Match of the Day - Week 30

Match of the Day this weekend is the Championship clash between Derby County and QPR.

To preview the game, we look back at the same fixture from February 1973, a period obviously prior to the pitch at Derby's old Baseball Ground becoming a sandpit.

Highlights to look out for - Kevin Hector scoring a workmanlike hat-trick and the epic A-frames!

Commentary by David Coleman...

The Big Match - Week 8

This week's Big Match comes from the weekend of 17 October 1971 and features the fantastic old shallow A-frames at Loftus Road and a perfect hat-trick from Rodney Marsh as QPR thrash Birmingham City.



What is interesting is how well the Loftus Road nets retain the ball, in contrast to QPR's later reputation and despite the basic lack of area in which to do so.

Might this be down to the saggy software of big white squares, which was later replaced by the thin mesh-like net of the later 1970's?

The Big Match - Week 1

New season, new series...

Each week I'll post highlights of a game from the corresponding week of fixtures from a previous season, and openly marvel at the goalnets on display.

This week, starting with perhaps the most famous opening day fixture ever, QPR v Liverpool in 1975/76, featuring Gerry Francis' goal of the season. 

The goal of the season award was totally justified as the goal is totally awesome.

So too, is the Loftus Road hardware. OK, not the best for ball retention but compared to the high tech but homogenous square boxnets on display today, they feel like an old pair of Puma trainers you once chucked away, but would dearly love back. 

Or maybe that's just me...

Wrexham FC

While goal nets aficionados and those with a bent for the spectacular would most readily associate Wrexham's Racecourse Ground with Mark Hughes goal and a pair of classic Continental D's…



A look further back at the Dragons history of goal nets shows A-frames like those at West Ham or QPR in place through the 1970's.






Then, when the Continental D's were finally introduced, rather confusingly they were tied back, box-net-style.




A glimpse of this set-up can be glimpsed in this haunting film from 1979.

Millwall FC

The Lions moved to what was known as the New Den in 1993, where modern box nets inevitably followed a fairly standard set of Continental D's.



But dig into Millwall's history of goal nets at the (old) Den and a rich seam of diversity is revealed.

The early 90's groove was a highly distinctive set of Continental D's.



While just a couple of years earlier black A-frames (similar to Hibernian's?) stood at either end of Cold Blow Lane.



The same stanchions can be seen up close about a minute into this beautiful clip from 1979.



But in the fine tradition of saving the best for last, back in the fierce Mid-70's the architecture were white A-list A-frames, separated at birth from the A-frames at Leeds Utd.

A-list A-frames - Arbroath FC

The Red Lichties are famous abroad for a 36-0 and their Gayfield Park being the stadium closest to the sea in Britain...

But if you pay your entry money and walk through the gates of history, you'll see Arbroath once played between a set of A-frames as curvy as those at Tynecastle but skinny as QPR.

A-list A-frames - Swansea City FC

To celebrate The Swans excellent start to the new season, here's a clip of their new manager in his pomp



And here's a clip of the glory days in front of A-frames at the old Vetch Field

Why is it important for the goalnet to retain the ball when a goal is scored?

Compare these two goals. First, Gerry Francis' excellent goal against Liverpool.



Then Roberto Bettega's against Argentina at the '78 World Cup.



Did you enjoy the Bettega strike more because the goalnet retained the ball after the goal was scored?

Loftus Road - Keira Knightley

Sexy only if skinny and spindly float your boat though surprisingly popular, with similar stanchions at West Ham and Southampton. Nil points for ball retention.

QPR



West Ham



Southampton