Is This The Strangest Sacking in Football History?

Parrots, Wheel Nuts, and £45 Fines - The Strangest Walk-Out in Football History

Where do I even start with this one?

Sackings are a natural part of football, be it at Champions League level or at the park of your local Sunday league side. Disagreements boil over, results take a turn for the worst, and squad members can pick sides, creating a toxic dressing room atmosphere that has only one solution - sack the manager.

What is far less common is the rarely seen case of a player being sacked. This is a scenario which rarely, if ever, happens at the top level, and if it does, it is usually disguised as an immediate contract termination agreed to by both parties.

What shouldn’t happen is for a WhatsApp conversation between player and manager to be posted on Instagram for the world to see, regardless of which division you are in or the nature of the disagreement.

Well, buckle your seatbelts, because that is exactly what happened between internet personality and Royal Oak FC assistant manager Steve Bracknall (real name Chris McClure) and star player and certified bad boy Matthew Wynne. Wynne stated that he was done with the club, and after briefly contesting the decision, Bracknall flatly dismissed him in one of the greatest text conversations to ever hit the internet.

I am sure Royal Oak Fc will beat this Manchester United team.

— AdeTejas👁️‍🗨️👁️ (@Royalwhale) December 30, 2025

How Matthew Wynne Left Royal Oak FC

Given that it is such a bizarre conversation, it is only right that it starts off with Wynne, or as we will come to know him, Wynny, and the assistant coach talking about the locking wheel nut for the player's car, which was allegedly in the care of MOT Mick.

After providing some sage car advice, Bracknall breaches the subject of Sunday’s game, after Wynne took off right before the previous fixture, leaving the side with 10 men, a predicament which predictably ended in a loss.

In fairness, he drove off pre-game because a fellow squad member, who only goes by Kirky, allegedly hung him up on a peg and threw boots at him. I bet you’re starting to think the same thing as me by this point - is this real?

Threatened with an internal investigation, Wynny bit back with, “Tell me you’re taking the piss!!” a surprising reaction considering that being investigated seems like a fair response to abandoning the team, and it is here that the argument descends into chaos.

The apparent reason behind Kirk throwing boots at Wynny was because the midfielder had entered the dressing room by saying, “Who’s a pretty boy?”, a reference to the long-rumoured but completely fictional parrot that Steve reportedly practises his team talks to, and clearly, the long-serving members of both the squad and management are against such behaviour.

Steve says, “I told you not to mention the parrot but as soon as you walk in you say, ‘who’s a pretty boy then?’ You tek piss Wynny. Even Paul has said the same, and Terry and June!!!”

Though Wynng explained that he was in fact joking, Steve most certainly does not see the funny side of it and subsequently calls Royal Oak’s star man a trouble causer.

Of course, the only appropriate response was for Wynny to retort with a simple “F*ck you.” And that got Steve going. He was caught hook, line and sinker.

“Don’t you dare speak to me like that. Don’t you f*ckin dare. Steve.” Yes, he signs his texts, a pattern you will see repeated throughout the conversation.

Wynny then states that he is “done with it”, leading Bracknall to question what he means exactly. As you can imagine, Royal Oak’s answer to Maradona had plenty to say.

Pulling no punches, Wynne said, “You, the club, the fact I got my captaincy took off me for doing fck all, the fact we are sht, EVERYTHING. I’m done.” Matthew Wynne was really taking player power to a whole new level, doing the text equivalent of handing in his notice period.

Bracknall provides the quintessential middle-aged man response, saying, “Ring me when you’ve calmed down!”, to which Wynny replies, “I’m calm.” I hate to pick sides here, but in truth, it doesn’t actually sound like you are Matthew.

As you’d expect, I am absolutely spot on, and Wynny launches into a texting tirade, listing all the reasons behind his self-instructed departure from the club, which even saw him take shots at his long-time assistant coach.

“I’ve been best player every season for the last 15 years and you take me for granted. Call yourself a mate and call yourself an assistant. Truth is Steve, ya couldn’t run a fckin bath. (You’ve) Been telling everyone we’re going to Meadowhall Premier League for the last 27 years. No one tells you the truth. Well, I will. WE ARE SHT. I’ll tell you the truth. You know fuck all about the game and WE ARE SHT.”

Four missed calls and a “Bang out of order” message from Bracknall, Wynny takes things to the next level, sending a picture of a ripped Royal Oak team shirt (which was torn in the exact same way during the video of him emerging from the dressing room after his encounter with Kirky), accompanied by the message, “I’ll drop this in at the pub next week.”

Having initially protested against Wynny’s stance with countless attempts to call him, Bracknall appears to have a sudden change of heart, and quickly agrees that it is best for all parties for Wynne to leave the club.

Responding to the image of the tattered kit, the assistant coach says, “Sound. You can drop £45 off for a new one too plus your subs for last Sunday. The Club shouldn’t be out of pocket cause you decided not to play. Steve,” followed by a strangely out-of-place text that reads, “Oh and Nikki says drop our hedge trimmer off as well.”

By this point, I’m sure you’ve figured out that this is all likely a social media sketch, and that Wynny is not in fact questioning authority within the highest level of the club, but he does a good job of maintaining the facade.

He says nothing else of note, instead resorting to thumbs-up emojis, before Bracknall ends the possibly staged argument by saying, “You can apologise to the fans once this has calmed down and you’ve come back. Steve.”

In the aftermath of posting the message chain on his Instagram, Bracknall has said that Wynne is still not answering his phone, and has received a host of comments saying in jest that he either did the right thing, or has lost the dressing room completely.

Whether the messages are legitimately heartfelt or simply another exercise in social media virality, countless people have now become invested in the storyline, and honestly, we shouldn’t be surprised.

Bracknall and Royal Oak have had a cult Sunday League following for years now, and their Instagram posts consistently rake in around 10,000 likes each time. All this latest development does is support the claim that Steve Bracknall, AKA Chris McClure, is the self-proclaimed “King of Sunday League.”