Problems with football matches

This book is the latest masterpiece of the world-renowned sports columnist (English) Andrew Ward. The author has collected the most extraordinary and unimaginable real events that have happened in the history of football over the past century, including: matches without spectators; matches that lasted for four hours and lasted for four days; matches that involved three parties at the same time The game; the result of the game made by a hypnotist; the same player scored all four goals, two for each side, and the manager of both teams is the same person... All this, today's football game From a perspective, it’s incredible. But it is these interesting games that seem special and even ridiculous that connect them into today's booming football history. Let us be inspired and at the same time applaud today's football career.

Football is known as the number one sport in the world, but our country’s football industry has always struggled to reach the World Series due to its late start and lack of sophisticated technology. Fans can’t help but feel “love and hate”. The painful feeling of hating iron for not being able to become steel.

Although there are more and more popular publications about sports, especially football, this book is highlighted by hilarious stories and incredible moments one after another. It ranks first among all sports bestsellers.

Zulu Warriors Zulu Warriors (picture)

Sheffield, November 1879 In January 1879, Zulu King Ketchiwayo led about 50,000 Zulu warriors , to fight against the British army invading Zulu. Although the Zulu warriors only had spears, harpoons and cowhide shields to fight the enemy, and the "military uniform" they wore was just a loincloth made of a tuft of animal fur, they were well-disciplined and well-trained. The British army completely underestimated their strength. It was not until August of the same year that the Zulu army was defeated after two bloody battles at the defense of Isandlwana Mountain and Rock Beach. In this war, the British army lost more than 1,300 people, of which more than 1,000 were British natives. In addition, they also lost Prince Louis of France, the son of Napoleon III, who led the army. The Zulu casualties were even more severe. When they lost this war, they also declared the demise of the Zulu Kingdom. Ketchiwayo was captured. Later, Zulu was included in the jurisdiction of the British colony of Natal, and eventually became part of the Republic of South Africa. Ten weeks after the new British commander Wolseley ended the Zulu War, a group of Zulu warriors arrived at Bramore Lane in Sheffield in a horse-drawn carriage. Among these people was the great King Ketchiwayo himself. , the famous Zulu chief Sirayu and Debramanzi, the brother of Ketchiwayo. They abandoned their spears and shields, stood on the football field and competed with the best local players in Sheffield (later to become the center of world football at that time), and defeated their opponents 5:4. Ketchiwayo, who was in his 50s, performed very well against Mosforth, England's international winger at the time. It may be necessary to point out that these Zulu warriors only superficially resembled Zulus. In fact they are not black, but white. It's just that they blackened their faces and hands with burnt charcoal, wore black sweatshirts and stockings, had a circle of feathers around their heads, and hung beads around their necks to compete. Sheffield's players complained that burnt charcoal shards from the Zulu's body got on them during the scramble, forcing them to take more trouble than usual to shower after the game. These players have less familiar Zulu names, but for example, Debra Manz, whose English name is actually Jack Hunter, is one of the best players of his generation in Scotland. The game was held to raise money for the widows, wives and children of soldiers who died in the Zulu War, and almost 2,000 people donated money for the game. The Zulu Warriors team, founded by Mr. Brewer of Fargate, had played a game at Scarborough before this game. Following their win in Sheffield, they embarked on a domestic tour that saw them visit Barnsley and Chesterfield, among others. This team gradually became a performance team. The team members wore strange costumes, painted their bodies and faces with various paints, laughed and played, and pretended to be clowns. And at the same time, they didn't lose a single game. A few months later, the Sheffield FA became dissatisfied with the team. This dissatisfaction finally erupted after Jack Hunter refused to participate in a North-South football match organized by the Football Association in order to participate in a Zulu team in Scotland. In January 1881, W. Pierce Dix of the Sheffield Football Association wrote to the local newspaper commenting on the matter: "The manner in which the Zulu teams have been touring the country is, in the eyes of the Football Association, a great insult. "The formality of the game is compromised and those who participate in such games are devalued and those players will be fined for participating in such games." Zulu players were warned that if they continued to participate in such tours, they would be punished. Banned from representative matches and FA Cup matches, the team was forced to disband. However, the Zulu warriors hung up their spears and shields for good. The following year, as part of Ketchiwayo's exile, he visited London. At that time, he was wearing European-style clothes. At this time, he was a celebrity with supreme authority, majesty and popularity.

But unlike his past life as a king, in the second half of his life, it is entirely possible that he will become a football manager.

Zulu Warriors Protest against the Goal Crossbar

London, Winter 1888 In this year, Crewe Alexandra reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. They had had a strange game at Kensington and Swifts earlier on their way up the promotion ladder. Crewe defeated Druids and Northwich Victoria in the first two rounds. Since only 9 teams could advance to the fourth round, they received a bye in the third round and therefore went directly to the fourth round. After a 2:2 draw with Swifts, Crewe claimed that the crossbar of one of Swifts' home goals was lower than the other goal and that its height was 2 inches shorter than the rules stipulated. Swifts were disqualified and Crewe moved on to the next round. Following the controversy surrounding the match, the FA adopted a rule stating that all objections to pitches, lines and goals must be raised before the game starts rather than after. After this game, Crewe defeated Derby County and Middlesbrough in the fifth and sixth rounds respectively to reach the semi-finals. Their semi-final opponent was the then-invincible Preston team. The game is played in Liverpool. That day, the field was full of puddles and the game turned into a water polo fight. In the end, Crewe lost 0:4.

A mysterious game of the Zulu Warriors

August 1889 Sheffield's 1889 FA Cup semi-final at Port Bramall Stadium led to a The birth of a decision. Several dignitaries in local football circles in Sheffield decided to add a football department under the name of Sheffield Cricket Club. Bramall Lane has enough strength to support both cricket and football. In the beginning, the club didn't even have a single player. Their recruitment advertisements in local newspapers also had little success, recruiting only three players in one day. At the same time, this situation also indicates that this club will not be easily accepted by people in the early days of its establishment. At that time, Sheffield Wednesday had already been established, and other local clubs in Sheffield were looking at the newly established Sheffield United with suspicion. So, Sheffield United took a very smart step - they began to recruit players outside Sheffield, mainly in Scotland. This measure soon bore fruit. Towards the end of the summer, Sheffield United recruited a diverse group of players, the best of whom was the always-big-spectacled Howlett, a former Gainsborough goalkeeper. Sheffield United's first game was a mysterious one. This game was played in such a mysterious manner. We don’t know whether it was because the club management was afraid of other clubs coming to trouble, or because it was worried that the players would not form a tacit understanding and make mistakes in the game. The situation at the time was like this. One day, the club suddenly summoned all the players, and then the team set off quietly and quickly, without even telling anyone where they were going. However, despite such careful secrecy, they still overlooked the Sherlock Holmes qualities of a local Sheffield journalist and Wednesday captain Ted Brayshaw, who successfully followed the new team. Behind the team. Later, they revealed that Sheffield United visited Hallam Cricket Club that day and competed with their players there. The game ended with Sheffield United losing 1:3.

2007-7-8 11:57 Reply

Moving because of blue

2 fans

3rd floor

Zulu Warriors One-Man Team

Burnley in December 1891. It was the coldest week of the year in 1891, and the snow fell heavily. No one wants to play football in that kind of weather, not even the Blackburn Rovers players. But since most of them were professional players, they reluctantly walked out of the warm locker room and played against the home team Burnley. In the first 25 minutes of the game, Blackburn Rovers were quickly scored 3 goals by their opponents, but this did not arouse the fighting spirit of the players at all. This is bound to be a game full of anger. Two players from both sides got into a quarrel and almost got into a fight, which might have raised the temperature a little bit. However, even the quarrel was quickly subsided by the cold weather. When the referee blew the halftime whistle, everyone was very happy. The 10-minute intermission passed quickly. Burnley players appeared on the field, but their opponents Blackburn Rovers players were nowhere to be seen. The referee on duty was Sheffield's notorious J.C. Clegg, who was also a high-ranking FA official who loved to pose. It was obvious that he didn't want to be exposed to the freezing cold either. So, he warned Blackburn that he would blow the whistle in 2 minutes. In fact, he waited for four minutes, but even then, not all Blackburn players returned to the field. Soon, the players' tempers rose again. The two players who caused trouble in the first half were sent off the field for fighting. But then something even more outrageous happened. With the exception of goalkeeper Herbie Arthur, all Blackburn players left the field.

The referee believed that his previous decision to start the game if there were more than 6 people on the field was very correct. Therefore, although there is only one person left on the Blackburn team, the game should continue. The game then evolved into a contest between the entire Burnley team and the opposing goalkeeper Herbie. Herbie Arthur was at the end of a remarkable career playing for Blackburn Rovers. In 1880, he joined Blackburn as a right midfielder. Later, when the goalkeeper position became vacant and there was no clear replacement, Herbie, who was still a reserve player, volunteered to guard goalkeeper. In the mid-1880s, he made great contributions to Blackburn's three consecutive FA Cup wins (1884-1886), and thus became an international player in England. But unlike most of the Rangers pros, Herbie has always been an amateur. In this game in the winter of 1891, Herbie's biggest test came. The Burnley team restarted the game and everyone rushed towards the gate guarded by Herbie. Herbie shouted: "Offside, offside!" The referee ruled that the Burnley player was indeed offside. The next game was simply a waste of time. For fear of being offside, no Burnley player could come up to grab the ball. Herbie Arthur began to hold the ball slowly to delay time. Finally, the referee couldn't stand it anymore and announced the end of the game. Blackburn Rovers apologized after the game, explaining that the players were so frozen that they were unable to continue. Two weeks later, Herbie was awarded an extra bonus for a game against Sunderland.

2007-7-8 11:57 Reply

Moving because of blue

2 fans

4th floor

The trustworthy goalkeeper of the Zulu Warriors

When Aston Villa reached the 1892 FA Cup final in London in March 1892, the best player on the team was a 27-year-old Jimmy Warner. This is a goalkeeper with excellent skills and trust, and at the same time, he is also one of the oldest players on the team. Many believe it was his defensive excellence that helped Villa win the FA Cup five years ago. This time in 1892, Villa was considered by bookmakers to be the team most likely to win the FA Cup again with odds of 7 to 4... However, what those betting people didn't expect was that Jimmy Warner was there. The most outrageous scene in his career occurred in this game. Villa's advantage in the FA Cup final could not be clearer than its opponents' record in the league. At the time, Villa were charging towards the league title, while their rivals, West Bromwich Albion, were struggling in the relegation circle. A week before the semi-final, Villa showed their quality against Accrington. In that game, they defeated their opponents 12:2. Then, the entire Villa team went to Holt Fleet for special training. The special training included running training, sea bathing in Droitwich, and some routine football exercises every afternoon. Even when it snowed on Tuesday, they didn't take a break. The coach had an idea and led the players to continue preparing for the game under a boat fence about 70 yards long. However, during this week's preparation period, some people noticed that something was wrong with Jimmy Warner. It was not his teammates, fans, or even the media who discovered his unusual behavior, but the managers of the Villa club who had been supervising the goalkeeper. It is said that Werner is unable to complete the same amount of training as his teammates within the prescribed time; in addition, he seems to prefer to get along with a person that the club hates rather than staying with his teammates, and Werner is with this person in Holt Fleet's meeting was, in fact, a serious violation of the club's wishes. On the day of the FA Cup final, about 30,000 fans crowded into Kennington Oval, and some even ignored the danger and climbed onto large gas storage tanks to watch the game. Most believed that, on paper, Aston Villa would beat their opponents by a wide margin. However, that was not the case. West Bromwich Albion's Jasper Geddes scored a spinning ball in his team's first attack. "In fact, Werner had already saved the ball, but the ball seemed to slip out of his hands. The opponent seized the opportunity and shot the ball into the net. Albion's first goal was only 3 minutes after the opening. ." Warner's saving error was called a "terrible mistake" by the media after the game. However, later when people saw the Villa team frantically attacking the opponent's goal, everyone thought that the mistake just now was not a big deal to the Villa team's final victory. Soon, Jimmy Cowan shot a free kick directly into the net. However, according to the rules of the game at the time, because the free kick was not touched by anyone before entering the net, the goal was invalid. In the next twenty minutes, Villa took advantage of the wind to control the situation on the field. At this time, Jimmy Warner once again became the "focus" on the court. After he threw the ball away, the opponent's Nichols quickly followed up and scored the ball again. The midfield whistle blew, and the Sib Romwich Albion team blocked the wind that helped their opponents and withstood the huge difference in strength, ending the first half with a 2:0 lead.

In the 55th minute of the game, West Bromwich Albion's "bald" Reynolds scored another goal with a powerful shot from 40 yards. Werner, who had already struck at the time, could only watch the ball go into the net. West Bromwich Albion led 3:0. Although Aston Villa dominated the remainder of the game, they were held scoreless until the end. After the game, reporters used "cheap performance" to describe Jimmy Warner's performance. At the same time, Villa fans also analyzed the reasons for the defeat and drew their own conclusions. The finger was pointed at the Old College Pub in Spring Hill, where Warner was the owner. That night, fans smashed all the windows in the pub to vent their dissatisfaction with Jimmy Warner's poor performance. Over the next few days, rumors spread that Werner had lost a large sum of money betting on a major sporting event and that in order to make up for the loss, the goalkeeper had to lose This FA Cup final. Werner firmly denied this statement. He said that he made an 18:2 bet that Villa could beat West Bromwich Albion and even placed a 100-pound bet that the opponent could not score. So, how could he deliberately lose the game at the risk of his career suffering a major setback, his wife being insulted by gangsters on the street, and the pub under his name being smashed? Werner said, "If someone says that I lost on purpose, please provide evidence. Otherwise, if necessary, I will fight back against those who wantonly accuse and insult me." The following Wednesday after that game, just days before a crucial match between Villa and Sunderland, Werner disappeared from the training ground. At this time, another rumor spread. It was rumored that Werner took a week's income and ran off with a waitress in the tavern. Using a backup goalkeeper, Villa lost at Sunderland and finished fourth at the end of the season. Then, they lost again to West Bromwich Albion 0:2 in the Birmingham Cup semi-finals. This FA Cup final defeat became Jimmy Warner's last game for Aston Villa. The following season he played for Newton Heath (later Manchester United). No doubt he was relieved that not every newspaper was fixated on his poor performance in the final. "Of course, he did make undue major mistakes when handling the opponent's shot." A reporter said: "However, I still prefer another view, that is, the players on Villa's defense They were unable to stop the attack of Romwich Albion forward, so Werner did not receive as strong support from his teammates as before, so he performed abnormally. "Maybe it's that simple!

2007-7-8 11:58 Reply

Moving because of blue

2 fans

5th floor

The Zulu Warriors played three halves of the game (picture)

In September 1894, on the first day of the 1894-1895 season, Sunderland faced off at home Derby County. Since Kirkham, the official referee of the game, arrived late, the game started at the whistle of the acting referee. Kirkham came to the field only after the two teams played the first half for 45 minutes. At this time, what should he do? Kirkham made an incredible decision. He asked the Derby County team, which was trailing 0:3 in the just-ended half-time, if they were willing to restart the game. Derby County accepted the offer as a matter of course. So, two more halves began. This game later became known as "the three-and-a-half-game game." The captain of Derby County at the time was England international John Goodall. He lost both coin guesses in this game, which made the Derby County team not only have to play with the opponent's players in the first two halves. In the competition, we have to fight strong winds of level 7 or 8. However, the most panicked people at the scene were the reporters covering the game, because they had already sent reports all over the country that Sunderland led Derby County 3-0 in the first half. Fortunately, in the first half of the rematch, Derby County was once again scored 3 goals by Sunderland. Interestingly, the decision to restart the game may be more beneficial to Sunderland than Derby. After fighting against the strong wind for 90 minutes, the visiting team players were more or less tired. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sunderland scored 5 more goals against Derby County in the third half. After the game, although Sunderland actually scored 11 goals in the three halves of the day, the result of the game was still recorded as 8:0. The situation in this game also foreshadowed the direction of this season's competition. Sunderland successfully won their third league title, while Derby County was also lucky to retain their place in the First Division. This "three-and-a-half game" later became a legend passed down from generation to generation by Derby County players. However, I am afraid that no one can have deeper feelings about this game than Jack Robinson, Derby County's goalkeeper at the time and England international player. That afternoon, 11 goals were scored against the goal he was guarding. Before that game, Robinson always boasted that the goal he was guarding could not be scored more than 10 times in a game (he also joked that if the opponent had already scored 9 goals, he would put the goal in the goal). move away).

After the game, his teammates began to argue whether Sunderland should count eight goals or 11. Robinson explained that the reason why the team suffered such a painful defeat was entirely because he did not eat rice pudding before the game - he had a superstition that he had to eat rice pudding before every game, and only in this game Didn't eat before the Sunderland game. "No pudding, no goal!" Robinson often warned his teammates who struggled to tolerate the goalkeeper's nervousness. However, sometimes his superstition is really accurate. Before a game with Burnley, after the hotel waitress announced that there was no rice pudding, John Goodall went to the hotel kitchen and rummaged for an hour before giving him. Find a plate of similar food instead. On this day, Derby County won the game at Burnley, and the game only lasted two halves.

The Zulu Warriors played only four minutes of the game

During the Stoke football match in December 1894, when the referees deemed it necessary, they had absolute power to Decide whether to suspend or terminate the match. In the UK, necessary circumstances usually refer to bad weather conditions. But referees have also been given another instruction - to think carefully before having to suspend or terminate play due to natural factors. Otherwise few football matches would be played in the UK. I have heard of a 1909 league match between Grimsby Town and Oldham that had to be abandoned twice due to weather. So, in a little over seven weeks, the two teams met three times and played for about 220 minutes. In the end, Grisby City won the third game 2-0 after being 1 goal behind in the second replay. If one were to choose the shortest football match in history, it would have to be the match between Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wolves at home in the winter of 1894. There was a blizzard in Stoke that day, and the weather was so bad that only three to four hundred fans came to the stadium to watch the game. It soon became apparent how absurd the idea of ​​a competition was. Helmer, the referee on duty, stopped the game 4 minutes into the game (some sources said it was 3 minutes). The heavy snow soon stopped, but strong winds continued to blow, and the weather conditions were unbearable for the players and spectators. In the end, Stoke City won the game via a coin toss due to luck.

Smoke in the Zulu Warriors dressing room

December 1894 Walsall The 1894-95 season was full of crises for Walsall Swifts Town. A season in which supporter numbers continued to dwindle, club revenues hit rock bottom levels and players became dissatisfied with the club over the lack of wages. One day, they sat in the dressing room and started negotiations with the club management, declaring that they would refuse to play if the club did not pay their wages. Outside the locker room, a group of fans (if that can be called a "group") gathered together to wait for news inside. The supporters have been patient throughout the season - enduring Walsall's woeful third-bottom Second Division finish. Now, they need more patience. Kick-off time had passed and the players of Walsall's rivals Newcastle United sat in their dressing room awaiting their opponents, listening to a storm of bickering from the room above. The dispute was finally alleviated to a certain extent and the game started 20 minutes later. Walsall struggled to attack forward in the muddy field, and their efforts soon forced Newcastle to leave only 10 men on the field, but they were not rewarded in the score. Instead, Newcastle United won 3: The first half ended with a 0 lead. In the second half, Walsall scored two goals and had a chance to equalize the score, but too many weather factors ruined their possibility of a comeback. Due to rain, snow, hail and strong winds, the referee stopped the game in the 78th minute when Newcastle United led the opponent 3:2. Although Walsall requested that the game be declared a draw when the referee decided to stop the game, the Football Association of England later ruled that the result of the game stood and Newcastle United won. The following Monday, Walsall sacked five key players and asked other players if they were willing to sacrifice some income and receive a smaller salary to help the team tide over the difficulties. Regardless, the Walsall club struggled to survive until the end of the season. In the end, their league qualification was replaced by Loughborough Town.