DID YOU KNOW..... 2
     
 

 

 

Football has a million and one stories and just as many facts and figures. Here are a few of them - the record-breaking, unusual and bizarre.

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RECORD SCORES

When Dundee Harp beat Aberdeen Rovers 35-0 in a Scottish Cup First Round tie on Saturday September 12th 1885 there was a disagreement between the match referee - who thought 37 goals had been scored - and the Harp club secretary who believed the score was 35-0. The ref accepted the lower figure and the score was sent off to the Scottish FA with Dundee Harp officials surely believing they had a record which would last for years. Amazingly though on the same day in the same competition just 20 miles away Arbroath beat Bon Accord 36-0 and they are still in the record books as the top score in any first-class match in Britain. John Petrie’s 13 goals in that match also ranks as the top individual score in Britain.

Aberdeen side Bon Accord were in the competition by mistake. They were in fact the Orion Cricket Club who mistakenly had received from the Scottish FA an invitation that should have been sent to Orion FC to enter the Scottish Cup. Taking the opportunity to try a different sport they adopted the name Bon Accord, turning up at the match without proper playing kit before being given a true footballing lesson. The recorded scoreline was 36-0 but the referee Dave Stormont had disallowed a number of good goals to keep the scoreline to below 40.  

Two seasons later Arbroath hosted the real Orion FC in a Scottish Cup First Round tie – with the scoreline being a far more respectable 18-0!  

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On Saturday December 12th 1896 Arsenal - then Woolwich Arsenal - had to play two matches, one in the Football League and one in the FA Cup. The reserves played at home to Leyton in the FA Cup and won 5-0 but the first team travelled to mighty Loughborough and lost 0-8 in a Second Division match which is still their record League defeat. Match report of that match.

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Not many clubs can boast that their record victory was achieved in a European tie, fewer still that 8 different players scored goals in that victory. However that was achieved by Swansea City when they beat Sliema Wanderers 12-0 in a European Cup-Winners Cup First Round First Leg match on Wednesday 15th September 1982. The Welsh Cup winners goals against the Maltese opposition were scored by Jeremy Charles (2), Jimmy Loveridge (2), Colin Irwin, Bob Latchford, Dzemal Hadziabdic, Ante Rajkovic, Nigel Stevenson plus an eleven minute hat-trick from substitute Ian Walsh. 

That total was also the highest score by a Welsh side in any European Match and after Swansea won the second leg 5-0 a fortnight later the aggregate score of 17-0 was another record for a Welsh side.

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Swindon Town could hardly have hoped for a better debut in the Football League as in their first match in the competition, on Saturday August 28th 1930, they defeated Luton Town 9-1. The result is still their best League victory to this day. Mind you they soon came down to earth, losing the return Third Division fixture at Luton, played a week later, 0-2.

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The record away victory in the top flight (First Division/Premier League) is jointly held by Sunderland who won 9-1 at Newcastle on Saturday December 5th 1908 and Wolves who won 9-1 at Cardiff City on Saturday September 3rd 1955. The Newcastle defeat was particularly embarrassing being against neighbours Sunderland. Amazingly the scoreline was 1-1at half-time and the defeat was the biggest by a club who were to win the League title in that season.

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The record number of Football League goals scored in a single day is 209 scored on Saturday January 2nd 1932 in 43 matches. That record was equalled on Saturday 1st February 1936 when 209 goals were scored in 44 Football League matches. The most goals scored in a single day in the top flight (First Division/Premier Division) is 66 on Boxing Day 1963. All the results.

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The FA Youth Cup started in the 1952/53 season with the 'Busby Babes' of Manchester United winning the competition in each of the first five seasons. They set a goalscoring record that still stands as early as the Second Round of the inaugural 1952/53 competition when they defeated Nantwich Town 23-0 at their former Cliff training ground. FA Youth Cup Finals.

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The programme for the Scottish Cup tie between Stirling Albion and Selkirk played on Saturday December 8th 1984 included this bit about the visitors - 'So history has most certainly been created with a Border Amateur team participating in the Scottish Cup proper for the first time. For Selkirk FC today is their cup final.' Well history was certainly made with Stirling winning 20-0, the highest score in a senior match in Britain in the 20th Century. The score was 15-0 at halt-time with 8 different Stirling players scoring the goals. Selkirk's keeper Richard Taylor was given the ball as a souvenir.