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It goes without saying that a 5-5 draw is a rare but spectacular beast. The recent thriller at the Villa saw two past European champions share ten goals, a reminder of many a game contested on the playground in my distant past. I’m sure Forest were glad that the “next goal’s the winner” rule was not invoked. Talking to my son, I was trying to recall other 5-5 draws, until a bell chimed in the dusty vault of my memory banks. A match played on the skin-shredding plastic pitch at Loftus Road on September 22, 1984. QPR 5 Newcastle United 5. Read more »

It was hardly the welcome that Mick Quinn would have dreamed of when he signed for Newcastle in the summer of 1989. Walking through the city after agreeing terms with the club, Quinn stumbled upon a protest group called the Boardbusters, who, as their name would suggest, were not best pleased with the members of the Newcastle United boardroom. Relegated from Division One in the previous campaign, many were prepared to boycott matches at St. James' Park in order to get their views across to the directors. Read more »

This article first appeared in  issue 262 of The Gooner There have been a number of awful football competitions organised throughout the history of the sport, from the Anglo-Scottish Cup to the Zenith Data Systems, taking in such delights as the Texaco Cup, ScreenSport Super Cup, and Watney Cup along the way. Fortunately my club, Arsenal, have managed to steer clear of most of these, but in 1988 the club qualified for a cup competition that was organised by the Football League 100 years of the governing body. Read more »