The tradition of playing football matches on St. Stephen’s Day, better known in England as Boxing Dayis one of the favorite customs for fans on the island. While the rest of Europe rests, English clubs enter their busiest schedule of the season, providing fans with the perfect escape from family gatherings. Although there have been many memorable holiday rallies, none can match that of 1963, a day that has gone down in legend as the craziest in the history of English football.
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Zagreb: Mladen Ramljak tournament, match between Manchester United and Rapid from Vienna
On December 26, in ten games of the then First Division, an incredible 66 goals were scored. Not a single game ended without a goal, and only two of the twenty teams that ran onto the field failed to find the back of the net. It was a day of absolute football chaos, spectacular results and reversals that are still recounted with disbelief today, more than sixty years later.
Fulham’s ten and the debacle of the former champion
The absolute highlight of the day took place at Craven Cottage in London, where Fulham welcomed Ipswich Town. The visitors were only 18 months earlier, under the leadership of the legendary Alfa Ramseywon the title of champion of England. However, against an upbeat Fulham, they experienced a complete collapse and a defeat that remains the heaviest in their history to this day. The match ended with a score of 10-1 for the hosts.
The Scottish striker Graham Leggat stood out in particular, who scored four goals, one of which he scored a hat-trick in a record three minutes, which was the fastest hat-trick in the history of the league until 2015 and the feat Sadie Manea. How bizarre the day was is perhaps best evidenced by the statement of the then president of Ipswich, John Cobbold:
– It could have gone either way, until the start of the game.
Humiliations for West Ham and Manchester United
Across town, at Upton Park, another London club suffered a severe embarrassment. West Hamin whose ranks future world champions and club legends played Bobby MooreGeoff Hurst and Martin Peters, was defeated by the then championship leaders, Blackburn Rovers, with as many as 2-8. It was a demonstration of the strength of the guests, for which they scored hat-tricks Andy McEvoy i Fred Pickering.
He fared just as badly Manchester United on the road to Burnley. Momčad Sir Matta Bus citystill recovering from the tragedy in Munich, was outclassed at Turf Moor 6-1. The hero of the match was the Burnley striker Andy Lochheadwho conceded four goals to the “red devils”. In that game, United played without the injured Denis Law, who was 17 years old at the time George The bestwhose presence might have mitigated the disaster.
The future champions had no mercy
On the other hand, the team that will win the league title that season, Liverpoolshe showed why she is the best. The “Reds” ran over at Anfield Stoke City with 6-1, and he excelled Roger Huntanother future World Cup winner, who also scored four goals. He was also convincing Chelseawho as a guest won 5-1 against Blackpoola and thus rounded off the day of incredible goliaths.
Even the games that ended in a draw were spectacular. West Bromwich Albion i Tottenham they played 4-4 in a thriller in which Spurs squandered a 4-2 lead, while Wolvesi i Aston Villa the Nottingham Forest i Sheffield United played 3-3.
As if that day wasn’t strange enough in itself, most teams played their return games just two days later on December 28th. Then an incredible series of “revenge” happened. Manchester United beat Burnley 5-1 at home, West Ham beat Blackburn 3-1 away, and even humiliated Ipswich managed to beat Fulham 4-2. It was a perfect, bizarre end to the craziest football holiday in history.
This season, the fans will not be able to enjoy anything similar, because the decision of the FA made an exception, so today only one match is played, the one between Manchester United i Newcastleawhich starts at 9 p.m., with a live broadcast on Arena Sport 1.
