‘I rode an ostrich following England on the World Cup – I used to be warned it may kill me’
This England superfan went viral at the last World Cup and has recalled one of his more bizarre memories of following the Three Lions
Andy Milne rode an ostrich at World Cup 2010 in South Africa(Image: In The Mixer)
England superfan Andy Milne once rode an ostrich in South Africa whilst watching England at World Cup 2010. Milne has attended nine World Cup tournaments as a fan and will make it ten this summer.
The 62-year-old retired teacher went viral in Qatar four years ago, when pictures of him holding a replica World Cup trophy circulated. His likeness to ex-England boss Steve McClaren drew more attention. Milne is no stranger to major tournaments and has been following his country since 1982. He was there 16 years ago when England were sent packing by Germany in South Africa.
But during that tournament, he recalls a rather unusual adventure that his party went on. In the small town of Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, he was given the opportunity to ride on the back of the world’s largest bird.
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Speaking on In The Mixer brought to you by Sky Bet, he said: “I’ve got so many stories, but when we were in South Africa, we’d just watched the Netherlands against Brazil and the Netherlands knocked Brazil out and we went on a road trip.
“Four of us, off to Cape Town to watch the semi-final, Netherlands against Uruguay. We stopped off at this town, which is the ostrich capital of the world.
“They made fortunes out of farming ostriches. So we went to an ostrich farm and there was an opportunity to ride an ostrich. There were only two of us who took it up!
“There was a wiry little Brazilian guy who straddled this ostrich and they are quite scary creatures. He just took off and he went flying around this enclosure and did three laps.
“He jumped off, round of applause and it was my turn next. I was the only other one to go. We’d just been told that ostriches are dangerous: ‘Don’t stand in front of them. They kick forward and can take your guts out.’
“So I said, ‘Put me on there.’ I was holding onto the back of this ostrich and it took off across the enclosure, feathers going everywhere, me clinging to hold on. It got to the far end and I thought it wasn’t going to stop. It suddenly veered to the left and I fell off straight into a pile of ostrich poo. 3-0 to Brazil I think!”
Milne admitted he has fond memories of that tournament, but another of his World Cup trips was equally enjoyable. He said: “It’s very, very hard to choose a favourite, because it’s the one you’re at really.
“But I really enjoyed Qatar because we were all close together and I really enjoyed South Africa because of the group I had, we travelled around with four of us in the car. Everywhere we went, one of the four was from South Africa, so he had a party in each town. Those are probably my favourite two.”
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