Eric Blunt was the landlord of The Flying Horse which in September 1972 was in opposition to the Rovers Return Inn in a Pub Olympics contest. Among the more traditional hostelry sports of darts and dominoes was a drinking contest where the contestants were Stan Ogden and Johnny Owen. Knowing the latter's form, most of the men of Coronation Street bet against Stan and then, to make sure of their money, got him drunk the night before so that he was hungover on the day of the contest.