Classic Continental D's

Continental D's were so-named because the 'triangle' was deemed to form a D with the posts and bar, and because in the 1970's countries in mid and eastern Europe - the Continent - made an art form out of this design of goal.

Yugoslavia 1976

The Euro 1976 tournament was so influential in goalnet design, that Subbuteo named their sleek new goals Tournament Goals. And while Panenka's penalty has ensured the immortality of these goals in Belgrade -

the goals in Zagreb are less known (though they're similar to those at Sheffield Wednesday)

Austria 1979



Hungary 1981 (same game as Trevor Brooking's goal)



By the 1980's there were a couple of notable examples in the UK;

Aston Villa 1981

Villa Park was one of those grounds that was instantly recognisable from its goalnets.



Wrexham 1982

Great goal, great nets

Watford FC

You'll remember Watford from the 1980's; the Cup Final; Elton John; and a Glenda special into the Continental D's at Vicarage Road.



But look a decade further back, you see Watford had Wembley look-alikes.

Little Ones

If you do a post called Big Ones, it's only be a matter of time before you do a post called Little Ones, isn't it? As before, since the height and width of the goal is fixed, the X-factor in little-ness is the (lack of) depth of the nets; the distance they're extended behind the goal-line.

If the Big Ones post proposed that the impact of ball on the big nets, and the aftershock on ball and net is what makes for a memorable goal, what about Little Ones?

Stadio Olimpico, Rome - 1980

The first goal of the 1980 European Championships. Or is it a goal in training?



San Siro, Milan - 2010

San Siro is famous for being designed like an "English stadium,' and, though the stands did hug the touchline, the Milan clubs were never as shorn of space behind the goals as, say, QPR, West Ham and Southampton (all notorious Little Ones), so should manage bigger, more dramatic nets than those currently hanging at San Siro.

Maicon's goal qualified Inter for their first European Cup final in nearly forty years, but it had all the aesthetics of kicking the ball against a fence in the parking lot.



Stamford Bridge - 2005

Of all the dark arts Jose Mourinho brought to Chelsea, the tight, almost invisible black nets were among the most sinister.

After watching Ronaldinho's genius trundle past him, Petr Cech really should have been made to pick the ball out of the net, not have it rebound back to him.



Can a definitive lack of net kill the drama in even the most dramatic of goals?

The Conference - Cambridge Utd

In 'Fever Pitch,' Nick Hornby writes that, in the late-70's, Cambridge had "a tiny ramshackle little ground, the Abbey Stadium. Their equivalent of (Arsenal's) Clock End was the Allotments End and occasionally, naughty visiting fans would nip round the back and hurl pensioners cabbages over the wall."

He could also have written their goalnets were hung on these Latin American L-supports.