[craigkillie]

Earlier this season, Rangers were 15 points clear of Celtic in the SPL. Now, the gap is only a single point, and a Celtic victory on Wednesday would put them top.

I know that Morton and Dundee have have major crashes in recent years, but I was wondering what the biggest ever implosion in Scottish football was. And what about elsewhere?

[Cammy35]

The biggest I can find in the SPL was in season 2008/2009.

On 3 January 2009 Celtic were 8 points clear but by the end of the season Rangers won the league by 4 points. A 12 point swing.

[weirdcal]

Our tour of the first division yielded a massive swing for us. I think Dundee threw a 15 point lead and we finished 12 clear of them.

[Don of the South]

Stranraer were 12 points clear of QOS with 13 games to go in late January 2006. Queens ended up staying up by 4 points and with a game to spare - 16 point swing.

Two years later Stranraer were in 3rd Division and QOS were in the Scottish Cup final.

[trgf]

statto

With 6 games to go in the 95/96 English 3rd division Blackpool are top by 5 points, 10 points clear of 3rd place and 13 points ahead of Oxford. Bradford were 20 points behind.

the final table

Bradford beat them in the playoffs and went up.

This post has been edited by trgf: 28 December 2011 - 00:37

[King Kong Bundy]

At New Year 1980, Celtic were 9 points clear of 5th place Aberdeen. Celtic lost the league by a point to the Dons. Two points for a win then.

Last season, Stranraer, at the top, were 20 (!) points ahead of Queen's Park (9th) in mid January. At the end of the season, Stranraer finished fifth, two points behind third place QP.

[qpsnapper]

trgf, on 28 December 2011 - 00:35, said:

statto

With 6 games to go in the 95/96 English 3rd division Blackpool are top by 5 points, 10 points clear of 3rd place and 13 points ahead of Oxford. Bradford were 20 points behind.

the final table

Bradford beat them in the playoffs and went up.

If I remember correctly Blackpool bottled it twice that season, throwing away their automatic promotion place and then winning the first leg of the play-off final 2-0 at Valley Parade before shipping three in the return leg at Bloomfield Road.

I was at the second leg of the final and the locals were not happy, quite a few went on the pitch at full time and were heading towards the Bradford fans, a couple of police horses soon had them back on the terracing though.

[AyrshireTon]

craigkillie, on 26 December 2011 - 12:16, said:

Earlier this season, Rangers were 15 points clear of Celtic in the SPL. Now, the gap is only a single point, and a Celtic victory on Wednesday would put them top.

I know that Morton and Dundee have have major crashes in recent years, but I was wondering what the biggest ever implosion in Scottish football was. And what about elsewhere?

Our was a 14 point lead and we ended up 4th, a whole 11 points off top spot.

[EKACCIES]

In Season 2003/04 Scottish Second Divsion after 17 games Morton led Airdrie by 11 ponits and ended the season 11 points behind , a swing of 22 ponits in 19 games.



During this spell Morton led Hamilton by 10 ponits with 7 games to go and finished 3 behind a turnaround of 13 ponits in 7 games.



Morton needed 4 points from their final 4 games to win promotion and lost them all.

[AyrshireTon]

EKACCIES, on 30 December 2011 - 17:26, said:

In Season 2003/04 Scottish Second Divsion after 17 games Morton led Airdrie by 11 ponits and ended the season 11 points behind , a swing of 22 ponits in 19 games.



During this spell Morton led Hamilton by 10 ponits with 7 games to go and finished 3 behind a turnaround of 13 ponits in 7 games.



Morton needed 4 points from their final 4 games to win promotion and lost them all.

Was it points or ponits - make your mind up! And I'm sure we led by 14 at one stage.

Was a painful one that - after a 6-1 defeat at NDP we bounced back with a late, late 2-1 win over Alloa. What followed was unbelievable.

Berwick 2-0 Morton - this was fancy dress day with a big following heading down. Dreadful display and the players could barely look at us at the end.
Dumbarton 3-0 Morton - one of the ugliest atmospheres ever (and it was all ticket). Fans trying to get at Cowboy at the end and Weatherson subjected to some awful abuse on being subbed.
Morton 1-4 Stenhousemuir - Stenny were bottom by a mile and came and helped themselves to 3 useless points with a thumping display and our lot looking thoroughlly shell shocked. In truth, 4-1 was kind to us.
Airdrie United 2-0 Morton - we needed Accies to lose and us to win. It happened the other way around.

[Steve McQueen]

Do games in hand count as points thrown away?

[Monkey Tennis]

AyrshireTon, on 30 December 2011 - 17:57, said:

Was it points or ponits - make your mind up! And I'm sure we led by 14 at one stage.

Was a painful one that - after a 6-1 defeat at NDP we bounced back with a late, late 2-1 win over Alloa. What followed was unbelievable.

Berwick 2-0 Morton - this was fancy dress day with a big following heading down. Dreadful display and the players could barely look at us at the end.
Dumbarton 3-0 Morton - one of the ugliest atmospheres ever (and it was all ticket). Fans trying to get at Cowboy at the end and Weatherson subjected to some awful abuse on being subbed.
Morton 1-4 Stenhousemuir - Stenny were bottom by a mile and came and helped themselves to 3 useless points with a thumping display and our lot looking thoroughlly shell shocked. In truth, 4-1 was kind to us.
Airdrie United 2-0 Morton - we needed Accies to lose and us to win. It happened the other way around.

I remember it reasonably well, but when you see the details laid out like that, it really was incredible just how it unfolded.

Obviously, I know of the rumours surrounding the collapse, but as a fan, how did it look? What were people putting it down to at the time? Is/was there genuine belief in the rumours?

I'm not asking if the rumours had any truth or not - just how the Morton fans viewed the whole thing at the time.

Any attempt to ask such things on the 1st division forum would lead to car crash territory within two posts. I'm just interested.

[DJP]

trgf, on 28 December 2011 - 00:35, said:

statto

With 6 games to go in the 95/96 English 3rd division Blackpool are top by 5 points, 10 points clear of 3rd place and 13 points ahead of Oxford. Bradford were 20 points behind.

the final table

Bradford beat them in the playoffs and went up.

You missed out the part that Swindon won the League . 99.9% certain that Chris Kamara was the Bradford City manager who got them promoted and that Sam Allardyce was the Blackpool manager. Swindon of course had Steve McMahon, think Oxford had Dennis Smith.


With about 4 games to go we (Swindon) had our local derby away at Oxford and my Blackpool supporting mate went to the game and cheered for Oxford that day, thinking Blackpool would still win the League. How it backfired on him


Anyway came to post about Oxford Utd blowing a huge lead in the Conference. Something daft like 20 points clear and fucked up in the 07/08 season and went on to lose over two legs in the play offs, not even making the final. It started positively for Oxford, with 14 wins and 8 draws from their opening 25 games. However, this was followed by a run of eleven league games without a win from November, which saw them drop into second place

This post has been edited by DJP: 30 December 2011 - 18:15

[Sergeant Wilson]

Monkey Tennis, on 30 December 2011 - 18:11, said:

I remember it reasonably well, but when you see the details laid out like that, it really was incredible just how it unfolded.

Obviously, I know of the rumours surrounding the collapse, but as a fan, how did it look? What were people putting it down to at the time? Is/was there genuine belief in the rumours?

I'm not asking if the rumours had any truth or not - just how the Morton fans viewed the whole thing at the time.

Any attempt to ask such things on the 1st division forum would lead to car crash territory within two posts. I'm just interested.

The way I heard it was like this.

Some Morton players were unhappy about the bonus for winning the league. They also took out an insurance policy (bet Airdrie to win it) against losing it and ending up with nothing at all.

[Monkey Tennis]

Sergeant Wilson, on 30 December 2011 - 18:16, said:

The way I heard it was like this.

Some Morton players were unhappy about the bonus for winning the league. They also took out an insurance policy (bet Airdrie to win it) against losing it and ending up with nothing at all.

I'd heard similar things.
I'm not really asking anyone to risk bother by repeating them. I'm more just interested in how it looked to the broad Morton fan base?

Did it just look like a team struggling to get over the line and losing confidence? Did it look strange?

What was the nature of the abuse aimed at players and management in some of the games mentioned?

[Sergeant Wilson]

Monkey Tennis, on 30 December 2011 - 18:25, said:

I'd heard similar things.
I'm not really asking anyone to risk bother by repeating them. I'm more just interested in how it looked to the broad Morton fan base?

Did it just look like a team struggling to get over the line and losing confidence? Did it look strange?

What was the nature of the abuse aimed at players and management in some of the games mentioned?

From Airdrie's point of view, it looked like panic. I don't think there was any deliberate attempt to throw it.

[AyrshireTon]

Monkey Tennis, on 30 December 2011 - 18:11, said:

I remember it reasonably well, but when you see the details laid out like that, it really was incredible just how it unfolded.

Obviously, I know of the rumours surrounding the collapse, but as a fan, how did it look? What were people putting it down to at the time? Is/was there genuine belief in the rumours?

I'm not asking if the rumours had any truth or not - just how the Morton fans viewed the whole thing at the time.

Any attempt to ask such things on the 1st division forum would lead to car crash territory within two posts. I'm just interested.

The first half of the season saw us rattle in the goals left right and centre. A few scorelines -

Morton 2-2 Dumbarton
Forfar 2-3 Morton
Arbroath 0-4 Morton
Morton 5-2 Stenhousemuir
Airdrie 1-6 Morton
Morton 6-4 Arbroath
Berwick 2-3 Morton
Morton 2-2 Hamilton
Arbroath 2-2 Morton
Alloa 3-3 Morton

A few of those scorelines belong in the 1960s. Sitting top of the league you feel that you will always find the net, but when the goals for dried up, the ones against kept coming. Defeats and draws became more commonplace than wins.

DDFR later claimed responsibility for not stepping in and taking steps (strengthening the defence, for example). The betting thing was investigated, but nothing was found.

[AyrshireTon]

Monkey Tennis, on 30 December 2011 - 18:25, said:

What was the nature of the abuse aimed at players and management in some of the games mentioned?

At Dumbarton I believe that a couple of fans were trying to get at Cowboy as he approached the tunnel area. They certainly did verbally and I believe Cowboy retorted.

Peter Weatherson, who opened the season with a hat-trick against Arbroath in the Challenge Cup, was believed to be the main reason behind the betting thing.
On being subbed at 3-0 down he was subjected to a chorus of "Peter, Peter get tae f**k", and I'm told he wept on the bench.

[Monkey Tennis]

Thanks for the responses.

It was a fascinating episode as an outsider, but less fun, I'd imagine, when it's your team doing the collapsing.

[AyrshireTon]

Monkey Tennis, on 30 December 2011 - 19:24, said:

Thanks for the responses.

It was a fascinating episode as an outsider, but less fun, I'd imagine, when it's your team doing the collapsing.

Another fact was that Cowboy imposed a drinking ban on the players. This was regarded as harsh and did not do the club any favours - guys need to unwind somehow.

Airdrie players were reportedly out on a casino night one midweek during the final quarter - didn't do them any harm.

[vikingTON]

The betting on Airdrie thing doesn't stack up really, as Airdrie were 4th or something (having just been horsed 6-1 on their home ground by us) at the height of the 03-04 side's powers.

In truth, we had a dreadful defence that we coped with because our strikers were on fire. They stopped scoring at the turn of the year and we kept leaking the goals. 63 in 36 games.

[Dunning1874]

vikingTON, on 30 December 2011 - 23:59, said:

The betting on Airdrie thing doesn't stack up really, as Airdrie were 4th or something (having just been horsed 6-1 on their home ground by us) at the height of the 03-04 side's powers.

In truth, we had a dreadful defence that we coped with because our strikers were on fire. They stopped scoring at the turn of the year and we kept leaking the goals. 63 in 36 games.

Spot on. The defence had been terrible all season and it was only us being ridiculously good going forward that meant we were getting away with it. Then Weatherson got injured, Maisano went off form meaning Williams stopped scoring and we were fucked. This could have been rectified in January if McCormack had bothered to sign any defenders, but he insisted throughout January that he was happy with our squad and didn't need to sign anyone. Then in February he finally saw what all the fans could see and decided to sign a centre back; having missed the transfer window the best he could get was the horrendous Chris MacLeod. Then at the end of the season after we'd blown it, he blamed our squad not being strong enough, which was entirely his fault. It absolutely amazes me that Rae was daft enough to give him a new contract after that. He then sacked him 5 games into the next season when he realised his mistake, taking another 5 games to appoint a new manager, in which time we lost to Stranraer, who ended the season being promoted ahead of us by one point. An absolute clusterfuck of shitness.

[Dunning1874]

vikingTON, on 30 December 2011 - 23:59, said:

The betting on Airdrie thing doesn't stack up really, as Airdrie were 4th or something (having just been horsed 6-1 on their home ground by us) at the height of the 03-04 side's powers.

In truth, we had a dreadful defence that we coped with because our strikers were on fire. They stopped scoring at the turn of the year and we kept leaking the goals. 63 in 36 games.

Spot on. The defence had been terrible all season and it was only us being ridiculously good going forward that meant we were getting away with it. Then Weatherson got injured, Maisano went off form meaning Williams stopped scoring and we were fucked. This could have been rectified in January if McCormack had bothered to sign any defenders, but he insisted throughout January that he was happy with our squad and didn't need to sign anyone. Then in February he finally saw what all the fans could see and decided to sign a centre back; having missed the transfer window the best he could get was the horrendous Chris MacLeod. Then at the end of the season after we'd blown it, he blamed our squad not being strong enough, which was entirely his fault. It absolutely amazes me that Rae was daft enough to give him a new contract after that. He then sacked him 5 games into the next season when he realised his mistake, taking another 5 games to appoint a new manager, in which time we lost to Stranraer, who ended the season being promoted ahead of us by one point. An absolute clusterfuck of shitness.

[Monkey Tennis]

vikingTON, on 30 December 2011 - 23:59, said:

The betting on Airdrie thing doesn't stack up really, as Airdrie were 4th or something (having just been horsed 6-1 on their home ground by us) at the height of the 03-04 side's powers.

In truth, we had a dreadful defence that we coped with because our strikers were on fire. They stopped scoring at the turn of the year and we kept leaking the goals. 63 in 36 games.

That makes perfect sense. It is a staggering number of goals for a team who spent most of the season at the top to concede.

Where and when did the rumours emanate from? Was it simply that people sought an explanation for the collapse? Was it that some of the players were known to be fond of a bet? When did the rumours surface? As I recall, it was during their slide, but was it actually beforehand?
As I say, I'm just interested.

[AyrshireTon]

Monkey Tennis, on 31 December 2011 - 14:52, said:

That makes perfect sense. It is a staggering number of goals for a team who spent most of the season at the top to concede.

Where and when did the rumours emanate from? Was it simply that people sought an explanation for the collapse? Was it that some of the players were known to be fond of a bet? When did the rumours surface? As I recall, it was during their slide, but was it actually beforehand?
As I say, I'm just interested.

I think it was a convenient excuse to explain our awful dip in form.

Losing 6-1 at Hamilton was the result of a team low on confidence being pumped by one that was on the up and merciless on the day. Nothing to do with anyone throwing the game.