My Top 3 - Duncan Spencer

Continuing our series of My Top 3, where members of the History of Goal Nets community nominate their Top 3 goal nets of all time.

This week's contributor is Duncan Spencer and Duncan's Top 3, in his own words, are:

Maine Road 1977

First up is the classic D frame from the 1977 FA Cup semi-final between Everton and Liverpool. Sheer white tight netting. The first goal displays the most magnificent ball retention.



Elland Road 1974

Next up is the old A-frame classic at Elland Road circa 1974, made even slightly quirkier as they had a small pouch of loose netting to catch a well-drilled low shot.




Estadio Santiago Bernabeu 1980

Thirdly, and for sheer European quirkiness, check out the 1980 European Cup final. Outstanding round stanchion.



Picking a Top 3 was very difficult so could I make an honourable mention of Blackpool 1974? I think it was the goal of the season against Newcastle, a mini version of the Stamford Bridge nets.



Wow, that's a top Top 3, Duncan - thanks very much for sharing!

Would you like to contribute your Top 3 to the community? DM Tony on Facebook.

World Cups - Chile 1962

Revisiting The History of Goal Nets series on World Cups - starting with Chile 1962

The Chilean FA told FIFA they had to give Chile the World Cup "because we have nothing else." So Chile won the rights to host the 1962 tournament and they got plenty in return: Garrincha in his prime, the Italy v Chile Battle of Santiago and these stanchions of almost perfect quarter circumference on which to hang the tournament's nets.




Though football on TV was in its infancy and the matches at the '62 finals were not broadcast live, the influence of the tournament could be seen in the stanchions installed at stadia as diverse as Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid -



and Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh

UEFA Champions League - Sporting de Gijon

Until the 1982 World Cup, los Rojiblancos had a great history of goal nets at El Molinon, the oldest professional football ground in Spain.




If you sight the way the nets are supported in La Liga, post Espana '82, do they remind you of a famous upset at that World Cup?



Yes, El Molinon was the venue for West Germany v Algeria.



Just another example of how the goal nets can instantly identify a stadium.

UEFA Champions League Final Special - Lisbon

Tonight's 2014 Champions League Final between the two Madrid sides, Real and Atletico, will be played at Benfica's Estadio da Luz.

As previously posted on this blog, Benfica have a wonderful history of goal nets.



This year's final is the first time the European Cup final has been played in Lisbon since 1967, when Celtic defeated Inter at Estadio Nacional.



The distinctive L-supports of Jamor 1967 were replaced a couple of years later by stanchions.



In a wonderful nod to tradition, the stanchions remained in place until 2012.

UEFA Europa League - Club Brugge KV

FCB have a glorious history of goal nets and, like NK Maribor, went to extreme lengths to keep their stanchions when box nets were deemed a necessary requirement.

In the mid-60's Brugge sported stanchions of a curve that suggested the Latin influence of Madrid and Santiago and would lead to similar at Feyenoord.



By the late 70's FCB were a force in European football and played between skinny A-frames that were classically Low Country.




The A-frames were still there in the mid-90's and the era of box net homogeneity. Exactly like those at  NK Maribor, Brugge maintained their identity by draping the box nets over the stanchions.

UEFA Champions League Final Special - Parc des Princes

In 1981 Alan Kennedy's memorable goal secured Liverpool's third European Cup at the expense of Real Madrid.

The goal nets at the Parc des Princes that night were instantly recognisable as 'French'; free-hanging A-shaped nets, tied back to external box-net stanchions.




A quarter of a century earlier, at the same stadium, Real Madrid were contesting the very first European Cup final against Stade Reims.

The goal nets at the Parc des Princes that night were more Glaswegian than Parisienne.

UEFA Champions League Final Special - Wankdorf Stadium

In 1961 Benfica broke Real Madrid's monopoly on the Big Cup, beating Barcelona 3-2 at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, Switzerland.




Again, the method deployed to suspend the goal nets makes the Wankdorf instantly recognisable. But what to make of those ground supports? The picture below, from the 1954 World Cup final, shows the ground supports are solid and fixed to the posts and that the stanchions are effectively screwed in.

UEFA Champions League Final Special - Hampden Park

Hampden Park has hosted two of the superlative moments of Champions League - or European Cup - history.

In 1960 Real Madrid won their fifth title, scoring seven into the Iron Man stanchions and destroying Eintracht Frankfurt.




42 years later Madrid were back in Glasgow for their ninth title. The old stanchions had gone but Hampden laid on 1960-style black nets, in tribute. Zidane did the rest.

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 Champions League - FC Barcelona

The fourth club in this season's Group G is Barcelona.

What more to say about Barcelona's History of Goal Nets?

Previous posts have highlighted the huge, late-80's tents at Nou Camp, and identified a striking similarity between the previous A-frames and those at Sutton United.

Perhaps what's new is the longevity of those A-frames.

The same way Tito Vilanova has replaced Pep Guardiola and nothing's really changed, so Barca moved from Camp de Les Corts to the Camp Nou, and the A-frames somehow stayed the same.

A-list A-frames - Derby County FC

Those who've seen the movie, The Damned United, will be aware the Rams lost to Juventus in the semi-final of the 1972-73 European Cup.

Not many may know Derby hammered Benfica - Eusebio et al - earlier in that competition, firing three goals into the marvellous A-frames at  the old Baseball ground.




Two years later, Derby were back in Europe and beat Real Madrid. By then, the A-frames had given way to Continental D's (though the pitch hadn't yet become a beach).

Heart of Midlothian FC

Too curvy by far to be included in any A-list A-frames series, the old stanchions at Tynecastle defy a Scottish or British categorisation even in an era of great diversity in goal design.


Might the possible source of inspiration for the Gorgie stanchions be those at the Bernabeu?

And might those at the Bernabeu have been inspired by the goals at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.

Castles in Spain

Do you remember the original premise of this blog? Goalnets were once so diverse and different from ground to ground, that you could catch a glimpse of a game on TV and know instantly where the game was being played - because of the goalnets.

As such, you could turn on your telly in the 70's and know these curvy, Latin stanchions are Real Madrid


And these unconventional, Northern stanchions are Barcelona