine falcon nesting high up in our West Stand. I was told it often dines on birds discarding the remains below. Yet not, hitherto, during games. A world sinister possibilities flooded my mind. Could we not train it to drop its dinner on opposition strikers when they approach our goal? Or perhaps, in desperation, have a little peck opponents? It’s the least this creature can do to help us following that disaster. The Inevitable Outcome Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the bird remnant of misfortune ensured that Derby actually triumph, via their sole on-target shot all game. And I went home miserable.