As far as comebacks are concerned it was one of the greatest in the English Premiership. In 2001 Tottenham Hotspur were running rings around Manchester United and 3-0 up at halftime. Setting exchanges were the new thing and a Spurs fan who wanted to impress his girlfriend confidently put his mortgage on a Spurs’ win in a short-odds wager – then sat back to make a fortune. The party poopers were never-say-die United who powered back into the game to win 5-3.
German international striker Miroslav Klose came partly into civic ownership when his Bundesliga team Kaiserslautern sold a share of him to the local council. The move bought the club some vital breathing space during a 2003 financial crisis.
Serie A club Fiorentina was declared bankrupt in 2004 and the new Florence-based club that emerged from the financial wreckage had to start again in Italy’s fourth division.
Schalke 04 fans got carried away and started celebrating what they thought was the winning of the Bundesliga title on the final day of the 2000-01 season. Schalke needed to win at home to Unterhaching and hope Hamburg’s HSV could beat Bayern Munich. Hearts were in mouths when Schalke went 2-0 down only to pull back to 2-2 before half-time, while over in Hamburg it was 0-0. Schalke then fell 3-2 behind, but celebrations really started with a comeback to win 5-3 and the news that HSV were 1-0 up in the 90th minute. Schalke fans were suddenly silenced when in the 94th minute Bayern squeezed home an equaliser to shave the title.
Seoul Martyrs lived up to their name in their first season competing in the South Korean third division. Playing in the K3 League turned into a baptism of fire for players and manager and they finished the 2009 season rock bottom. After 32 matches the newly founded club had a goal difference of minus 175, having won just two matches. However, taking the view that from their lowly position the only way is up, the club were taking their place in the division again for the 2010 season.
A football pitch on the Channel Island of Guernsey was rendered unplayable in 2010 – by seagulls. The Blanche Pierre Lane pitch was torn up by aerial vandals and out of action for weeks. The turf at the St Martin’s AC’s ground had been pulled up by seagulls digging for worms, large areas needed returfing and St Martin’s games had to be played elsewhere. Meanwhile, the club protected what little of the field was left untouched with mannequins, normally used for training, acting as scarecrows. The explanation for the bird attack was that the water table was high and the worms near the surface. The seagulls paddled their feet up and down to tease the worms out and damaged the grass at the same time.
Three Manchester City players notched hat-tricks in 1987 when the club smashed ten goals past the bottom-of-the-table side Huddersfield Town in an English league Second Division game at Maine Road, Manchester. For a while a goal landslide didn’t look likely with Huddersfield dominating the early stages. A Neil McNab goal opened the floodgates before Paul Stewart, Tony Adcock and David White all grabbed three goals each.
Just 13 people watched a match in Manchester United’s vast Old Trafford Stadium on 7 May 1921. They were the hardy fans of Stockport County who had already been relegated and whose ground was under suspension. The 13 had to endure a goalless draw.
Four players from Liverpool and Manchester United were banned for life in 1915 for their part in a match-fixing scandal. There had been a run of bets on United winning 2-0, which, surprise, surprise, they did.
Hugo Sanchez blamed his 2009 sacking as manager of Spanish strugglers Almeria on freak rain. Almeria’s 4-1 home defeat by Atletico Bilbao came amid heavy rain and Sanchez was sacked after the team’s next La Liga defeat, a 2-0 loss at Espanyol. The Mexican goal-scoring legend, who had been in charge at Almeria for a year, said: «It never rains here and the day of the Atletico match it was bucketing down. They put three past us from set pieces and we lost badly.» Almeria province is so dry that it was used as the location for numerous spaghetti westerns and the average annual rainfall is just 184 millimetres.
