He is used to making jokers of defenders when tearing down the wing, but now former Norwich City winger Darren Eadie is the man with all the laughs as he tries his hand at stand-up comedy.

He is used to making jokers of defenders when tearing down the wing, but now Darren Eadie is the man with all the laughs as he tries his hand at stand-up comedy.

The Canary legend will be joining a panel of top comedians to a launch a new sports-themed comedy night at Carrow Road.

The evening will be filmed by the team from Frank Skinner and David Baddiel's Fantasy Football League in a bid to market it as a new TV show.

The Back of the Net night launches on Thursday and will see Eadie joining professional funny men Bob Mills and Henning Wehn in mocking the world of sport - with the Canaries likely to feature highly in the agenda.

And the Evening News has 20 tickets, worth �200, to give away for the opening night.

The ex-Norwich City winger is expected to be bringing a few other Canaries along, who may be forced to take to the stage and crack a joke or two.

It will see Eadie, who netted 35 goals for the Canaries in 168 appearances for the club, competing for points in a panel-based quiz where the audience get to vote on who gave the funniest answer to questions.

And it's a game of three halves - the first two will see the panellists dealt questions from the compere, while the third 'half' will see audience members invited to quiz the panel.

Compere Will Buckley, sports writer and editor of Radio Five Live's Fighting Talk, said: 'Sports stars are all quite keen to see if they can get work in the media afterwards and they have got to prove how they can do.

'Let's hope Eadie can bring some old players along, I'm sure we can try and get them on their feet if they come.

'I picked people I thought would be funny, but this has never been done before so you can't be certain whether or not it will work.

'There's a need for a new TV sports comedy show, it hasn't been done for a while and this could be it. I'm just looking forward to the panel making me laugh.'

Norwich Comedy Festival headliner Bob Mills is known for his roles in TV comedies such as In Bed with Medinner and The Show, while 'The German Ambassador of Comedy' Henning When is coming back to the city fresh from sell-out performances at the Playhouse opening for Stewart Lee. The panel is completed by journalist, author, comedian and radio presenter Martin Kelner.

The night is being run by the Red Card Comedy Club, which has run regular sell-out nights for the last eight years, and is hoped to become a monthly event.

Red Card owner Derek Robertson described the evening as 'half comedy, half football, all panto'.

He added: 'We wanted to create a quiz-based show in a live setting with a difference, and the time is right for a football theme.

'The line-up is absolutely fantastic this is the perfect thing opportunity to try something new, Norwich people respond well to new things.

'Forget the David Beckham-in-pants calendar - tickets to the Red Card's Back of the Net show are set to be the hottest thing this Christmas. People love a good laugh, lads love football - it's a match made in heaven.'

To book, visit www.redcardcomedyclub.com or call 0844 826 1902.

The Evening News has ten pairs of tickets to Thursday's opening night of Back of the Net competition. To enter simply answer the question below. Usual Archant competition rules apply.

How many goals did Darren Eadie score for Norwich City?

Send your answers on a postcard to Back of the Net Competition c/o Rob Garratt, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE or email them to rob.garratt@archant.co.uk.