ABANDONED MATCHES

On Saturday January 10th 1953 63,499 were at St James' Park Newcastle for the FA Cup Third Round tie between Newcastle United and Swansea Town - but the match was abandoned after just 8 minutes play because of fog!

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Another particularly unfortunate abandonment was at Colchester United on Saturday 27th November 1948. The First Round FA Cup tie against Reading attracted 19,072 fans but was abandoned after 35 minutes due to fog. The total still ranks as the record attendance for a match at Layer Road. 

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England have suffered just three abandoned matches in their long history. The first of those was in Buenos Aires on Sunday May 17th 1953 when a friendly against Argentina was stopped after 23 minutes with the score at 0-0 when heavy rain resulted in a waterlogged pitch. More recently, on Wednesday February 15th 1995 a 'friendly' in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland was abandoned after 27 minutes due to rioting within an English section of the crowd. England were losing 0-1 at the time. The only time England have suffered an abandonment in a competitive fixture was against Czechoslovakia in Bratislava on Wednesday 29th October 1975. The European Championship qualifier was abandoned after 17 minutes due to fog with the score 0-0. The match was then played the following day and England lost 1-2, England's first defeat with Don Revie as manager.

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An abandonment in the 1904/05 season changed the outcome of the League championship. Everton's match at Woolwich Arsenal in November was abandoned after 76 minutes due to fog with the Merseysiders leading 3-1. When the match was eventually played again, just before the end of the season when they had to play 3 matches in 4 days, Everton lost 2-1. If the original match had been completed (and if the scoreline had remained the same), Everton would have pipped Newcastle to the League Championship by a point. Instead they finished second (Everton's results and league table).

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The Division 1 fixture between Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa played on Saturday November 26th 1898 was abandoned after 79 minutes due to bad light. Sheffield Wednesday were 3-1 up at the time. Uniquely, rather than let the score stand or order the whole match to be replayed, the League decreed that the two clubs should resume the match at Sheffield and play only the final 11 minutes. This they did nearly four months later on Monday March 13th 1899 when Sheffield Wednesday added one more goal to make the final score 4-1. By the time the match was resumed both clubs had changed their line-ups - Billy Garraty of Aston Villa, and Samuel Bosworth, Bob Ferrier, Ambrose Langley, Jack Pryce and Fred Richards (who scored the final goal) of Wednesday all played in only the final 11 minutes. Surely these players were the first substitutes used in a League match!