Stoke ooh/ahh to win FA Cup

Local monkeys predicted a win for Stoke City in the FA Cup final against Manchester City on Saturday! That seems better odds than Paddy Power.

The Barbary Macaques from Trentham Garden's Monkey Forest, have apparently predicted that the Potters will beat Man City 3-2 at Wembley in their first FA Cup final in the club`s history.

How did they do it? Two coloured buckets; red and white stripes for Stoke, and blue for Manchester City, were placed separately in the feeding area. Primate pellets and bananas were then placed beside them and however many monkeys went to the buckets would represent the score.

Three monkeys went to the Stoke bucket and two chose Manchester City's bucket, therefore making a 3-2 victory!

Trentham Monkey Forest director Sue Wiper said the tribe of 70 monkeys was free to roam around the Trentham Gardens estate, but obviously not every one of them could make a prediction.

She said: 'Because of the numbers of monkeys around, potentially we could have had a much higher score, but this one seems quite feasible, so we are fairly confident they will be right, but it's just a bit of fun really.'

The wildlife park is home to 140 monkeys, and yesterday they had their primate punditry put to the test. Obviously more famous names such as Match of the Day pundits Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer are slightly out of the price range for the Monkey Forest, but hey; pay peanuts and you`ll get monkeys.

Ms Wiper said she hoped they would follow in the footsteps of other 'psychic` animals to correctly predict sporting results. One that springs to mind is the likes of Paul the Octopus.

Paul correctly called the outcome of eight matches in the 2010 World Cup - including predicting that Spain would beat the Netherlands in the final. However, his mantle was later taken on by his cousin, Ollie, who was named after Blackpool manager Ian Holloway.

Opposable thumbs up to them monkeys from me for voting in our favor! Anything that sides with the Potters or who shares the same brain capacity as me gets my full backing. It`ll be squeaky bum time soon Potters and primates, so let`s get ready for a five goal thriller on Saturday!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.