Match of the Day - Week 15

Lads, it's Tottenham...

And here's one of the best goals scored in the Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur fixture.

It's 1993 and United have their Continental D's holding up the goal nets at Old Trafford.

Denis Irwin's name went on the scoresheet, but what everyone remembers is Eric Cantona's pass.

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!

Match of the Day - Week 4

This week's Match of the Day is the Manchester derby, United v City, from April 1974.


Tear yourself away from Denis Law's face of regret.

 See how the Old Trafford nets just kill his backheel.

 An irrefutable note of finality to United's plight.

Cagliari Calcio

Did Manchester United only start winning the league again when they replaced the Old Trafford A-frames with Continental D's?

For years Cagliari laboured between a pair of A-frames that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Eredivisie.




Then, with the peerless Gigi Riva in transcendent form, the Rossoblu's ditched the Dutch goals for a pair of Iron Man Specials and won their first and only Scudetto.

UEFA Champions League - Valencia CF

Like so many other clubs wishing to increase revenue, Valencia are leaving the old Mestalla for the new Mestalla in 2013. There'll be 20,000 more seats and it'll clear the debt at the bank, but you doubt Nou Mestalla will have on-field architecture anywhere near as glamorous as the A-list A-frames which hosted Mario Kempes and the club as they emerged onto the major European stage in the late 70's and early 80's.




What do you think - a touch of the Manchester United?

Why it's important... #2

Not buying the idea of the goal celebration ritual, and the vital part the goalnets play in retaining the ball? Consider the one occasion when the goal celebration is deliberately cut short.

Late in the game, a side that's a goal or two down scores a goal and the goalscorer hurries to retrieve the ball from the net so they can get the game re-started quickly. See Brian McClair in the clip below.



McClair breaks the goal celebration ritual by not allowing the pause that follows the goal.

Without the pause, the goal is not properly celebrated. McClair runs past his colleagues, shaking hands etc.

McClair's goal is not properly celebrated because he has removed the ball from the goalnets.

Bolton Wanderers

You wouldn't go to Bolton to find innovation in on-field architecture.

As much as the clean blue and white lines at the Reebok this season look like geometrically correct prototypes for boxnets in Season 10/11 -



 So the same or similar, stanchions of yesteryear could be found at Old Trafford or Elland Road.



But NOWHERE ELSE would you see a goal like Frank Worthington's!

World Cups - England 1966

Considering England were awarded the 1966 finals for forming the FA a hundred years before; that their side became champions with no-wingers and a formation that firmly turned its back on Hungary and the lessons of '53; and most importantly that the goalnets were hung on stanchions as English as World Cup Willie then the '66 finals could be seen as the empire's last hurrah.

But with journalists from a greater diversity of countries than ever before attending the tournament, the matches broadcast live to the world for the first time and these Continental D's supporting the nets at Hillsborough, Sheffield -



 the 1966 finals could as easily be seen as the first of the modern tournaments.

Games for the 1966 finals were held at seven other venues, including:

Wembley

Goodison Park

White City Stadium, London - used only because Wembley refused to cancel the scheduled greyhound racing for the same night as Uruguay v France, hence the temporary look of the goalposts

But pride of place goes to the awesome 1966 hardware at:

Ayresome Park

Old Trafford - John Travolta

1977 - Saturday Night Fever. 1978 - Grease. Travolta was the world's biggest star. Then for the next twenty odd years his career tanked and he hit rock bottom. He was entertaining but he sucked. Then along came Pulp Fiction. He went from zero to hero. The rest is history in the making.

Cue Man U: 1967 league champions. 1968 European Cup winners. Then for the next twenty odd years their form tanked and they they hit rock bottom. They were entertaining but they sucked.

Then along came Alex Ferguson. He'd enjoyed great success at his previous club, Aberdeen nets hung on Continental D supports. Fergie swapped the Old Trafford stanchions for a groovy set of D's. United went from zeros to heroes.


The rest is history in the making.

Since Euro '96 United's nets have hung as ubiquitous free-hanging boxes but, looking back, which did you prefer - the old stanchions of the 70's or the Continental D supports of the 90's?