A referee had trouble hitting the spot when he awarded a penalty in a 1977 English First Division game between Derby County and Manchester City. The trouble was he couldn’t find the spot for a spot kick because, being late in the season, the grass had been worn away. City goalkeeper Joe Corrigan’s attempt to help by pacing out 12 yards got him a yellow card, so the solution was to paint a new spot. County groundsman Bob Smith got to work with tape measure and bucket of white paint on a nice white spot before Gerry Daly buried the ball in the net for Derby.
