Match of the Day - Week 8 Special

The Monday night Liverpool v Manchester United match permits a second MOTD for the week and the Big Match series will follow Tuesday.

Previewing tonight's clash by looking back at two 3-3 classics and the wonderful ball retention at Anfield across two different methods of supporting the red goal nets.

April 1988 - the old red A-frames were still in place as late as 1988, with the nets hanging short, off the hardware. There are a couple of great goals among the six, particularly Steve McMahon's for 3-1 which goes straight in the corner - and stays there!



January 1994 - six years later, another six goal thriller. The Anfield goal nets were the supported by Continental D's but they had the same ball retention properties as the old stanchions. Check out Denis Irwin's free-kick for 0-3, its goes straight in the top corner - and stays there!

101 Great Goals - Steven Gerrard

Remember the premise behind the 101 Great Goals series?

What constitutes a Great Goal? As this is The History of Goal Nets, simply any goal can be considered Great if we enjoyed the aesthetics of ball striking net so much that we are moved to nominate that goal.

With this in mind, the next goal I'd like to study in terms of a greatness perceived immediately by the commentary and sold into folklore is Steven Gerrard's against Olympiakos.



In terms of technique and ball placement, the Gerrard goal is remarkably similar to the vastly underrated Graeme Souness goal v Manchester City (at 6.04) below.



The difference is, though scored in the Champions League, Gerrard's goal is pure EPL in terms of hyperbole.

Two things have conspired to transform a good Gerrard goal into a wonder strike.

Firstly, the aesthetics of the goal. Most pertinent for us who understand how the aesthetics of ball striking net can affect how a goal is rated, Gerrard's shot rebounded ridiculously off the software like a ball in pinball machine.

That's right - off the software - as there wasn't an atom of aluminium within a metre of the corner of the net.

Rebounds off the hardware can be ridiculously spectacular.


But as always argued that rebounds off 21st century box-nets pulled taut and made of trampoline are simply ridiculous and are ruining the aesthetics of the game.

Then there's the commentary from Andy Gray, which has become almost as famous as the goal itself.  Though it must be remembered he was there to sell "product," it must rate as highly doubtful that the Souness goal - which rebounded normally off the A-frame - would elicit such an immediate response from the commentator.

If you think it unlikely that the legend of Stevie G is down to poor ball retention at Anfield, ask yourself, does anyone remember the Graeme Souness shot which was the exact same goal without the rebound?

Goal Nets and the Gaffer's influence

Previously I've suggested Manchester United's modern-day success was down to changing the goals at Old Trafford from A-frames to Continental D's.

I went as far as to suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson - who'd enjoyed so much success at Aberdeen between a pair of Continental D's - was behind the change.

I've also written about how the decline of Liverpool could be dated back to their changing the Anfield A-frames for Continental D's, and the likelihood of Graeme Souness being the new broom behind such a sweeping move.

You may think it unlikely that a manager would get involved with choosing the goal nets but the re-appearance of red nets at Anfield this season is entirely due to the intervention of the Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers. As posted on Liverpool's website -

When Fabio Borini hammered home his debut Liverpool goal against FC Gomel last Thursday, the Italian became the first to put the ball in the back of Anfield's newly reinstated red goal nets.

Last sighted in L4 in the mid-90s, the distinctive red nets have been restored on the orders of Brendan Rodgers in the same way as the original 1974 'This is Anfield' sign was re-fitted in the tunnel a month ago.

Liverpool FC museum curator Stephen Done explained: "Brendan and his family were given their first glimpse of Anfield the day after he was unveiled as manager as part of a private tour of the stadium.

"At the end of the tour, we stood on the Kop and Brendan commented that he always remembered the goals at Anfield having red nets.

"The 1980s were formative years for him, in terms of him starting to watch and play football, and he seemed to recall the red nets quite vividly. He suggested we bring them back."

"Kevin O'Shea (of the Liverpool museum) and I agreed. It wouldn't win us a game as such, but if it gave us that tiny extra advantage by making the crowd and the team feel better, then why not?"

John Brodie, a Liverpool civil engineer, invented goal nets in 1889 and from that point on, all nets were required to be of a dark colour, as was the case at Anfield up until they changed to red at some point in the 1960s.

A picture taken during a clash with league champions-to-be Manchester City (above), shows the red nets were in place by at least 1968.

UEFA Europa League - Liverpool FC

Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal - Albert Einstein

Though only a select few such as Gheorghe Rotariu would call Graeme Souness a pathological criminal, his throwing the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater approach when taking over at Liverpool in 1991 saw him taking an axe to such fine Anfield institutions as the Boot Room, Steve McMahon and the old red A-frames.

1991-92 was the curtain call for the A-frames.



The Continental D's installed for the 1992-93 season heralded an unprecedented downturn in the club's fortune. Indeed, after that season's 6th place finish in the League, Liverpool failed to qualify for Europe for the first time in nearly 30 years.



That the A-frames were there for the first European campaign in 1964-65 shows the old red stanchions were as integral to the modern history of the club and its glory years as Shankly-Paisley-Fagan-Dalglish.



But not Souness.

Off the stanchions at Wembley - Gordon McQueen

Celebrating the end of International week while looking back at happier times for Scotland (but not the Wembley goals which were infamously broken after the game), here's Gordon McQueen's header off the stanchions at Wembley.


Winning this game won Scotland the 1977 Home International tournament and dialled up the country's World Cup aspirations to fever pitch. In October of the same year qualification for FIFA World Cup 1978 was won against Wales.



Gordon McQueen however would play no part in he Argentina finals after being ruled out by injury.

Anfield - David Bowie

You record a dozen smash-hit LP's through the 70's and 80's then think you'd rather be in a heavy metal band. So you form Tin Machine. They suck more than anyone in the history of sucking and for Bowie there's no more hit records.

Liverpool won 13 league titles in 25 years to 1990 then thought - after hiring Graeme Souness - that they'd rather have the nets supported by Continental D's.

So they scrapped the old red stanchions.


Since then they've sucked more than anyone in the history of Liverpool FC and though the box nets of today were introduced in 1996, there've been no more league titles.