Soccer: Angry fan with grudge bites off striker's ear

Fan's long memory Forward George Reilly, who scored Watford's winning goal in the 1984 FA Cup semifinal, has had his ear bitten off by a disgruntled Plymouth fan who had held a grudge over his team's defeat for 19 years.

Reilly, a 6ft 4in (1.95m) striker, became a bricklayer after hanging up his boots and was working on a site in Corby, Northamptonshire, when a labourer punched him to the ground.

He chewed off one of Reilly's ears and whispered ''Plymouth" into the other one.

Doctors used 50 stitches to sew 45-year-old Reilly's ear back on.

Plymouth lost the semifinal 1-0, the closest they have ever come to reaching the final. Watford went on to lose to Everton 2-0.

"The bloke vanished from the building site. I don't know who he is," Reilly said.