Leicester seek enlightenment from monks, Southampton went witch hunting and Barry Fry peed on the pitch... the extreme lengths some teams will go to get that extra boost

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After Leicester got some help from Buddhist monks ahead of their incredible 5-3 comeback against Manchester United, which other teams have gone to extreme lengths for an extra boost? 

SOUTHAMPTON’S WITCH HUNT

Southampton didn’t win a game at St. Mary’s for three months until Cerridwen Dragonoak Connelly, a Pagan witch, performed a cleansing ceremony. 

Manager Gordon Strachan said: ‘If she’s that good she can take training for the next two weeks and I can get on with my golf while she gets rid of the ghosts.’

Leicester players were blessed by Thai monks ahead of their shock 5-3 victory over Manchester United

Jamie Vardy celebrates after scoring against the former Premier League champions at the KP Stadium

DERBY’S CUP CONUNDRUM

When Derby moved to the Baseball Ground, the evicted Romani gypsies said the team would never win the FA Cup. They lost three finals in six years but in 1946, club captain Jack Nicholas paid for it to be lifted.

At 1-1 in the final against Charlton the ball burst, the moment the curse was seen to end, and Derby won 4-1.

Derby captain Jack Nicholas (top) paid for a gypsy curse to be lifted before he raised the FA Cup

BIRMINGHAM’S WEE PROBLEM

More gypsy trouble, this time for Birmingham. When they moved to St Andrews in 1906 they were cursed by the displaced gypsies, with some radical solutions taken trying to remove it. 

In the 1980s, Ron Saunders put crucifixes on the floodlights and painted the soles of the players’ boots red. Barry Fry took a different approach in the 1990s. 

He said: ‘We went three months without winning... We were desperate, so I p****d in all four corners, holding it in while I waddled round the pitch. Did it work? Well, we started to win and I thought it had, then they f*****g sacked me, so probably not.’

Barry Fry used unconventional means to get Birmingham's season up and running before getting the sack

DEAD HERRINGS

After a referee was criticised in a Norwegian division two derby, he cursed one team to relegation.

They started to lose matches they dominated and despite the coach sacrificing some herrings on a special stone, they were duly relegated.

CURSE OF THE BAMBINO

When Babe Ruth - the Bambino - moved from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees in 1919, they failed to win the World Series for 86 years. 

Attempts to break the curse included putting a Red Sox cap on Mount Everest and hiring professional exorcists to purify their ground, Fenway Park.

The Boston Red Sox tried exorcists to return to winning ways after losing legendary Babe Ruth

SUFFERING SOCCEROOS

In 1969, some Australian footballers asked a witch-doctor to help them win their game against Rhodesia in Mozambique. After he planted some bones near the posts and Australia won 3-1, he demanded $1,000 for his services. 

When they couldn’t pay up he cursed them. Though Australia qualified for the 1974 World Cup, they didn’t again until 2006 and only then after an Australian comic reversed the curse in Africa by having sacrificial chicken blood spattered over him on the same pitch.

CURSE OF THE BILLY GOAT

In 1945, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago was refused entry to a Cubs baseball game because his pet goat, who he bought a ticket for, stank. 

Cameroon assistant coach is arrested after making bad juju at the African Cup of Nations

He was so outraged he cursed the club and they have not won a National League pennant or World Series since. Attempts to break it have included sacrificing goats and giving goats to families in developing countries.

DUBIOUS JUJU

Juju, or witchcraft, has featured at the African Cup of Nations several times and in 2002 Cameroon’s head coach and goalkeeping coach were arrested by riot police for putting a magic charm on the pitch before the semi-final.