The Premier League match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St. James’s Park on Saturday, April 2, 2005 will live long in the memory of anyone who witnessed it, mainly because of two farcical incidents. The hosts fell behind after just fve minutes when Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel took advantage of a weak defensive header by Jermaine Jenas to score with a low shot from inside the penalty area.
The scoreline remained 0-1 at half-time but, well inside the final quarter, Darius Vassel dispossessed Nicky Butt inside the United half and rounded out-of-position goalkeeper Shay Given, only for his goal-bound shot to be blocked by the left hand of the last defender, Steven Taylor. Comically, Taylor threw himself to the ground, clutching his side, in an effort to hoodwink referee Barry Knight, but was immediately sent off for deliberate handball. Gareth Barry put Villa 2-0 ahead from the penalty spot and, seven minutes later, made it 3-0 after United defender Stephen Carr bodychecked Vassell on the edge of the penalty area.
To add insult to injury, with 10 minutes or so of normal time remaining, Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer confronted teammate Kieron Dyer about his failure to pass the ball and Dyer reportedly responded by saying, ‘…because you’re sh*t, basically’. Astonishingly, as play continued around them, Bowyer pushed his head in to Dyer’s face, and the pair traded blows until players from both sides intervened to break up the scuffle. Less surprisingly, both players were dismissed for violent conduct, such they were banned for three matches, including the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United two weeks later, which Newcastle lost 4-1.
According to Guinness World Records, the football team that holds the record for the most yellow cards in a Premier League match is Tottenham Hotspur. On May 2, 2016, Spurs travelled to Stamford Bridge knowing that they needed to beat Chelsea, and win their two remaining matches of the season, against Southampton and Newcastle United, to have any chance of preventing Leicester City from becoming champions of England for the first time in their history.
Despite having failed to beat the Blues on any of their last 27 visits to Stamford Bridge, Spurs took a 2-0 lead, courtesy of goals from strikers Harry Kane, after 35 minutes, and Son Heung-min, on the stroke of half-time. However, in a feisty, ill-tempered first half, there was still time for referee Mark Clattenberg to book Danny Rose, after a melee on the touchline, and the Tottenham left-back joined teammates Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen as one of three Spurs’ players cautioned before the break.
Early in the second half, they were joined by midfielder Erik Lamela, who was booked for a late, two-footed tackle after 51 minutes. Seven minutes later, Gary Cahill pulled a goal back for Chelsea, which did little to improve the visitors’ demeanour. Christian Eriksen become the fifth Spurs’ player cautioned, for a bad foul after 70 minutes and, when substitute Eden Hazard curled in an equalising goal after 83 minutes, frustration boiled over. Eric Dier was lucky to avoid a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Hazard, while Harry Kane, Mousa Dembélé – who later received a six-match suspension for an earlier eye-gouging incident, unseen by the referee – and Ryan Mason were all booked deep into injury time.
The National Football League (NFL) was founded, as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), in Canton, Ohio in 1920 and became known by its current name two years later. In just over a century of its history, the record high score overall occurred in a regular-season game between Washington Redskins – now, of course, Washington Commanders – and the New York Giants at District of Columbia Stadium, Washington, D.C., on November 27, 1966. To put that date in perspective, it was exactly seven weeks before Super Bowl I, played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the following January.
With home advantage, the Redskins, coached by Otto Everett Graham Jr., were made 17-point favourites by the bookmakers and duly took a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter, courtesy of two touchdowns by running back A.D. Whitfield and a third by defensive back Brig Owens. Indeed, having returned a defensive fumble 62 yards for his touchdown, Owens threw the ball into the crowd, thereby contributing to the total of 14 footballs that disappeared into the stands during the game; the practice of hanging nets behind goal posts was not introduced until 1967, so extra-point kicks accounted for the other 13.
The Giants briefly cut the Redskins’ lead to 20-7 but, after Whitfield scored his third touchdown of the game later in the second quarter, they were never less than 13 points behind. All told, the Redskins scored ten touchdowns, and a solitary field goal, in the dying seconds, while the Giants scored six touchdowns, for a final scoreline of 72-41 and a combined points total of 113.
The record high score may have been set six decades ago, but it has only been seriously challenged twice; in November 2004, Cincinnati Bengals beat Cleveland Browns 58-48 at Paul Brown Stadium, for a combined total of 106 points and, in November 2018, Los Angeles Rams beat Kansas City Chiefs 54-51 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, for a combined total of 105.
Prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in Qatar, Wales had qualified for the finals tournament just once, in Sweden in 1958; provided the other three Home Nations – England, Northern Ireland and Scotland – also qualified that year (which, of course, they did), 1958 must be the answer.
None of the Home Nations participated in the World Cup in 1930, 1934 or 1938, having withdrawn from FIFA in 1928 and not rejoined until after World War II. In 1958, British Home Championship ceased to be a qualifying tournament for the World Cup so, for the first time ever, all four had an opportunity to reach the finals.
Wales originally finished second to Czechoslovakia in their UEFA qualifying group, but qualified via a two-legged playoff with Israel, who won their group by default after Indonesia, Sudan and Turkey refused to play because of international tensions. Im Sweden, they drew with Hungary, Mexico and the hosts before beating Hungary 2-1 in a playoff to advance to the quarter-finals, where they lost 1-0 to eventual winners Brazil, with the winnimg goal scored by a 17-year-old Pele.
Northern Ireland, too, fared above expectations on their finals debut. They beat Czechoslovakia 1-0 and recovered from a 3-1 defeat by Argentina to draw 2-2 with West Germany, which was enough to earn a playoff against Czechoslovakia, which they won 2-1 after extra time. Northern Ireland were subsequently trounced 4-0 by France in the quarter-finals, but still progressed further than England or Scotland, who were early casualties.
Scotalnd managed a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia in their opening group game, but lost to Paraguay and France, 3-2 and 2-1, respectively to exit the tournament with just a single point. England drew all three group games, against USSR, Brazil and Austria, but lost 1-0 in a playoff with USSR, who would, themselves, be knocked out by Sweden in the quarter-finals.
The ‘Miracle in Istanbul’ was the epithet given to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League final contested by Associazione Calcio (AC) Milan and Liverpool at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on May 25, 2005. Milan took the lead after just 52 seconds, when captain Paulo Maldini volleyed an Andrea Pirlo free-kick past Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek. By half-time, the Rossoneri had established a seemingly unassailable 3-0 advantage, courtesy of two further goals from striker Hernán Crespo.
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard later confessed, ‘I was sitting there and my head was in my hands, I thought it was over.’ However, early in the second half, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez introduced experienced midfielder Dietmar Hamann, to hold the ball up in the middle of the pitch and allow Gerrard to play further forward. It would be fair to say that the tactical switch worked like a charm.
Eight minutes later, Gerrard headed a John Arne Riise cross past Milan goalkeeper Nélson de Jesus Silva, a.k.a. Dida, two minutes, later Vladimír Šmicer scored with a low drive and, four minutes after that, Xabi Alonso converted a penalty, won by Gerrard, at the second attempt, to complete the comeback. The scores remained tied at 3-3 for the last 30 minutes of normal time and throughout extra time, despite Milan creating numerous chances, and a penalty shoot-out was required to decide the tie.
Milan left-winger Sérgio Cláudio dos Santos, a.k.a. Serginho, missed the first penalty, and Dudek subsequently saved spot-kicks from Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko to give Liverpool an astonishing 3-2 victory. Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said, bewilderedly, ‘ I can’t explain it. I thought Milan were the better team.’