The incredible story of Italian team Castel di Sangro and their rise from local football to Serie B ranks among football's greatest miracles.
Their journey, chronicled by the American writer Joe McGinniss, also ranks among the best works of football literature.
But one particular chapter, above all else, stands out as truly stranger than fiction - the bizarre cameo of Robert 'Raku' Ponnick.
It's the autumn of 1996 and Castel di Sangro - the miracle-workers from the tiny Abruzzo town of only 5,500 residents - are at their zenith.
In just over a decade, they have soared from the Seconda Categoria of the Abruzzo regional league through six promotions - each more unlikely than the last - to the second tier of the Italian game.