The Big Match - Week 10

The Big Match comes from the afternoon of Halloween, 1981.

It's West Ham v Middlesbrough at the Boleyn Ground.

Though the Boleyn nets are famously shallow, ball retention is helped by the stanchions planted just off the grass, which creates a narrow trench that slows or stops the ball.


Given the box nets of 2016 - pulled tight as smiles at Brad Pitt's house and made of trampoline - would Ray Stewart's penalty for 3-0 have rebounded to the half way line?

Match of the Day - Week 10

This week's Match of the Day previews Sunderland v Arsenal, a fixture with a long and proud history of goal nets (at Roker Park).

The sides played out a 1-1 draw between the square Roker Park stanchions in October 1969.



The square hardware still there in 1980, but with added spring in the software (spoiler alert: crazy box net-style rebounds).


Just two years later Sunderland had replaced the old square-os with standard A-frames (with better ball retention) and won 3-0.



In 1996/97, the last season at Roker Park, Sunderland won 1-0 between Continental D's and stripey goal nets.