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Oneirophobia- Fear of dreams.
Kolpophobia- Fear of genitals, particularly female. |
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Perhaps We Just Call It a Draw?
Postponed matches in the English Premier League and FA Cup aren't that unusual, but consider for a moment just how many times the match between Lincoln City and Coventry City was postponed because of a bad winter in the season of 1962/63. Due to play each other on January 5, 1963, the fixture between Lincoln and Coventry was called off inclement weather and scheduled for a few days time. Then it was called off again. And again. And again. The fixture was called off a total of 15 times before a match was finally played—chalking up 66 days between the start of the "round" and the end of the "round." Coventry City eventually beat Lincoln City 5-1 on March 6. |
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The £417k World Cup Wager
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be remembered for many things. The goal that never was for England’s Frank Lampard, the inexplicable handball by Luis Suarez, and the atrocity that was the vuvuzelas. The World Cup will also be remembered by one punter for an audacious £417,000 bet that never came off. The anonymous punter placed the largest bet in World Cup history backing pre-tournament favourites Germany to beat Spain in the Semi-Final. The match was 0-0 at half-time before Carles Puyol scored the winner on the 73rd minute. The punter missed out on a potential £800,000 payout. It remains one of the largest single bet losses on a soccer match ever. |
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£2.50 Bet Pays £272,000 On 9-Match Accumulator
The year 2011 could not have started better for one punter with Ladbrokes. The plucky customer took the insane decision to place a £2.50 stake on a 9-match accumulator. It was a wager that seemed even more incredible when it was revealed the punter had backed a number of underdog teams such as Wolves and Blackburn to win. It also picked Athletic Bilbao to draw with Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey. Bearing in mind that Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi had just been voted in the top three positions of the 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or. Barcelona were set for a 1-0 win in that match until Fernando Llorente sealed the equalizer with 5 minutes remaining. |
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Acerophobia- Fear of sourness.
Harpaxophobia- Fear of being robbed. |
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There’s a rare type of blood that’s shared by only 43 people in the entire world.
‘Rhnull’ blood doesn’t contain any of the Rh antigens that 99.9% of humans have. It’s often called ‘golden blood’ because it can be given to anyone who has a rare Rh blood type, but there are only 9 active donors, so it’s only used in extreme circumstances. . https://jpma.org.pk/article-details/2399?article_id=2399 |
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Somebody Has to Miss Soon...
Your knowledge about Fourth Division Argentinian soccer might not be as high as some other leagues in the world, so why don't we take a look back through the history alumnus of the South American nation. We'll stop in the 2009/10 season where we find a match between Juventud Alianza and General Paz Juniors in the qualifying round of the Apertura for the Ronda Final at the end of the season. Can't quite remember what happened? Quite OK. After tying their two legs on a 3-3 aggregate, the two clubs headed to a penalty shootout to decide who would progress through to the next round of the competition. Pretty normal still. What would transpire is the highest score ever recorded in a penalty shootout—with Juniors winning on the night 21-20 in the penalty shootout. Perhaps even more amazing than that is the fact that there was only one missed penalty—the final penalty for Alianza by Ruiz, who had his penalty saved by the goalkeeper. Up until that point, all 40 penalty attempts had been scored by the penalty-takers. Heartbreaking for Juventud Alianza goalkeeper Gonzalez, who failed to stop any of the 21 penalties that he had come his way throughout the shootout. |
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Don't Dream It's Over...
From one incredible finish to another, Charlton Athletic's 1957/58 clash against Huddersfield Town in the Football League Second Division will surely go down as one of the most remarkable matches ever and one that must be looked at here. Played in December 1957, Charlton were reduced to 10 men after 27 minutes after captain Derek Ulton had to be taken to hospital due to a dislocated shoulder. Substitutions were not allowed at the time, and almost immediately, Huddersfield took a 1-0 lead through Les Massie. Huddersfield would continue to build on their lead with two goals to Alex Bain, one to Bill McGarry and one to Bob Ledger—holding a commanding 5-1 lead over the home side with 27 minutes remaining in the match before something truly remarkable happened. Johnny Summers and Johnny "Buck" Ryan scored a goal apiece for Charlton in the space of two minutes to reduce the margin to 5-3. Summers then scored at the 73rd and 78th minute—tying the game at five goals all before netting his fifth goal of the night in the 81st minute to give Charlton a 6-5 lead. With barely any of the home crowd remaining having all left when their team was down 5-1 with 10 men, visiting Huddersfield drew level again at six-all with five minutes to play before a final-second header by Ryan gave Charlton a remarkable 7-6 victory. From 5-1 down with 27 minutes remaining and already down to 10 men, Charlton had fought their way back into the winners' circle and had recorded arguably the greatest comeback in history in the process—leaving then Huddersfield manager Bill Shankly speechless. Arsenal's recent comeback against Reading pales in comparison to this. |
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Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns.
Enosiophobia or Enissophobia- Fear of having committed an unpardonable sin or of criticism. |
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A Minute's Silence...of Sorts
A truly embarrassing moment for HFS Loans League team Congleton occurred in 1993 when holding a minute's silence before the match to mourn the death of the club's oldest fan who had reportedly passed away during the week. However, the public relations department at Congleton might want to get new sources after they were forced to cancel the minute's silence when the fan walked into the ground to witness the ground in his minute's silence memorial. |
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Chris Nicholl's Big Day out
Any player that scores four goals in the same match would normally be thrilled with his achievements. But not Aston Villa defender Chris Nicholl who scored four goals on March 20, 1976—the only problem being that he scored two own goals for Leicester City, with the match finishing in a 2-2 draw. Nicholl gave Leicester the opening goal before equalizing for Villa just before half time. He would then go on to give Leicester the lead again with a great goal in the second half before drawing level once more for Villa late in the match—creating one of the greatest game reviews in the history of the game. The defender recalls the afternoon well and laughs about the moment—saying that his biggest frustration about it all was that he didn't even get the game ball that day. |
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Xyrophobia-Fear of razors.
Walloonphobia- Fear of the Walloons. |
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Just Blow the Whistle!!
Time for some Danish football now and we pity local side Ebeltoft, who were robbed of a deserved draw when playing Norager in the domestic competition. Norager were leading 4-3 with seconds remaining when Ebeltoft went on the attack. As they pressed forward, however, referee Henning Erikstrup went to blow the final whistle. Only problem was that his false teeth fell out as he went to blow the whistle—meaning that no noise came out and play continued as normal. Ebeltoft scored to make it 4-4 by the time that Erikstrup found his false teeth and put them back into his mouth. So, 4-4 right? Mmmm. Not so much. Erikstrup disallowed the goal and blew the final whistle, handing Norager a 4-3 win. Ebeltoft protested the match immediately following the loss and took the result to the equivalent of what is the Football Association in Denmark, but their protests were denied. Final score: Norager 4, Ebeltoft 3. |
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A True Hat-Trick
Many players have scored hat-tricks (three goals in the same match) during their lifetime, but few have the claim to fame that West Ham and England defender Alvin Martin has regarding hat-tricks. In West Ham's 8-1 home win against Newcastle United in April 1986, Martin scored three goals against three different goalkeepers—making him the only player to score his hat-trick in such a fashion. The defender netted his first goal against Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Thomas, who was then replaced by Chris Hedworth due to injury. Martin scored against the substitute keeper, who was then replaced by Peter Beardsley toward the end of the match, whom he promptly scored against to complete his unusual but remarkable feat. According to the BBC, no other player has ever scored a hat-trick like this. |
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Atelophobia- Fear of imperfection.
Cheimaphobia or Cheimatophobia- Fear of cold.(Frigophobia, Psychophobia) |
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Give These Teams a Break!
Back on to the unusual again and we travel to Scilly to spend some time in the Isles of Scilly Football League, which is officially the smallest football league in the world. The league features just two teams—Garrison Gunners and the Woolpack Wanderers—who play each other every week in the league to determine who will be the champion for that season. Played from mid-November to late-March, the two teams play each other 17 times over the course of a season, with the champion coming from a typical first-past-the-post system. But the pair still receive plenty of knockout action as well, with The Wholesalers Cup and the Foredeck Cup—which are both played over two legs—as well as a Charity Shield that customarily kicks off the action-packed season ahead. The only time that the two teams don't play each other in the league is when they meet in the Cup, which again, is only played between themselves. |
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Now That's a Transfer Bargain!
Perhaps a topical discussion now that the winter transfer window has officially opened is the transfer of Ion Radu in 1998. The Romanian midfielder was sold by Second Division Jiul Petrosani to Valcea during the official transfer window—all of which sounds normal—but he was not sold for a monetary price or value. The midfielder was sold for 500 kg of pork, which was worth about roughly £1750 at the time of sale. Jiul Petrosani club president said that the meat will be sold to pay player salaries. Just for some fun, should Cristiano Ronaldo make the £100 million transfer from Real Madrid to Paris St. Germain that some tabloid media outlets have suggested, that would equate to around nearly 29 million kilograms of pork. Or around 630,000 pigs. |
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Felinophobia- Fear of cats. (Ailurophobia, Elurophobia, Galeophobia, Gatophobia)
Illyngophobia- Fear of vertigo or feeling dizzy when looking down. |
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Did Somebody Say Own Goal?
Our final bizarre world football story is a personal favourite of mine and one that comes from the Madagascan football league—another league that some you might not have spend a vast majority of time in, though I can't for the life of me think why not. Pretty much, all you need to know is that AS Adema beat Stade Olympique de L'Emyrne 149-0 and they did it without scoring a single goal of their own. In the second last week of the tournament, SOE had been held to a 2-2 draw by DSA where a controversial late penalty decision had done away with SOE's 2-1 lead. The draw squandered any chance that SOE had to beat AS Adema in the championship race, so in their following game, they decided to protest the harsh decision by scoring own goals. Repeatedly. 149 of them. Spectators at the game say that SOE would kick the ball off and shoot it all the way back to their own goal, where their goalkeeper would watch it go in. Following the match, the Madagascan Football Federation suspended the SOE coach Zaka Be for three years and four of the team's players until the end of the season. All the other players from both teams received an official warning for their involvement in the incident. The result stands as not only one of the most stupid protests ever made in world football, but also the largest defeat in the history of professional football. |
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£4,400 African Nations Cup Betting Fail
One of the most obscene bets ever placed on a soccer match came during the 2010 African Nations Cup. A university student took the decision to slam down a bet of £4,400 on Angola to beat Mali. It was the punter’s entire student loan for the year. When the bet was placed, Angola were 4-0 up with just 12 minutes remaining. Miraculously, Mali scored four goals in the remaining minutes to seal the unlikeliest of 4-4 draws. To add to their misery, the punter discovered that even if the bet was right, they would have only won £44. Not the £440 they initially thought they would win. |
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Lyssophobia- Fear of rabies or of becoming mad
Apotemnophobia- Fear of persons with amputations. |
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The £25k Xabi Alonso Long Ranger
Former Liverpool central midfielder Xabi Alonso garnered a reputation for his long-range shooting. So much so that in 2006 one punter, Adrian Hayward, decided it made total sense to place a bet on the Spaniard scoring from his own half at some point during the season. The bookies offered him odds of 125.00. Needless to say, Adrian lapped up the odds and placed a bet worth £200 on the outcome occurring. Fast forward to Liverpool’s FA Cup 3rd Round tie with Luton. The Reds go on to win the game in a thrilling 5-3 victory. Alonso also bags Adrian a staggering £25,000 by scoring from his own half. Truly, the stuff dreams are made of. |
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Moyes Misery Denise Pensioner £1 Million
A pensioner from Pembroke in West Wales was denied the most astounding of soccer betting wins when he fell one game short of earning £1 million from a standard £1 bet. The old-timer had successfully predicted the outcome of 14 out of 15 matches over the weekend of action. He had even correctly guessed the winner of the North London Derby. However, when he only needed Manchester United to defeat Liverpool, he was let down by the perennial calamity that is David Moyes. United failed to get the win and the pensioner had to settle for a more modest £72,000 pay out. |
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Astraphobia or Astrapophobia- Fear of thunder and lightning. (Ceraunophobia, Keraunophobia)
Gynephobia or Gynophobia- Fear of women. |
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The Euro 2016 £1 Million Winner
It is not often that a story prevails about a soccer punter becoming an instant millionaire from a bet they have placed. However, in 2016 that was true for a certain British kitchen fitter by the name of Daman Chick. The Aston Villa fan whacked down the £5 wager backing Portugal’s Eder to score the winner in the 109th minute of the Euro 2016 Final against France. The win was part of the BetVictor £1m Goal Competition. |
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Both Teams to Score Bonanza
Everybody loves a both teams to score bet. One punter will forever love them more after his 15-match BTTS accumulator saw him win £112,500 from a £15 bet. Wolves fan Brian Matthews simply backed every team in his fifteen-game selection to score. The best part of the winning bet was that the final goal to complete the win came in injury time when Middlesbrough’s Marten de Roon scored an unlikely equalizer against Manchester City. It was late drama of the likes that soccer betting has never seen before and is unlikely to ever see again. |
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Agoraphobia- Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place.
Defecaloesiophobia- Fear of painful bowels movements. |
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People who appreciate dark humour are more likely to have higher levels of intelligence.
. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10339-016-0789-y |
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Business and economics majors are more likely to be psychopaths.
. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886917302817?via%3Dihub |
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Judeophobia- Fear of Jews.
Achluophobia- Fear of darkness. |
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The dog that saved United
Ah, isn’t it kind of wonderful to make misleading titles/sub-titles? Well, the club under the microscope here is Torquay United, not the one in Manchester. Down by 2-0 at half-time, Torquay United needed to salvage something from the game if they intended to stay up and not become the first team to get relegated from the Football League in 1987. Jim McNichol pulled one back just after half-time from a deflected free-kick... a ray of hope was now visible. But what happened next was something no-one could have predicted. As scorer, McNichol, ran towards the touchline to chase a dying ball, a German shepherd came out of nowhere and bit the former right-back. Apparently, the dog, named Bryn, thought that the defender was running in to attack his handler and, hence, gashed McNichol’s legs with its teeth. The full-back was down for 5 minutes and 5 minutes were added as injury time. And as luck would have it, Paul Dobson scored the equaliser in the final minute of added time, which was just about enough to keep Torquay up. 17 stitches and 3 holes on Jim McNichol’s leg was perhaps worth the pain. |
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Aviophobia or Aviatophobia- Fear of flying.
Albuminurophobia- Fear of kidney disease. |
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Kit Kats are made of Kit Kats.
The manufacturers leave no Kit Kat uneaten, so every reject is mashed into a paste that’s used to fill the wafers. Because every imperfect Kit Kat was already filled with other imperfect Kit Kats, and some of the Kit Kats they’ll fill will also be rejected, every time you eat a Kit Kat, you’re basically eating layers of Kit Kats within Kit Kats within Kit Kats. . https://www.mentalfloss.com/uk/food/31902/whats-the-stuff-between-the-wafers-of-a-kit-kat |
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Risk-taking is contagious.
Studies show you’re more likely to take a risk on something if you see someone else do it first, even if you don’t know the outcome of their choice. . https://www.pnas.org/content/113/14/3755 |
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Ailurophobia- Fear of cats.
Automatonophobia- Fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues - anything that falsely represents a sentient being. |
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Pele’s lucky shirt
All of us have some kind of rituals buried deep in the dungeons of our subconscious mind. And footballers are no different in this regard. One of the most celebrated players of all time, Pele, also relied on rituals to play at his optimum best. It was during the mid-60s when Pele’s form slumped so badly, it put the Santos fans and staff members in a perplexed state. Pele himself was deeply worried and sought to know the cause of his downward spiral. After a lot of analysis, he came up with a genuine cause… he had given his ‘lucky’ shirt to a Santos fan, which in turn caused his demise. And so he hired a detective to get back what he had given away. After an extensive search, the detective that Pele hired brought him back the shirt and Pele got back to his best right afterwards. Lucky, isn’t it? Fun fact: Pele’s ‘lucky’ shirt was never found and what the detective gave him was his jersey from the previous game. As they say, it is all in the mind! |
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Des O'Connor was briefly a professional footballer with Northampton Town.
He claims to be the only O'Connor to ever have had a Bar Mitzvah. |
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Built-in 1884, Anfield was originally rented by Everton FC. The first game played at the stadium on 28 September 1884 saw Everton beating Earlstown 5-0. After Everton FC moved to Goodison Park in 1891 due to rent-related disputes, Anfield became home to Liverpool FC.
After Everton decided to shift to Goodison Park, the club’s then-president John Houlding found himself with the rights to Anfield stadium without a team to play on it. He started looking elsewhere for players. In order to establish Liverpool Football Club in 1892, John Houlding needed a team and he went to Scotland to sign 13 players. Fans may know Liverpool as The Reds today, but they weren’t always this colour. The club’s original stripe was blue and white quarters, while it was, in fact, Everton that wore red. It was in 1896 that Liverpool wore red shirts for the first time, pairing them with white shorts. Liverpool FC’s much famed Anfield stadium was named after the Irish town of Annefield in Wexford, by the then Irish mayor of Liverpool who bought the land where the stadium now sits. Created in 1906, The Kop was named after the Spion Kop, a hill in South Africa where many men from Liverpool had died during the Boer War. At its peak, the Kop could hold 30,000 spectators standing. Today it holds just under 12,500 seated. |
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Manchester City hold the record for highest home attendance by an English club. City packed 84,569 fans into Maine Road for their game against Stoke City in 1934.
City adopted a red and black away kit colour in the 1960s after former assistant manager Malcolm Allison felt adopting the colours of AC Milan would inspire City to glory. The theory worked, as they won the 1969 FA Cup, 1970 League Cup and 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup in red and black stripes. For the first seven years of their history, Manchester City were known as Ardwick FC. The club reformed in 1894 after financial troubles for Ardwick during the 1983/84 campaign. Manchester City hold the record for the fewest goals scored at home in a regular Premier League season. The Citizens scored just ten goals at home during the 2006/07 campaign. In 1937/38, City became the only club to ever be relegated in England with a positive goal difference, as they ended the campaign with 80 goals scored and 77 conceded. |
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Agateophobia- Fear of insanity.
Quadraphobia- fear of the number four. |