Football is traditionally played on the island on Boxing Day. Even in the winter of 1963, when EnglandBig Freeze” experienced. To this day the “Boxing Day“That year was legendary. 66 goals were scored in ten first division games.
“It was just one of those days”said Alan Mullery years later to “ESPN“. The former midfielder of the Fulham FC summed up possibly the craziest day in England’s football history with this sentence. He himself was in the middle of it all on December 26, 1963. “I scored the ninth goal”said Mullery. His team defeated that day Ipswich Town with 10:1.
In order to stand out on this day, a double-digit result like this was definitely needed. Because the eleven hits from Craven Cottage were just part of the most legendary of all Boxing Days on the island. Every year, when the ball rolls in England on Boxing Day, the English TV channels show the graphic showing the results from back then. The balance: ten games, 66 goals.
| Home | Guest | Result |
|---|---|---|
Blackpool FC | Chelsea FC | 1:5 |
Burnley FC | Manchester United | 6:1 |
Fulham FC | Ipswich Town | 10:1 |
Leicester City | Everton FC | 2:0 |
Liverpool FC | Stoke City | 6:1 |
Nottingham Forest | Sheffield United | 3:3 |
Sheffield Wednesday | Bolton Wanderers | 3-0 |
West Bromwich Albion | Tottenham Hotspur | 4:4 |
West Ham United | Blackburn Rovers | 2:8 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | Aston Villa | 3:3 |
“Always crazy results around Christmas”
“There were always crazy results around Christmas,” Mullery said: “Often you won big or lost brutally.” That day was brutal for Fulham’s opponents Ipswich. The club had become champions a year and a half earlier, but was unable to continue this form after a change of coach. The 1:10 was the low point. Club boss John Cobbold took it with humor. “The game could have tipped either way. Until the whistle kicked off.”
Bobby Howfield (3 goals) and Graham Leggat (4 goals) had almost destroyed Ipswich single-handedly, and the guests were relegated at the end of the season as bottom of the table with a total of 121 goals conceded. But the game still resonates today: Not only has Fulham never been able to win more in the club’s history, Leggat’s supposed record for eternity – a hat trick in just under three and a half minutes – was only broken a few years ago. Sadio Mané scored in 2015 wearing the Southampton FC three times within 2:56 minutes Aston Villa.
Fulham center forward Graham Leggat in 1963
Huge victory for Liverpool, humiliation for Man United
At the top at the end of the 1963/64 season was the Liverpool FC, who also made an impression on Boxing Day. Club legend Roger Hunt, who won the World Cup with England in 1966, scored four times after half-time in a 6-1 win over Stoke City Anfield.
Manchester United, Liverpool’s biggest rivals and runners-up that season suffered a debacle on Boxing Day. The team of then coach Sir Matt Busby lost 6-1 to outsiders Burnley. Burnley’s 18-year-old striker Andy Lochhead was also among the four-goal scorers that day. The “Guardian” was then full of praise: “That was one of the best performances that such a young player has ever given.” Just as strange as the result: the second leg took place two days later Old Trafford instead, Man United won 5-1.
Ten goals at Upton Park and the “massacre” in Blackpool
In the Upton Park There was a game in London that would have been the highlight of any “normal” match day: The Blackburn Rovers won 8-2 thanks to two hat tricks from Fred Pickering and Andy McEvoy West Ham United. “There was bad luck in everything West Ham did. Everything Blackburn did seemed coldly calculated and right.”concluded the “Guardian”.
Game scene from the game between Blackpool and Chelsea in December 1963
The tabloid press, specifically the “Daily Mirror“, went about creating the headline more mercilessly in Blackpool’s 5-1 home defeat against Chelsea. “That was a massacre”the newspaper wrote: “Everyone could have gone home for break.”
“There is no explanation for this”
Celebrated a very special success West Bromwich Albion. The team came back from a 2-4 deficit against the Tottenham Hotspur and fought for a 4-4 draw in the end. A few days earlier there had been heated disputes including a players’ strike – because coach Jimmy Hagan had ordered his players to wear shorts in training.
An unusual measure given the time of year. In 1963, England also experienced the so-called “Big Freeze”, one of the coldest winters in history. The previous year, the traditional Boxing Day had to be canceled due to heavy snowfall, but in 1963 there was largely no snow.
Fulham’s Alan Mullery (r.) in a header duel with Denis Mochan (l.) during a game at Craven Cottage in February 1963
Luckily for football fans. Luckily for football. Because he experienced a historic day on Boxing Day. It’s not just Fulham’s goalscorer Mullery who knows: “There is no explanation for this.”