Match of the Day - Week 26

This week's Match of the Day is the Championship clash between Ipswich Town and Leeds United.

In season 1973/74, Leeds were the mighty Leeds and were on their way to becoming league Champions in Don Revie's last season

At the same time, Ipswich were four years into what would become known as the Bobby Robson era and matches at Portman Road were played out between marvellous A-frames that would see Town through their platinum, late 1970's peak.




Nearly 20 years later, Leeds were again league Champions and Ipswich had jkust been promoted to the new Premier League. Matches at Portman Road were now played between Continental D' and blue nets.



Of course, for nets aficionados, no feature of Ipswich Town would be complete without reference to the bizarre and unnecessary (yet still unique) low net supports installed later that 1992/93 season.

Off the stanchions at Wembley - Fabian de Freitas

Fabian de Freitas' late leveller in the 1995 Division 1 Play-off final is not so much off the stanchions as stuck to the stanchions at Wembley.

Ipswich Town

Though Ipswich would prove to be game to try any form of net supports in the 90's - hybrid Continental D's anybody? - simple, classic A-frame stanchions (similar to those at Leeds or Manchester United) served them through the glory years of the mid-70's...



to the UEFA Cup win in 1981.

Goalnets and ball retention #2

Back in the day, a ball once scored used to nestle beautifully in the net -



I reviewed every goal in the Champions League R16 and studied the goals from last weekend's EPL and despaired that not one ball scored into the goalnet stayed in the net.

Stanchions were outlawed and free-hanging box-nets were introduced to put an end to things like this -



But the square box-net design - which has no slope in the back of the net to trap the ball - means the ball nearly always rebounds off the back of the net after a goal's been scored. This doesn't mean there is likely to ever be a Goal That Never Was from a rebound, but it does fly contrary to the manufacturer's assurance that free-hanging net supports are

UEFA/FIFA regulation, designed to suspend the net and eliminate rebounds.

The rebounds also affect the simple but glorious aesthetics of scoring a goal.

A goal may have many pleasing aesthetic qualities: the ball off the boot; the ball swerving in the air; the goalkeeper's despairing dive; but none is more important than the effect the ball has on the back of the net.

At the new Wembley the cavernous nets are stretched taut.



Goals scored in this once legendary stadium are sadly transformed into the aesthetic equals of goals scored into nets chalked on a wall in the schoolyard.

Uniform goalnets are producing uniform goal scoring aesthetics.