That’s a ridiculous headline. The reason for that is a lot of bizarre things happened on 9 November throughout the course of history. So make yourself comfortable and let’s get this show on the road.
On this day in 1889, Notts County faced Aston Villa in a Football League fixture. The Magpies had a player short therefore had to borrow one from then non-leaguers Nottingham Forest. The player in question was an interesting character and wonderfully named – Tinsley Lindley.
Played at Trent Bridge, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Villa, however, contested the legality of Lindley featuring for County and officially lodged a complaint with the League Management Committee. The complaint was upheld resulting in a £5 fine and a one point deduction for County.
Now here’s some background on Lindley. The son of Leonard Lindley, once a mayor of Nottinghamshire, Tinsley scored a hat-trick on his debut for Forest at the age of 16. He also scored 14 goals in 13 appearances for England. Described as “an ideal centre forward” by his peers, he wore walking shoes rather than football boots on the pitch. He believed walking shoes helped him run faster, ironically.
Lindley also played county cricket for Nottinghamshire and studied law at Cambridge University. As a barrister, Lindley handled County’s case himself. Evidently a very clever man, he pointed out that by fining the club and deducting points at the same time, the League was punishing County twice.
The League considered Lindley’s argument and dropped the one point deduction but increased the fine to £25. In hindsight, County probably would have accepted the one point deduction.
Player gets sent off three times in one game
Scientists have concluded that hilarity never eludes the ones who are born on April Fool’s Day. And Dean Windass epitomizes that deduction.
On this day in 1997, Aberdeen played Dundee United in a Scottish Premiership fixture at Tannadice Park. Playing for the Dons, Windass, already on a yellow, was sent off by the referee for foul play. He probably should have walked but instead engaged the referee in a barrage of verbal abuse which resulted in another red card.
He probably should have walked this time but instead took his frustration out on an innocent and terrified looking corner flag. That resulted in another red card. He was banned for six games and fined two weeks’ wages.
Keane knows no mercy
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane is known for two things – for being an industrious footballer during his hey days and for being a no-nonsense, brutally honest, hard as nails football pundit.
But even before entering punditry, Keane had the penchant for telling the right thing at the wrong time and vice versa (occasionally).
On this day in 2000, Manchester United struggled to a 1-0 win over Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev to qualify for the knock out stages of the UEFA Champions League. Even though more than 66,000 fans attended the game at Old Trafford, Keane questioned the stadium’s atmosphere and the fans’ support. The former Ireland international directed a famous insult towards certain sections of the crowd which gave rise to one of the most legendary football clichés.
“Away from home our fans are fantastic, I’d call them the hardcore fans. But at home, they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don’t realise what’s going on out on the pitch.”
The British media obviously picked up on this and the ‘Prawn Sandwich Brigade’ became synonymous with fans that graced the luxury boxes at football stadiums in Britain.
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