BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Back from Bognor with the bang of 1-0 England

BLIMEY. If I ever needed motivating to crack this betting lark, a week in Bognor has done the job.

The weather was fine and dandy, don't get me wrong, but you can only have so many fish n' chip suppers before the weight starts to soar. And it's pounds of a different sort I want to be piling up this summer.

There was plenty of other local cuisine to enjoy - pizzas, tex mex, the odd curry - but you can see why they call the place God's waiting room. Even George V thought forget that, I'm going somewhere else to die. All the hearses were probably booked up.

I honestly thought governments used to make it up about the population getting older just to sting us for a few extra quid in tax. Mind you, bet you'll have no difficulty finding a street party in Bognor on Monday. No one does bunting, royalty and disappointingly bland sandwiches quite like the grey-hairs, do they?

Anyway, I managed to fend off one old rogue for the last copy of the Racing Post's quality Euro 2012 betting guide, so I'm armed and dangerous ahead of 20 days of bookie bashing. I intend to be heading for the Seychelles, not Sussex, next summer so I need to be doing some homework.

Will we learn much about England's fortunes from their game against Belgium? Of course not. We already know it'll be dull - maybe not the best choice of match for a trial of goal-line technology. There need to be some efforts on goal for Hawkeye to be seen in its best light.

It's back-to-back 1-0 England wins for me. Small stakes but a first tiny step towards ensuring I'm nowhere near Bognor this time next year.