This Day in History: 2023-05-11

Nr. 455

PENALTY SHOOT-OUTS MAKE THEIR DEBUT (1969)

George Best’s low shot to the right heralded a controversial change in English soccer. The penalty shoot-out had arrived and it was apt that one of the game’s most colourful characters should strike home the first one. Best converted the first penalty as Manchester United beat Hull City in a Watney Cup semi-final on 5 August, a month after FIFA had sanctioned shoot-out deciders to games. Brian Kidd and Bobby Charlton also scored, but the normally deadly striker Denis Law became the first player to miss in a shoot-out. In another first, the Hull goalkeeper became the first custodian to take a penalty in a shoot-out, but he missed.

Denis Law holds the unwelcome distinction of being the first player to experience the heartbreak of failing to convert in a shoot-out.