“I was recently in Argentina and this recalled a memory (and I’m sure I’m not making this up) that, following the death of Argentinian president Juan Peron during the 1974 World Cup, referees were instructed to pause matches in order to observe a minute’s silence,” writes Mitchell Sandler. “Which begs a few questions - Why not observe the silence before the kick-off? Why observe the silence in the first place? Has any other high profile match ever been interrupted for non-footballing reasons?”
The 1974 tournament is memorable for so many reasons – the birth of the Cruyff turn, Haiti taking the lead against Italy in the group stages, Mwepu Ilunga, the classic final (that was delayed by a lack of corner flags) – but one of the most bizarre sights ever seen at a World Cup did indeed occur in the aftermath of Juan Perón’s death: a minute’s silence was observed during the middle of not just one match, but four of them.
The World Cup was reaching its final stages when Perón, husband of Eva and up there with the most influential Argentinian politicians of all time, died of a heart attack on 1 July 1974. Two days later, the final matches of the second group stage – with two games essentially acting as semi-finals – took place: Poland v West Germany in the afternoon; Sweden v Yugoslavia, Argentina v East Germany and Holland v Brazil in the evening.
Poland and Germany slugging it out in Frankfurt’s Waldstadion for a place in the final. Both had already beaten Sweden and Yugoslavia so were sitting pretty on four points each – the winner would go through to the final. And about 10 minutes into the game, just as Uli Hoeness was about to take a throw in …
It’s a bizarre spectacle, with the 22 players stood stock still in place for 30 seconds of silence. But the oddness of the occasion didn’t prevent the powers that be repeating the silence 10 minutes into Holland and Brazil’s similarly pivotal fixture in Westfalenstadion:
Or in the dead rubber between Yugoslavia and Sweden in Dusseldorf:
Or in the one match in which a pre-match minute’s silence would have made some sense, Argentina v East Germany in Gelsenkirchen:
Quite why Fifa decided to mark the passing of Perón in such a manner remains unclear. Silent tributes were not a new sight at matches – there was a two-minute silence at all UK matches in the aftermath of the Munich air disaster in 1958, for example – but moments of reflection during games was certainly a novelty. Perhaps it was to commemorate Perón’s 10 years in power? If anyone out there has any further information on the decision, do let us know at the usual address: knowledge@theguardian.com
DOUBLE DOWN
“In our weekly radio show ‘Fotbollsarena’ on Swedish public broadcasting the listeners have failed to find another example of what just happened in the Swedish second tier,” wrote Richard Henriksson last week. “This season, both Mjallby and Brommapojkarna were relegated, only a year after going down from the first division. There are numerous examples of one team dropping down a divison two years in a row. But has there ever been enother example of this – multiple teams doing just that in the same season?”
Steve James and Sean DeLoughrey both point to Notts County and Wolves, who were relegated together from the top flight at the end of the 1983-84 season, with Wanderers finishing rock bottom a massive 21 points from safety.
Wolves appointed Tommy Docherty as manager in the summer but he could not stop the rot and in 1984-85 the pair again found themselves in the relegation zone together with Cardiff and dropped down to the third division. Wolves completed an unwanted hat-trick in 1985-86, getting relegated once more (although this time they were kept off the bottom by Swansea City on goal difference) … and they took Cardiff down with them. Notts County, on the other hand, finished a respectable eighth.
THE BIGGEST CITY IN EUROPE WITHOUT A TOP-FLIGHT TEAM (2)
Last week we looked at the biggest cities in Europe to have unsuccessful football teams.
Several readers got in touch to point out that the 1,500,000 people without a top-flight team in Novosibirsk, Siberia, are dwarfed by the 2,800,000 who go without in the Turkish city of Izmir.
Unlike Novosibirsk however, Izmir sides have had some success in the past, with Goztepe a former regular in the top flight and two-times Turkish Cup winners. They also reached the Uefa Cup semi-finals in 1968-69 and the Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals in 1969-70.
KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE
“I was once involved in a game where both sides became so exasperated with the referee that we had to ask him to leave,” recalled Paul Vale in 2009. “Which got me wondering – has a referee ever actually been sent off in a game of football?”
At least two have, Paul, and on both occasions they showed themselves the red card. First up is Andy Wain, who was officiating a Sunday League game between Peterborough North End and Royal Mail AYL in 2005 when he lost his rag after hearing one too many complaints from the players. When North End’s keeper Richard McGaffin began protesting that his team had been denied a free-kick in the build-up to a goal, Wain threw off his whistle, rushed over and eyeballed the keeper. In the end no blows were exchanged, but Wain sent himself off and the game had to be abandoned because there was nobody else available to fill in.
“With hindsight I should never have officiated,” said Wain, who acknowledged having had some personal problems in the days before the match in question. “It was totally unprofessional. If a player did that I would send him off, so I had to go. I heard the keeper say ‘It’s always the bloody same with you, ref - we never get anything’. It was the last straw, but fortunately I came to my senses.”
Melvin Sylvester, meanwhile, went one step further, physically attacking a player during a fixture between Southampton Arms and Hurstbourne Tarrant British Legion in the Andover and District Sunday League. “I was sorely provoked,” explained Sylvester afterwards. “I punched him several times after he had pushed me from behind. He then swore. I couldn’t take any more. I blew my top.”
This time the the game was able to continue, as a spectator took charge of the remainder of the game, but the story didn’t end there for Sylvester. He was subsequently fined £20 and banned for six weeks by the Hampshire Football Association. “I’m furious,” he added after the verdict. “The disciplinary committee have got their priorities all wrong. They’ve convicted me of assault but the circumstances have not been shown. They’ve taken the side of the player.”
For thousands more sepia-tinged questions and answers take a trip through the Knowledge archive or pick up a copy of More Knowledge from the Guardian Bookshop.
Can you help?
“Andy King played for Leicester in a 3-2 defeat to Brighton in October 2008 which saw the club sink to their lowest ever position in its 131 year history (sixth in the third tier),” writes James Root. “He also played against Newcastle this weekend which saw Leicester rise to their highest ever position (first in the first tier). Has any other player played for a club when they’ve been at their absolute rock bottom and when they’ve been at their absolute peak?”
“Lillestrom goalkeeper Celine Kommandantvold Pettersen has won 10 league and cup medals despite making only nine starts and 42 substitute appearances,” writes Oyvind Grimstad Gryt. “Does anyone have a better medals to matches ratio?”
“is there another club that has gone all the way down the leagues and then all the way back up without a stop over?” wonders Graham Booth
“When playing for England against Holland in a friendly at Wembley on the 23rd of March 1988, England defender Tony Adams scored a goal for England, an own goal for Holland and also had a goal for England disallowed due to offside,” writes Graham Clayton. “Has anyone else in a match scored such an unusual ‘hat-trick’?”
“There have been many players over the years who have represented more than one nation, and even more when you take into account appearances for the youth squads of one country before switching to another nation at senior level,” begins Liam McGuigan. “Managers, of course, are unconstrained by such notions as eligibility, so that gets me wondering – has a player ever been called up to two squads, for different countries, by the same manager?”
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