Bath City Language Coaching loves the odd flutter. They’ve put a bet on Croatia to beat England and to win the 2021 Euros ball-kicking competition. Simon gives you the benefit of his “extensive” knowledge of football live from Alexandra Park in Bath.

I know nothing about football, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. However, when I left Croatia in 2004 after having taught there, my good mates Tommy and Joe (among others) gave me a Croatian football shirt. And I’ve supported Croatia ever since.

The odds for Croatia beating England this weekend are 40-1 (forty to one), so I put £5 on. If they win by that score, I’ll win £200. I’ve also bet on them winning the whole competition with odds of 33-1.

To have a flutter is an informal British phrase which means to have a bet .

Odds means the chances of something happening. We often use the rhetorical question What are the odds of that happening, eh? when something surprising happens, for example getting hit by a bus or walking into a café in Outer Mongolia and bumping into an old school friend.

There are a few betting idioms in this video:

It’s a long shot = It’s not likely to happen

There’s an outside chance (of winning) = There is a small possibility

I’m due a lucky break = It is about time I had something good happen to me

There is also a play on words that I use when talking about which position in the school football team I played:

I say inside out instead of inside left or inside right. If you are inside out, back to front, or upside down, you are facing the wrong way or doing something completely the wrong way round.

I also mention being left-back. In this case, I don’t mean I played in defence. I mean I was told to stay in the changing rooms and not bother coming onto the football field to play because I was so bad at football.

Anyway, if you are reading this before the Euro Finals, have a flutter on Croatia to win.

Come on, Hrvatska!