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Featured Image Credit: ITV
Topics: Football
Rory O'Callaghan
Bradley Walsh was left baffled after a question on ITV's 'The Chase' revealed one of football’s lesser-known laws.
In an episode of the show that aired earlier this month, a contestant was asked the following question: 'In football, if a direct free-kick goes straight into a team's own goal, what is awarded to the opposing team?'
The contestant was given three possible answers: a goal, an indirect free-kick or a corner.
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The show’s host Walsh, who was on the books of Brentford and Barnet in his younger years, confidently answered the question himself after the contestant had made her selection.
“You don't have to [watch football to know the answer]. If a direct free-kick goes into its team's own goal, then it's got to be a goal, because it's an own goal,” said Walsh.
When it was then revealed that the contestant had chosen a corner as her answer, Walsh added: “You've put a corner? Why have you done that? It's got to be a goal. A goal's a goal.”
Walsh was left red-faced, however, when the answer was revealed to be a corner rather than a goal, with FA rules stating: "If a direct or indirect free kick is kicked directly into the team's own goal, a corner kick is awarded."
Walsh was left stunned, adding: “I'm not having that", while the contestant cheekily told the presenter: “Every day's a school day!”
Walsh signed as a professional player for Brentford in 1978 when he 18 years old but would fail to make a senior appearance for the club.
He was loaned out to Barnet in the 1978-79 season, making five appearances for the Bees.
Walsh would later play for Chalfont St Peter, Tring Town and Dunstable Town before his career in football was prematurely ended after suffering ankle fractures at the age of 22.
He would later move into a career in the entertainment industry, becoming a household name after playing Danny Baldwin in Coronation Street.