The highest score in a Football League match is 13, first scored on Saturday 6th January 1934 when Stockport County beat Halifax Town 13-0 in a Third Division (North) fixture. Not a great League debut for the Halifax goalkeeper, Stanley Milton (below), although he did keep the score down to 2-0 at half-time!
On Christmas Day 1935, Oldham Athletic beat Tranmere Rovers 4-1 in a Third Division (North) fixture. On Boxing Day the two met again in the return fixture at Prenton Park and this time Tranmere got the better of their rivals winning 13-4! The 17 goals is still a record aggregate score for a League match and the 9 goals by Robert 'Bunny' Bell, scored for Rovers, also missed a penalty, but created a new Football League record. 'Bunny' Bell's record of scoring 9 League goals in the Tranmere v Oldham match lasted only until Monday April 13th 1936 when Luton Town's Joe Payne scored 10 in the Hatters' 12-0 victory over Bristol Rovers in a Third Division (South) match. BELL below...............
On Saturday 5th October 1946 Newcastle United became the third and last side to score 13 in a League match when defeating Newport County 13-0 in a Second Division fixture. It proved a perfect debut for Len Shackleton, the 'Clown Prince of Soccer', following his £13,000 move from Bradford Park Avenue to St James' Park. He scored six of the goals, including a hat-trick in just two and a half minutes.
As a Spurs' fan, I remember Bill Nicholson's first match in charge as manager of struggling Tottenham, his first ever managerial job. (I have the programme). He saw them let in 4 goals against Everton in a First Division match at White Hart Lane on Saturday 11th October 1958. Not the best starts you might think but what made it memorable was that Spurs scored 10, the first goal coming after three minutes and the tenth a couple of minutes before the final whistle. Leaving the pitch to thunderous applause one of the Spurs goalscorers, Tommy Harmer, had to remind his new boss 'We don't score ten every week, you know.'
And it certainly wasn't downhill from then on with Nicholson leading Spurs in the most successful period in their history. A League and Cup double in 1961, two more FA Cup victories plus two League Cup wins, a UEFA Cup victory, a European Cup semi and in 1963 they became the first English club to win a European competition - the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 5-1 final defeat of Atlético Madrid. The 10-4 victory over Everton didn't prove to be the top score by Spurs in his reign as manager, which lasted until August 1974. In 1960 they tonked Crewe Alexandra 13-2 in in an FA Cup 4th Round replay.
Fulham played Ipswich Town twice over the Christmas period in 1963 - at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day with the return at Portman Road a couple of days later, on Saturday 28th December. The programme notes in the second match at Ipswich stated - 'I can only hope that Ipswich kept up the good work against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day. I am afraid that these notes had to be completed long before the result of that match was known so I can only keep my fingers crossed.' Nope, that didn't work, Fulham had won that first match 10-1 which was the last time that a club had scored double figures in the top flight.
Burslem Port Vale, from the "Potteries", became the first, and still only club to concede 10 goals at home in a League match when they lost 0-10 to Sheffield United in a Second Division fixture on Saturday December 3rd 1892. They must have had nightmares about playing their next match a week later - this time away to Sheffield United - but they only lost that one 0-4.
A club to lose what would still be a record score is Manchester United. Back in the days when they were Newton Heath, their Bank Street pitch was far from the bowling-green surface they now enjoy at the Theatre of Dreams. In fact is was usually no more than mud and sand with the occasional tuft of grass! When Walsall Town Swifts arrived for a Second Division fixture on Saturday March 9th 1895, they immediately objected to the state of the pitch. Another layer of sand was added before kick off and the match was played under protest - with Newton Heath winning 14-0. However Walsall's protest was upheld by the Football League and the match was declared void and ordered to be replayed so the 14-0 scoreline ended up in the history books rather than the record books. The re-arranged match was played on Wednesday April 3rd 1895...with the Heathens only managing a 9-0 win that time!
Darwen hold the unfortunate record of conceding the most double-figure League defeats in a season. Back in 1896 they were good enough to score double-figures twice themselves (a 10 and a 12) but three years later they were at rock bottom and in the second half of the 1898/99 season lost three matches by a 0-10 scoreline. The Lancashire side set another unwanted record that season - the 141 Second Division goals they conceded (in just 34 matches) is still the worst goals against figure for a season in the Football League.
A Football League investigation into the reasons behind Leicester Fosse's (now Leicester City) poor showing in their 12-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in April 1909 found that the Leicester players had been celebrating the marriage of a team-mate for 2 days prior to the match!
Perhaps over-indulging the day before a match is more common than the Forest v Leicester incident above. Of the 60-odd times that a side has scored double-figures in a League match there is one date that sticks out far more than any other - Boxing Day, yep the day after Christmas Day! Five times December 26th has seen a club conceded 10 or more goals in a League match and perhaps the Wolves' hangovers were particularly bad in 1919 when they lost a Division 2 match 3-10 at Hull City, on December 27th!
Another favourite day for conceding double figures is the first away League match of the season. Stoke, Burnley, Rotherham and Northampton have all let in 10 or more in their first away League match of the season and Torquay (twice) and Crystal Palace have suffered the same in their second away League match of the season.
We are still waiting for the first club to score 10 goals in a Premier League match. The highest to date is 9 which has been recorded several times. Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth 27-8-22 by 8 scorers including a penalty.
Manchester United beat Southampton 9-0 on February 2nd 2021, including 8 different scorers and including an o.g. and a penalty.
On Saturday 4th March 1995 Manchester United beat Ipswich Town 9-0. Andy Cole scored 5.
On Sunday 22nd November 2009 Tottenham beat Wigan Athletic 9-1, Defoe scored 5. After Wigan's defeat the club immediately offered both an apology to their fans and a promise to refund the ticket price to the 500 or so fans who had bought tickets for the match at White Hart Lane. Wigan captain Mario Melchiot said 'We are professionals. We will take it on the chin and move on but it's important that we do not take our supporters for granted.' Good lad!
Leicester's 9-0 defeat away at Southampton on Friday October 25th 2019, aided by Vardy and Perez scoring three each.
Chesterfield visited Gillingham for a Division 3 fixture on Saturday 5th September 1987 and they were hoping to maintain their excellent start to the season which had seen them not conceding a League goal in their first four matches. Gillingham, on the other hand, had recorded their second highest League score in their previous League match at the Priestfield Stadium, an 8-1 victory over Southend United. In the Gills Chat programme notes for the Chesterfield match they wrote....'you begin to wonder if the club has exhausted its quota of thrills for the season.' No, Gillingham beat Chesterfield 10-0!!!
The last time that a club scored double figures in the League was on Saturday 7th November 1987 when Manchester City defeated Huddersfield Town 10-1 in a Second Division match. Paul Stewart, Tony Adcock and David White each scored hat-tricks for the home side. Former England international Malcolm Macdonald had only been appointed manager of Huddersfield the previous month. It didn't get much better for him with Huddersfield finishing the season in a distant bottom place and Macdonald ending his managerial career at the same time.
An aggregate of eleven goals: 29th September 2007 Portmouth 7-4 Reading.
Sixty-three Football League matches have ended with one of the sides scoring 10 or more goals. Two of the those matches (marked * and **https://www.afcb.co.uk/news/club-news/record-win-expungedwhat-a-load-of-cobblers/) were declared void (for various reasons, pitch conditions e.g.) and so are no longer in the official record. The matches -
| 1889/90 | Sat | Sep | 14 | 1889 | Preston North End | 10 | - | 0 | Stoke | League |
| 1891/92 | Sat | Mar | 12 | 1892 | Aston Villa | 12 | - | 2 | Accrington | League |
| Mon | Apr | 4 | 1892 | WBA | 12 | - | 0 | Darwen | League | |
| 1892/93 | Sat | Oct | 15 | 1892 | Newton Heath | 10 | - | 1 | Wolves | Division 1 |
| Sat | Dec | 10 | 1892 | Burslem Port Vale | 0 | - | 10 | Sheffield United | Division 2 | |
| Sat | Dec | 17 | 1892 | Small Heath | 12 | - | 0 | Walsall Town Swifts | Division 2 | |
| 1893/94 | Sat | Mar | 17 | 1894 | Small Heath | 10 | - | 2 | Ardwick | Division 2 |
| 1894/95 | Tue | Feb | 26 | 1895 | Notts County | 10 | - | 0 | Burslem Port Vale | Division 2 |
| Sat | Mar | 9 | 1895 | Newton Heath | 14 | - | 0 | Walsall Town Swifts | Division 2* | |
| Sat | Mar | 23 | 1895 | Ardwick | 11 | - | 3 | Lincoln City | Division 2 | |
| 1895/96 | Mon | Jan | 13 | 1896 | Darwen | 10 | - | 2 | Rotherham Town | Division 2 |
| Tue | Feb | 18 | 1896 | Liverpool | 10 | - | 1 | Rotherham Town | Division 2 | |
| 1896/97 | Sat | Dec | 26 | 1896 | Darwen | 12 | - | 0 | Walsall | Division 2 |
| 1898/99 | Sat | Feb | 18 | 1899 | Manchester City | 10 | - | 0 | Darwen | Division 2 |
| Sat | Mar | 4 | 1899 | Walsall | 10 | - | 0 | Darwen | Division 2 | |
| Sat | Apr | 1 | 1899 | Loughborough | 10 | - | 0 | Darwen | Division 2 | |
| 1899/00 | Mon | Mar | 12 | 1900 | Woolwich Arsenal | 12 | - | 0 | Loughborough | Division 2 |
| 1900/01 | Sat | Mar | 2 | 1901 | Small Heath | 10 | - | 1 | Blackpool | Division 2 |
| 1902/03 | Sat | Jan | 17 | 1903 | Chesterfield | 10 | - | 0 | Glossop | Division 2 |
| Sat | Apr | 11 | 1903 | Small Heath | 12 | - | 0 | Doncaster Rovers | Division 2 | |
| 1908/09 | Wed | Apr | 21 | 1909 | Nottingham Forest | 12 | - | 0 | Leicester Fosse | Division 1 |
| 1912/13 | Sat | Oct | 5 | 1912 | Aston Villa | 10 | - | 0 | Sheffield Wed. | Division 1 |
| 1914/15 | Sat | Jan | 23 | 1915 | Birmingham | 11 | - | 1 | Glossop | Division 2 |
| 1919/20 | Sat | Dec | 27 | 1919 | Hull City | 10 | - | 3 | Wolves | Division 2 |
| 1925/26 | Sat | Aug | 29 | 1925 | Aston Villa | 10 | - | 0 | Burnley | Division 1 |
| Fri | Jan | 1 | 1926 | Sheffield United | 11 | - | 2 | Cardiff City | Division 1 | |
| 1927/28 | Sat | Nov | 5 | 1927 | Northampton Town | 10 | - | 0 | Walsall | Division 3 Sth |
| Sat | Jan | 7 | 1928 | Tranmere Rovers | 11 | - | 1 | Durham City | Division 3 North | |
| 1928/29 | Sat | Aug | 25 | 1928 | Bradford City | 11 | - | 1 | Rotherham United | Division 3 North |
| Sat | Oct | 20 | 1928 | Leicester City | 10 | - | 0 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | |
| Sat | Jan | 19 | 1929 | Sheffield United | 10 | - | 0 | Burnley | Division 1 | |
| Sat | Mar | 16 | 1929 | South Shields | 10 | - | 1 | Rotherham United | Division 3 North | |
| 1929/30 | Sat | Mar | 15 | 1930 | Norwich City | 10 | - | 2 | Coventry City | Division 3 Sth |
| Thu | Apr | 10 | 1930 | Newport County | 10 | - | 0 | Merthyr Town | Division 3 Sth | |
| 1930/31 | Sat | Dec | 13 | 1930 | Huddersfield Town | 10 | - | 1 | Blackpool | Division 1 |
| Fri | Dec | 26 | 1930 | Hull City | 10 | - | 0 | Halifax Town | Division 3 North | |
| 1931/32 | Mon | Sep | 7 | 1931 | Fulham | 10 | - | 2 | Torquay United | Division 3 Sth |
| 1933/34 | Sat | Sep | 2 | 1933 | Luton Town | 10 | - | 2 | Torquay United | Division 3 Sth |
| Sat | Nov | 18 | 1933 | Middlesbrough | 10 | - | 3 | Sheffield United | Division 1 | |
| Sat | Jan | 6 | 1934 | Stockport County | 13 | - | 0 | Halifax Town | Division 3 North | |
| Sat | May | 5 | 1934 | Barrow | 12 | - | 1 | Gateshead | Division 3 North | |
| 1935/36 | Thu | Dec | 26 | 1935 | Tranmere Rovers | 13 | - | 4 | Oldham Athletic | Division 3 North |
| Sat | Feb | 1 | 1936 | Chester | 12 | - | 0 | York City | Division 3 North | |
| Mon | Apr | 13 | 1936 | Luton Town | 12 | - | 0 | Bristol Rovers | Division 3 Sth | |
| 1936/37 | Thu | Feb | 4 | 1937 | Stoke City | 10 | - | 3 | WBA | Division 1 |
| 1937/38 | Thu | Jan | 13 | 1938 | Hull City | 10 | - | 1 | Southport | Division 3 North |
| Fri | Apr | 15 | 1938 | Wolves | 10 | - | 1 | Leicester City | Division 1 | |
| 1938/39 | Sat | Jan | 14 | 1939 | Hull City | 11 | - | 1 | Carlisle United | Division 3 North |
| 1939/40 | Sat | Sep | 2 | 1939 | Bournemouth | 10 | - | 0 | Northampton Town | Division 3 Sth** |
| 1946/47 | Wed | Sep | 4 | 1946 | Reading | 10 | - | 2 | Crystal Palace | Division 3 Sth |
| Sat | Oct | 5 | 1946 | Newcastle United | 13 | - | 0 | Newport County | Division 2 | |
| 1948/49 | Sat | Jan | 15 | 1949 | Notts County | 11 | - | 1 | Newport County | Division 3 Sth |
| 1951/52 | Sat | Sep | 29 | 1951 | Lincoln City | 11 | - | 1 | Crewe Alexandra | Division 3 North |
| Sat | Jan | 19 | 1952 | Oldham Athletic | 11 | - | 2 | Chester | Division 3 North | |
| 1958/59 | Sat | Oct | 11 | 1958 | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | - | 4 | Everton | Division 1 |
| Sat | Apr | 4 | 1959 | Hartlepools United | 10 | - | 1 | Barrow | Division 4 | |
| 1959/60 | Sat | Nov | 14 | 1959 | Aston Villa | 11 | - | 1 | Charlton Athletic | Division 2 |
| 1961/62 | Sat | Mar | 3 | 1962 | Wrexham | 10 | - | 1 | Hartlepools United | Division 4 |
| 1962/63 | Wed | Dec | 26 | 1962 | Oldham Athletic | 11 | - | 0 | Southport | Division 4 |
| 1963/64 | Thu | Dec | 26 | 1963 | Fulham | 10 | - | 1 | Ipswich Town | Division 1 |
| Sat | Jan | 25 | 1964 | Doncaster Rovers | 10 | - | 0 | Darlington | Division 4 | |
| 1987/88 | Sat | Sep | 5 | 1987 | Gillingham | 10 | - | 0 | Chesterfield | Division 3 |
| Sat | Nov | 7 | 1987 | Manchester City | 10 | - | 1 | Huddersfield Town | Division 2 |
No comments:
Post a Comment