“Wigan scored seven in the first half against Hull last week. Is this a record in a professional domestic league game?” asks George Jones.
Wigan’s extraordinary romp had everyone scrambling round the memory bank and/or the nearest Rothmans. The ambiguity of the above question meant a few of you sent in examples of crazy scoring in the second half of games, so let’s deal with those first.
“Brighton beat Walsall 7-0 in 1976, having been goalless at half-time,” notes Roger Kay. “Peter Ward got four and Ian ‘Spider’ Mellor three. It was a little ironic as we’d been royally whupped by Walsall 6-0 only two years previously.”
Radu Ogrezeanu-Ghica can see Brighton’s performance and raise it: he highlights Borussia Dortmund’s 11-1 Bundesliga shellacking of Arminia Bielefeld in 1982. It was 1-1 at half-time before Dortmund edged to victory with 10 unanswered goals in the second half.
Matches are more likely to open up after half-time, so to win the first half 7-0 is even less likely. Wigan are not the first team to achieve this magnificent feat, however. Huw Richards and Graeme Atkinson point out that Newcastle led Newport 7-0 at half-time of their Division Two game in 1946-47, eventually going on to win 13-0. “Tranmere led Oldham 8-1 at the break on Boxing Day 1935,” adds Graham, “and went on to win 13-4 with Bunny Bell famously grabbing nine (and missing a penalty!).”
There’s one more for the list. “On 10 January 1970 Bury beat Tranmere Rovers 8-0,” writes Norman Shuttleworth. “At the time we were playing in an amateur match directly across Manchester Road from the ground. Our second half coincided with the start of the league match. We struggled to count the roars coming out of Gigg Lane, but the general consensus was seven. After our game finished, we snuck in after half-time in anticipation of double figures, only to view a single goal. Can’t remember the result of our match.”
While it was not a league game, this Knowledge favourite saw Australia 16-0 up at half-time against American Samoa. And in terms of most goals in a half, well …
Red-hot football
“Mike Dunn’s question in last week’s archive regarding the hottest ever English league or cup game on record reminded me of the opening weekend of the 2003-04 Football League season (when I ‘enjoyed’ Forest’s 2-0 win over Sunderland at the City Ground in 30°C-plus weather),” begins Graeme Atkinson.
“The UK temperature record was set on the Sunday (10 August – 38.5°C in Faversham, Kent, which was only broken in July 2019),” continues Graeme. “Unfortunately there were no league or cup games played in England or Wales apart from the Community Shield between Manchester United and Arsenal in chilly Cardiff, which was only 25°C or so according to the Met Office.
“There was, however, a full programme of Football League games on Saturday 9 August and the link above shows London as the hottest part of the country that day, with an isotherm of 34°C corresponding roughly to the M25 (and recorded temperatures of 36°C at Kew, Greenwich and Enfield).
“There were four games played in the capital so all four are probably hot enough to beat Andy Wright’s 1906 answer. My money’s on Loftus Road for the hottest:
That Met Office link has confused us, because we’re sure the temperature in Cardiff was in the high thirties during that Community Shield match. Some contemporary reports suggest it was actually 41 degrees at one stage. That figure is supported by post-match quotes from Sir Alex Ferguson, who also said he was “roasting ma totties off”. A video of the game shows a pitchside thermometer with a reading in the high 30s.
There are lies, damned lies and temperature readings, so who knows what is absolutely the hottest game ever played in England – or, for that matter, in Britain. But James Wilson has another contender to add to the list. “The on-pitch temperature readings at the Scottish Cup final between Rangers and Falkirk in May 2009 were 37°C,” mails James. “Kris Boyd, up front for Rangers, complained coming down the tunnel at half-time with the score 0-0 that it was ‘too hot for fitba’. Walter Smith duly hooked him for his complaint, replacing him with Nacho Novo. It was an apparently accidental stroke of genius, with Novo scoring a worldie with about his third touch.”
Broken triopoly
“With one game to go, none of the big three Istanbul teams – Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas – occupy the top three places in the Turkish Super Lig. Has the season ever finished without one of those teams in the top three?” wonders Grant Ninnes.
The short answer is “no”, Grant. The Super Lig started in 1959, and since then at least one of the three big Istanbul clubs has always finished in the top three. And usually in the top one: between them they have won 54 of the 62 Super Lig titles. But this year’s champions are Istanbul Basaksehir, for the first time in their history, and only Besiktas can still finish in the top three.
Besiktas need to win their last game at Genclerbirligi on Sunday and hope Sivasspor fail to beat Goztepe. It’s an important game, and not just for anorak purposes – the team that finishes third will enter the Champions League qualifying round.
Knowledge archive
“I was at the Amsterdam ArenA to see Ajax batter Sparta Rotterdam 5-2,” wrote Federico Tessadori in July 2007. “It occurred to me then that Ajax are is the only team I know with their sponsor (ABN Amro) written vertically on their shirt, and not even in the middle! Do any other teams have such extravagant sponsor placing?”
“Ireland’s Wexford Youths (the name is a nod to Juventus) have a similarly jauntily positioned sponsorship,” explained Sean DeLoughry. “The club is owned, sponsored and indeed managed by building magnate and football enthusiast Mick Wallace. Their jersey is emblazoned with their owner/sponsor/manager’s name WALLACE, vertically down the jersey.”
Can you help?
“Stockport County have just signed Connor and James Jennings, from different clubs. They are brothers. Have there been many other clubs who have done the same?” asks Dan Levy.
Intigam Ismailov
(@intigamisma)Basaksehir has claimed their first ever Turkish Super League title which makes them 4th Istanbul club to get it alongside with Galatasaray, Fenerbahce & Besiktas. Curious, are there any different city or cities presenting 4 or more champion clubs same as Istanbul?
“Mitigating circumstances, obviously, but this season has seen the champions of each of England’s four divisions crowned ‘without kicking a ball’: Liverpool via Manchester City losing to Chelsea, Leeds via Brentford’s defeat to Stoke, and Leagues One and Two settled early/on PPG. No team won their league while actually being on the pitch themselves. Has this ever happened across all four divisions in the same season before?” muses Sam Coare.
Alex Shwartser
(@lemmacantor11)Diego Forlan and Martin Skrtel waited 13 years for taking another league title. Is it record for player? Or someone waited more time?
James Mackenzie
(@Kenzie1975)With this beauty of a lockdown kit launch from @officialbantams as well as Man City’s launch this week, what are the best kit launch spectaculars both under and over whelming? https://t.co/QCKO6Goy8X https://t.co/L26teFmxSy
The Tin Boonie
(@TheTinBoonie)A friend told me that a player once scored against the team he supported and was so upset that he had to be substituted. I think he said this happened in Italy. Is there any truth to this story?
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