[HibeeJibee]

We get lots of threads on here from time-to-time for "Top 10s" of one kind or another, but I was reading earlier about the 1947 'Match of the Century' at Hampden, and it got me thinking... if you could pick 10 football matches to have witnessed in person, what would they be?

No criteria or rules. They can be games of historical prominence ('firsts', 'bests', 'longests', etc.); games significant to you personally owing to a club or player you support or wish you'd seen; a famous goal or incident; or any other eclectic reason that draws you toward it.


Here are my picks:


One of 4 ties... 11 November 1871... FA Cup First Round

The first-ever competitive matches in the history of football are played.


Arbroath 36-0 Bon Accord... 12 September 1885, ???... Scottish Cup First Round

Arbroath score the most goals in a game ever against the hapless Aberdeen outfit.


Great Britain 6-1 Rest of Europe... 10 May 1947, Hampden Park... 'The Match of the Century'

Morton's Billy Steel scores one of the great goals of the era, as 2 of the most impressive line-ups in the history of football meet in a post-war challenge marking the re-entry of the Home Nations to FIFA.


Uruguay 2-1 Brazil... 16 July 1950, Estadio da Maracana... World Cup 1950 Second Group-stage Third Matchday

Uruguay shock hosts Brazil to win the 1950 World Cup before the largest crowd in football history.


Hibernian 0-1 Stade Reims du Champagne... 18 April 1956, Easter Road... European Cup Semi-Final 2^nd Leg

Hibs fall short of reaching the inaugural European Cup final in what will surely be the most illustrious match the club will ever play.


Real Madrid 7-3 Eintracht Frankurt... 18 May 1960, Hampden Park... European Cup Final

A star-studded Real win their 5^th European Cup in a row, before the largest crowds in European football final history, in a game often described as the best club match ever. Puskas and di Stefano become 2 of only 3 men ever to score hattricks in a European Cup Final.


Berwick Rangers 1-0 Rangers... 28 January 1967, Shielfield Park... Scottish Cup First Round

Sammy Reid's goal lances one of the European giants of the era in the greatest giant-killing in cup history.


England 2-3 Scotland... 15 April 1967, Wembley Stadium... British Home Championship and Euro 68 qualifier

Scotland, massive underdogs, defeat World Cup winners England at Wembley to become unofficial World Champions and win the British Home Championship.


Internazionale 1-2 Celtic... 25 May 1967, Estadio Nacional... European Cup Final

Celtic defy the odds to beat Inter, and in so doing not only become the first British and northern European winners of the European Cup, but complete the only 'true quintuple' in football history.


Italy 4-3 West Germany... 17 June 1970, Estadio de Azteca... World Cup 1970 Semi-Final

These European behemoths do battle in what becomes dubbed 'The Game of the Century'.


Stoke City 1-2 AS Roma... 10 June 1972, Victoria Ground... Anglo-Italian Cup Group-stage

Stoke City end the most arduous season in European club history by coming-up short against the Italian giants.

This post has been edited by HibeeJibee: 03 February 2012 - 14:55

[HibeeJibee]

Part of me was tempted to include the informal kick-about in No Man's Land during the Christmas Truce of 1914... but as that wasn't an organised game, and was in a warzone, I decided not to bother.

[untitled00]

HibeeJibee, on 03 February 2012 - 15:06, said:

Part of me was tempted to include the informal kick-about in No Man's Land during the Christmas Truce of 1914... but as that wasn't an organised game, and was in a warzone, I decided not to bother.

Big Jessie!

[sergie's no1 fan]

HibeeJibee, on 03 February 2012 - 15:06, said:

Part of me was tempted to include the informal kick-about in No Man's Land during the Christmas Truce of 1914... but as that wasn't an organised game, and was in a warzone, I decided not to bother.

If you started talking about League construction you would have united both sides against you and the war might of been over .

[forameus]

Hard to argue with any of the matches put forward in the first post - don't think there are many who wouldn't want to be part of those.

I would have loved to have been at any of the World Cup Finals, or indeed Euro finals, where it was won on home soil. I was in France when they won Euro 2000, but in a sleepy, shitty hostel at the base of the Alps (nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds) on a school trip/holiday. I remember celebrating profusely with everyone before the French told us all to sit down and be quiet. Killjoys. I think to actually be where the tournament was taking place, and to win it on home soil, to be part of that would be amazing. And I may be unpopular for saying it, but the game I would have most liked to have been at in that bracket would be the 1966 Final. I doubt a home nation will ever get the chance to host a World Cup again, let alone come close to winning it, so a game like that will probably never come around again. Especially not for us!

Other games for me would be...

Man Utd - 2 vs 1 - Bayern Munich - European Champions League Final - Barcelona

I was the only one in my class at school who wanted Man Utd to win (blame my English dad) and in normal time, it looked like it was over. We all know what happened then though. Would have loved to have been in that stadium that night.

France - 0 vs 1 - Scotland - Euro 2008 Qualifying - Paris

Need I say more?

[sergie's no1 fan]

On a more serious note.

I'd like to have seen Scotland play back in the day when we had world class players like Law and King Kenny just to see if they were as good as people make out.

Liverpool 0-2 Arsenal would of been amazing as a neutral ( and gunner ).Imagine the nerves?

Milan 3-3 Liverpool.

Celtic 0-3 StMirren.

StMirren 1-0 Dundee U 1987 Scottish cup final.One of the worst finals in history but who cares .

Brazil 2-1 Scotland just for the occasion.

Italy 4-3 W Germany.

Argentina 1-2 Holland

Trying to think of more.

[Cammy35]

1960 - Real Madrid 7 Eintracht Frankfurt 3

1967 - England 2 – Scotland 3

1972 - Rangers 3 – Dynamo Moscow 2

1972 Ajax 2 Inter Milan 0
European Cup final in Rotterdam. Two goals from Cruyff.Great team in their prime.

1978 - Scotland 3 – Holland 2

1986 Argentina 2 England 1
Maradonna

2007 - Lyon 0 Rangers 3
Dished out a drubbing to the five times French champions.Again saw it on the telly, yes I know we were lucky.

2007 - France 0 Scotland 1
Mainly for James McFadden's goal .

2010 - Barcelona 5 Real Madrid 0
Missed this on the telly. Must have been a good time tobe in Barcelona.

Future - Any Scotland game at a World cup Finals

This post has been edited by Cammy35: 03 February 2012 - 16:36

[McKee]

Good thread. I don't have much detail to contribute though.

1. Morton beating St Mirren 5-1 at Love Street would've been pretty special.

2. Being in the Morton end in the Cup final replay against Rangers that broke British(world?) midweek attendance records would've been great as well.

3. And obviously the '22 Cup final.

4. Watching Tommy Lawton and Stanley Matthews in whatever games they played for Morton in would've been superb.

5. 4-1 win at Love Street in 1995. Purely to have been able to see club legends Lindberg, Rajamaki and McInnes. Don't know if they were playing or not in that match, but seeing the likes of Mahood and Derek Lilley in their prime would've been nice to see as well.

6. I'd like to have seen the full debut of young Joe Jordan at Morton, with the knowledge of the British footballing legend he would become.

7. And of course this game

This post has been edited by McKee: 03 February 2012 - 15:53

[Karl Fletcher]

Aberdeen 2-1 Real Madrid - Cup Winners Cup Final 1983

Aberdeen 3-2 Bayern Munich - Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final Second Leg 1983

Hibs 0-5 Aberdeen - SPL 1980: Dons win the League

Aberdeen 4-1 Rangers - Scottish Cup Final 1982

England 2-3 Scotland - 1967

Aberdeen 3-0 Hearts - Scottish Cup Final 1986

Aberdeen 1-1 Celtic - SPL 1984: Dons win the League

Aberdeen 2-1 Rangers - League Cup Final 1989

Man Utd 2-1 Bayern Munich - European Cup Final 1999

Liverpool 3-3 Milan - European Cup Final 2005


The last two are as a neutral

I really wish I had been born in 1960 sometimes

[magee84]

Celtic 4 rangers 2 ,may 1979.
10 man celtic come from behind in a game they had to win to become champions
might sound odd to most but id pick this over lisbon anytime
suppose you could say thats the narrow minded childish bit in me
at least im honest about it though !!!!!!

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

Liverpool 3 Milan 3 - 25 May 2005

I don't care for either team, but it has to be one of the most memorable matches of a generation.

France 0 Scotland 1 - 12 September 2007

No explanation needed

England 3 Hungary 6 - November 25 1953

One of the most legendary sides in international football become the first foreign team to win in England.

Chile 2 Italy 0 - 2 June 1962

The infamous Battle of Santiago that left David Coleman so outraged.

England 2 Scotland 3 - 15 April 1967

Scotland become unofficial world champions.

Honduras 1 Nicaragua 0 - 8 June 1969

A match that partly lead to an actual war between the two countries.

Motherwell 6 Hibernian 6 - 5 May 2010

There probably won't be another SPL match that ends in a 12 goal thriller!

Brazil 4 Italy 1 - 21 June 1970

The greatest ever national team put on their greatest performance

Dundee Harp 35 Aberdeen Rovers 0 - 12 September 1885

Only glory hunters wanted to watch Arbroath that day.

Dinamo Zagreb A Red Star Belgrade A - May 13 1990

When the away fans are lead by a man called Arkan, you know things are going to get a bit tasty....

[Karl Fletcher]

I was in Paris in 2007

[Fuctifano]

10 is both too many and too few.

Obvious ones that don't need too much justification.

Partick Thistle 4-1 Celtic, league cup final 1971.
Partick Thistle 1-0 Rangers, Scottish cup final 1921
England 2-3 Scotland, 1967

Important Games

Brazil 1-2 Uruguay 1950 World Cup "Final"
Hungary 2-3 West Germany 1954 World Cup Final
Netherlands 2-0 USSR, 1988 Euro final
England 3-6 Hungary, 1953
Real Madrid 7-3 Eintracht Frankfurt, 1960 European Cup final (my dad was there though)

Game I had the chance to go to but didn't and it rankles with me to this day

ICT 0-1 Partick Thistle, Scottish Cup Q/F replay 2002

Game I would go to just to laugh my cock off at the events of the last few minutes.

France 2-1 England, Euro 2004.

edited: there isnt enough room on the internet for a "games you wish you hadn't attended" thread.

This post has been edited by Fuctifano: 03 February 2012 - 16:54

[ham1sh68]

Not quite the subject of the thread but it set me thinking about my personal favourites. These are the five best games I have attended.

I have been really lucky to be following football live at a time when Scotland were a force to be reckoned with and nobody, but nobody,relished a trip to Hampden, and then I was at Pittodrie during Aberdeen's golden years. There were other Home and Away Scotland and Aberdeen games but these stand out in my mind.

Then helped to start a Junior Club in the early 90's and have had a host of great times there.



1962 Scotland 2 England 0 at Hampden - DavieWilson, Eric Caldow (pen) crowd over 132,000; My first Scotland International,with my Dad.

1967 England 2 Scotland 3 at Wembley – Denis Law, Bobby Lennox, Jim McCalliog; World champions humbled; Jim Baxter – incomparable!

1973 Scotland 2 Czechoslovakia 1 at Hampden – Big Jim Holton, Joe Jordan; crowd 100,000 (99% Scots). Scotland reach the World Cup Finals!Hampden roar at it's most spine tingling.

1983 Aberdeen 3 Bayern Munich 2 at Pittodrie – Neil Simpson, Alex McLeish, John Hewitt.Only 24,000 there but it sounded, and felt, like 124,000. Never thought I'd see my Dad, then in his sixties, dancing on a seat at Pittodrie.

1983 Aberdeen 2 Real Madrid 1 (a.e.t.) Eric Black, JohnHewitt. Couldn't see much through the rain and driving wind but Aberdeen's greatest night.

The game I would most like to have been at was the World CupFinal in 1970 Brazil 4 Italy 1. The greatest team ever to play the beautiful game.



,

This post has been edited by ham1sh68: 03 February 2012 - 22:54

[Gaz FFC]

Karl Fletcher, on 03 February 2012 - 16:31, said:

I was in Paris in 2007

Shopping with the mrs?

[yoda]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-5 Ross County (25/2/2003)
Cowdenbeath 0-2 Ross County (13/8/1994)
West Ham United 3-4 Tottenham Hotspur (4/3/2007)
Manchester United 0-1 West Ham United (13/5/2007)
AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool (25/5/2005)
Germany 0-2 Italy (4/7/2006)
West Germany 3-3 France (8/7/1982)
France 0-1 Scotland (12/9/2007)
Real Madrid 7-3 Eintracht Frankfurt (18/5/1960)
Manchester United 4-3 Real Madrid (23/4/2003)

Other contenders:

Ross County 2-3 Gretna (28/4/2007)
Ross County 2-1 Dunfermline (24/3/2009)
France 0-1 Senegal (31/5/2002)
Deportivo 4-0 AC Milan (7/4/2004)
Barcelona 1-0 Inter Milan (28/5/2010)

[pub car king]

France 0 1 Scotland 2007

Holland 2 3 Scotland 1978

France 3 3 west Germany 1982 world cup semi final

Bayern Munich 2 1 Raith rovers 1995

The man u Madrid game where ronaldo ran the show

Dunfermline 2 2 Raith rovers 2011

Not quite ten need more time to think but ones that instantly come to mind

This post has been edited by pub car king: 03 February 2012 - 20:17

[ScottR96]

Scottish Cup Final 1939 - Clyde 4-0 Motherwell
Scottish Cup Final 1955 - Clyde 1-1 Celtic
Scottish Cup Final 1955 (replay) - Clyde 1-0 Celtic
Scottish Cup Final 1958 - Clyde 1-0 Hibernian
Euro 2008 Qualification - France 0-1 Scotland
Scottish Cup Semi Final 2010 - Ross County 2-0 Celtic
Champions League Final 2005 - AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool
Play Off Final 2009 - Burnley 1-0 Sheffield United
European Cup Final 1967 - Inter Milan 1-2 Celtic
1967 - England 2-3 Scotland

[IainMorton]

Barcelona 1-2 Dundee United, 1987

Bayern Munich 2-1 Raith Rovers, 1995

Brazil 2-1 Scotland, 1998

France 3-0 Brazil, 1998

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich, 1999

England 0-1 Scotland, 1999

Chelsea 4-2 Barcelona, 2005

AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool, 2005

Middlesbrough 4-1 FC Basel, 2006

Middlesbrough 4-2 Steaua Bucharest, 2006

France 0-1 Scotland, 2007

[macjackb]

West Germany 0-1 East Germany, WC 74

England 2-3 Scotland 1967

Aberdeen 4-0 Celtic (the Frank McDougall game)

Germany 4-1 England, WC 2010

Germany 0-2 Italy, WC 06

France 2-1 England, Euro 04

Barcelona 5-0 Real last season

Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany, Euro 76

Ipswich 6-0 Man U, 1980 I think

Milan 4-0 Ajax, EC 94 I think

[Bully Wee Villa]

Aston Villa 1 Bayern Munich 0, 1982 European Cup Final

Aston Villa 3 Barcelona 0. 1983 European Super Cup Final Second Leg

Aston Villa 5 Liverpool 1, League 1976

Aston Villa 2 Manchester United 1, 1971 League Cup Semi-Final Second Leg (we were in the Third Division at the time)

Aston Villa 2 Manchester United 1, 1957 FA Cup Final

Aston Villa 3 West Bromwich Albion 0, 1887 FA Cup Final, our first trophy... plus I think it would be quite interesting to see what the standard of Victorian football was like

Clyde1 Hibs 0, 1958 Scottish Cup Final

Clyde 1 Celtic 0, 1955 Scottish Cup Final Replay

and a couple of neutral ones...

England 3 Hungary 6, 1953

EDIT: changed my mind. I'll pick Uruguay 4 Argentina 2 (1930) in the first World Cup Final instead.

This post has been edited by Bully Wee Villa: 03 February 2012 - 22:25

[craigkillie]

Hearts 0-2 Killie (1965)

Killie needed to win 2-0 at Tynecastle to pip Hearts to the title on goal average. And we did.


France 0-1 Scotland (2007)

We all know about that one.


England 2-3 Scotland (1967)

Particularly for the pisstaking from Baxter et al.


Real Madrid 7-3 Eintracht Frankfurt (1960)

Regarded by many as the best match ever. I've watched it on DVD, but that's not the same.


Killie 5-1 Eintracht Frankfurt (1964)

Lost 3-0 in the first leg, then conceded early at home, but came back for an astonishing win.


Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid (2010)

Probably the best performance I've ever watched on TV.


Liverpool 0-2 Arsenal (1989)

Title race goes down to the last minute, with Michael Thomas scoring late to win the league for Arsenal.


Man Utd 4-3 Real Madrid (2003)

Brilliant CL game. Fat Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, and Beckham came off the bench to score 2. Real went through on aggregate.


Killie 2-1 Cowdenbeath (1990)

Dave McKinnon's penalty saw us scrape promotion out of the 3rd tier in our only season down there.


Killie 0-0 Hamilton (1993)

Killie secured our promotion to the top flight under Tommy Burns.

[Swampy]

I can't think of a huge number that haven't already been mentioned, but Hungary's 6-3 win at England would be top of the list (and no, not just because it was England, but because it was such a different era of football and I'd loved to have watched the 'paradigm shift' first-hand.)

[jupe1407]

Dundee United 1-2 DUNDEE (April 1962)
To win a derby is special, to win it with a late goal towards the end of a season in which you pip Rangers to your one and only league title must have been truly special.

DUNDEE 8-1 FC Cologne (September 1962)
Cologne were West Germany's big hitters in those days, and after Real Madrid had been knocked out of the European Cup by Anderlecht, were pretty much favourites. Luckily their scout had turned up to a piss-poor Dundee league game weeks earlier and Cologne turned up thinking they had nothing to fear. Dundee were 5 up at half time, and finished up winning 8-1 (still Cologne's record defeat i think). Cologne won the return 4-0 in a really ugly match but Dundee would go on to the semi-final.

DUNDEE 4-3 Dundee United (August 1989)
Just a random league game that didn't have any huge significance outside of being a derby win, but I'd had to go to my cousin's wedding that day, with my old man's wise words of "It'll be shite anyway, we never beat them at Dens" proving to be somewhat unfounded. I spent most of the wedding reception out in the car park listening to the radio, as Dundee came back from 2-0 down with a Keith Wright hat-trick and a Joe McBride free kick. Yeah, cheers Dad.

SCOTLAND 2-0 France (WC90 Qualifier)
France were pretty average in those days, but this was still a massive qualification game. I wasn't allowed to go as i had fucking school the next day, but a few of my mates did, and didn't shut up about it for months. McCoist i think scored two in a rain-drenched Hampden as Scotland took a giant step towards qualifying for Italia 90.

ITALY 3-2 Brazil (World Cup Q-F Spain 82)
This remains one of the best games i've ever witnessed. Italy though sheer grit, determination and controversial Paolo Rossi, somehow overcame the best Brazil side (only behind the 1970 team, and even then not by much) ever to reach the World Cup semi finals. The two lasting memories of this game are Rossi's celebration and Serginho's finishing masterclass that would make Chris Iwelumo blush.

England 3-6 HUNGARY
As others have mentioned, not just to see a truly classic football team in action, but to see a previously un-rated "johnny foreigner" outfit wander into Wembley and totally destroy one of the powers of World football on their own turf. Hungary would dish out a 7-1 hammering to England not long afterwards in Budapest.

AC MILAN 4-0 IFK Gothenburg
This was Marco Van Basten's effective final match, in which he scored all four milan goals, and turned in an absolutely scintillating performance (one was an 18 yard overhead kick), before succumbing later in the game to the injury that would end his career. He did make a brief attempt at a comeback, but it was short-lived and he broke down again almost immediately.

Eintracht Frankfurt 3-7 REAL MADRID (European Cup Final 1961)
For the same reasons as everyone else really, to witness some of the greatest players ever to play the game at Hampden in a legendary final and absolutely annihilate a good Frankfurt team (they'd stuck 12 past Rangers in the semi final).

BERWICK RANGERS 1-0 Rangers
The biggest cup shock in history and i would like to have seen it. A Rangers side that contained some truly great names were absolutely humbled by Berwick. Rangers boss Scot Symon was so enraged by the defeat that Jim Forrest and George McLean, guilty of missing chances in the game, were almost immedately transferred out of the club.


I'll stick with 8 for the moment.

[German Jag]

jupe1407, on 04 February 2012 - 14:31, said:

SCOTLAND 2-0 France (WC90 Qualifier)
France were pretty average in those days, but this was still a massive qualification game. I wasn't allowed to go as i had fucking school the next day, but a few of my mates did, and didn't shut up about it for months. [b]McCoist i think scored two in a rain-drenched Hampden as Scotland took a giant step towards qualifying for Italia 90.

Ex. Thistle & Milton Battlefield, Super Mo Johnston

This post has been edited by German Jag: 04 February 2012 - 23:26