Forum
Thread

The Weirdest Rule To Be Introduced In The History Of Football
at 15:27 3 Jan 2024

I recently discovered about a match which was played about 30 years ago to the day following the initiation of a new “No draw Golden Goal” rule. As the name suggests, it totally backfired and embarrassed the CONCACAF federation which deployed it. When I heard about the circumstances from a friend I thought this was fictional but it transpires was actually true!!

The match itself was a qualification match in the “Shell Carribean Cup” which was a 21 team International tournament. The game itself was a qualification fixture between Granada and Barbados. Will try and explain the game as best I can so bear with me.

So in one of the qualification groups before the main tournament itself, there were 3 teams drawn in the same group (Granada, Barbados and Puerto Rico). Each team played each other once with the top team qualifying and the other 2 teams being eliminated. Going into the game Granada were top of the table with 3 points and a goal difference of +2 whilst Barbados lost their first game 1-0 and sat on zero points and a goal difference of -1. Puerto Rico, having played both their matches sat on 3 points with a goal difference of -1. Therefore Barbados had to win by 2 or more goals in order to qualify for the finals on goal difference otherwise it would have been Granada who qualified.

Now here is the strange part…

The geniuses who set the rules for the tournament determined that in the event of a draw, matches go to extra time to determine a winner. In addition if no goals were scored in extra time the winner would be decided on a penalty shootout.

BUT…

In the event of a goal in extra time. The value of the goal was doubled and the game stopped immediately.

So here’s what happened.

Barbados went into a 2-0 lead and if the result stayed that way would have been good enough for Barbados to qualify for the tournament.
With about 5 minutes to go, Granada pulled one back. Meaning that if the result stayed 2-1 Granada would qualify on goal difference.

Now here is the even stranger part…

Barbados, realising that they needed to score in the final 5 minutes made the decision to intentionally score an own goal. The logic being in the event of a 2-2 draw the game would go to extra time and they could win by scoring the double pointed “Golden Goal” in extra time!!
When Barbados did this, Grenada then twigged that they need to either score in the correct end to win the game 3-2, or alternatively score an own goal to lose 3-2 and still qualify on goal difference.

This led to a frantic last 5 where Grenada attacked both ends and Barbados defended both ends in one of the strangest things ever to be seen on a football pitch. Needless to say the rule was scrapped immediately never to return again!

I can’t believe this actually happened and therefore thought I’d ask if anyone else has any other similar stories as I found this fascinating?.

As for the game itself in case anyone is interested, Barbados did manage to score the golden goal extra time and win 4-2 to qualify for the tournament itself, where they promptly went out in the first group stage.

Forum
Thread

No subject
at 14:25 1 Sep 2020

So until this weekend I actually had no idea that the Nations League started up again this weekend.

Having looked through the England squad I am really not sure what side Southgate is going to put out for this one. Whilst appreciating that it's not what we would classify as a 'major tournament' I think England take the competition relatively seriously and will try and field almost a full strength side.

I think he will change a few things for the Denmark game but I'm interested in what people think he will do. I can see a team like this...

GK - Pickford
RB - TAA
LB - Trippier (I think he can play there in the absence of a natural lb)
CB - Gomez
CB - Mings
CM - Dier
CM - Mount
CM - Foden
CF - Kane
CF - Sancho
CF - Sterling

I'd like to see Ings given some decent game time as well if possible, considering his presence and achievements this past season.

Please log in to use all the site's facilities

GenericIpswichMan

Site Scores

Forum Votes:	13
Comment Votes:	28
Prediction League:	0
TOTAL:	41