John Petrie (13 goals, ARBROATH 36-0 Bon Accord, Scottish Cup, 1885)
OtherArbroath's demolition of Bon Accord remains the biggest victory in first-class football in Britain
Petrie, an 18-year-old outside forward, played a significant role in the biggest victory in British football history: he netted 13 of his team's 36 goals, which remains a record for first-class football in Britain.
He was assisted in his record haul by the fact that Arbroath's opponents that day, Bon Accord, were not a football team. The invitation intended for Aberdeen's Orion FC to take part in the cup had been directed to Aberdeen's Orion Cricket Club, but the cricketers decided to accept, and picked a colourful name for their cross-sport venture.
The scoreline actually flattered Bon Accord, as the referee admitted dubiously chalking off seven goals, and the Scottish Athletic Journal reported: "The Aberdonians might as well have been outside the ropes for the resistance that they provided."
Bata (seven goals, ATHLETIC BILBAO 12-1 Barcelona, La Liga, 1931)
The heaviest defeat in Barcelona's history came at the hands of defending Spanish champions Athletic Bilbao, with Agustin Sauto Arana, or Bata as he was popularly known, hitting seven of the goals.
El Mundo Deportivo described the scoreline as "unnecessarily severe", with Barca going down to ten men due to injury on 18 minutes, when the score was 2-1, and then losing a second player to injury when trailing 9-1.
Barca - who had been champions in 1929 - called an extraordinary board meeting to discuss the direction of the club. Athletic, meanwhile, went on to win the title by virtue of their outstanding goal difference, finishing only a point ahead of Barca.
Silvio Piola (six goals, PRO VERCELLI 7-2 Fiorentina, Serie A, 1933)
At 20 years old, Pro Vercelli forward Piola netted six of his team's seven goals in a thrashing of Fiorentina. His performance was appraised by the Italy coach, Vittorio Pozzo, in La Stampa and - acknowledging that Piola "was the most dangerous opponent" - the youngster attracted particular praise for a spectacular bicycle kick that narrowly missed the target.
However, Pozzo felt La Viola had done nothing to quell the forward's rampage - "No special measures were taken to stop, neutralise or smother his style of play," he wrote - and the performance was not sufficient to earn the forward international recognition.
He had still not been capped by the time of the World Cup triumph the following year, and it was only in 1935, when Angelo Schiavio was forced to withdraw due to injury, that Piola made his international bow, netting both goals in a 2-0 friendly victory over Austria. Piola would score twice in the 1938 World Cup final as Pozzo's men retained the trophy.
No comments:
Post a Comment