What is the worst British sports match you’ve ever watched?
Posted by Jezzaq94@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 71 comments
What was so bad about it that made you feel that it was absolute trash?
Can be either an international or domestic match.
Antique-Primary-2413@reddit
Gloucester 0, Boston 0 in 2021/2022 was one of those games that makes you wonder why you continue to subject yourself to watching football.
Funny really: two years later, it ended Gloucester 3, Boston 7. That was quite fun.
McCretin@reddit
Maybe it’s recency bias but the Championship play-off final at the weekend was pretty dire. Two shots on target in the entire match.
There wasn’t even the drama of extra time/penalties because Hull nicked it with a flukey tap-in from a goalkeeping error right at the end.
The England vs Uruguay friendly in March was also irredeemable crap.
Kcufasu@reddit
A lot of finals are pretty dull tbh, everyone cagey and scared to lose, the FA cup final wasn't much better
Jarcooler@reddit
Doncaster Rovers 0 - 0 Fleetwood Town
Bore draw, the club posted the highlights of a 90 minute match and it's just the kick off and final whistle, here's the video
Kcufasu@reddit
That's top tier trolling by the social media guy, clearly mad they had to sit through it
HiphopopoptimusPrime@reddit
England 0 Saudi Arabia 0
Can’t even remember which World Cup it was. The dullest most boring game of football I’ve ever watched.
When Americans say soccer is boring, that’s the game they are probably thinking of. Football is amazing but when it’s bad, it’s BAD.
maddypadden@reddit
I'm guessing you mean the Algeria match in 2010 - England have never played Saudi Arabia in a competitive game.
I was also at that one.
It wasn't even "one of the better 0-0s" - a very hard watch for the most part.
I thought the atmosphere was decent though, considering. More chanting and fewer vuvuzelas than any other game I saw in SA.
It was one of three games I attended in Cape Town that tournament - the other two finishing 0-0 and 1-1 (thanks to Paraguay and Italy for saving me from four and a half hours of goalless football).
I had better luck in Joburg (Brazil 2-1 N Korea, Argentina 4-1 S Korea).
HiphopopoptimusPrime@reddit
Yikes, that’s how bad it was. I will go and edit my original post.
VicTitball@reddit
It was Algeria, 2010. The Heskey stepover and Rooney moaning about the fans
paper_zoe@reddit
I believe it was this match where a bird was sat on the crossbar for part of it. Almost mocking the players
newtoallofthis2@reddit
Yeah that's the one that immediately springs to mind - just remember passes to Rooney seemingly bouncing off his body randomly like the ball was being repelled by some invisible force.
Perfect_Measurement8@reddit
I repeat to this day that the most common sentence uttered by commentators about Wayne Rooney was "the ball just got away from Rooney there..."
ednoic@reddit
This is the one I came hear to mention. I was living in Sydney so stayed up until 4am in a bar trying not to get too drunk waiting for it to start. If there was one night of missed sleep in my life I could get back it’d definitely be that one
terryjuicelawson@reddit
The World Cup is often a poor example too, teams can be too cagey and games boring and drawn out. Some nations are notorious for diving and theatrics and they hate that too, almost as much as their Men's team being average at best.
Fun-Brush5136@reddit
I've been to two football matches in my life and they were both 0-0. Not convinced I want to try again.
Upper_Paramedic_2043@reddit
It’s a shame you didn’t go to a few West Ham games this season, we might’ve avoided relegation 😄
RedditThor_@reddit
Leeds Rhinos 50 - 0 Hull Kingston Rovers. Challenge Cup Final, Wembley Stadium.
JP198364839@reddit
England v Nigeria, 7am kick-off in the 2002 World Cup. Abysmal.
paper_zoe@reddit
really disappointing given that if we'd won that game, we would've topped the group and had a pretty straightforward draw for the knockouts (Senegal and Turkey rather than Denmark and Brazil). We would've played Brazil still, but in the semis rather than the quarters
PutTheDamnDogDown@reddit
Do you remember all that off the top of your head or did you have to look it up? I have a terrible memory for past matches and envy anyone who can recall details well.
paper_zoe@reddit
I've got a good memory for stuff like that. Football from the mid 90s to about 10 or 15 years ago in particular is kind of permanently lodged in my memory. Would be better if it was something a bit more useful, but oh well
PutTheDamnDogDown@reddit
Could be worse. The only thing I remember well is Neighbours storylines from the late 1980s. A party trick with not much practical application.
baxty23@reddit
Manchester City 0 - 0 QPR
League Cup in about 1994, so bad that the man of the match was announced as Danny Hoekman, a Dutch guy on trial at City who didn’t even come on the pitch and looked bemused in the photos afterwards.
Strangely the replay was a 3-4 classic.
Krakshotz@reddit
Sunderland 0-3 Newcastle in the FA Cup, Jan 2023. Only Tyne-Wear derby I’ve ever watched with my own eyes (TV or in person), will also be the last.
The football terrorist himself Michael Beale in the dugout and one of our own hospitality sections had Newcastle slogans plastered over it. To make matters worse, the card readers failed so the great unwashed got free booze.
Krakshotz@reddit
Sunderland 1-5 Stoke. Alex Neil screwed us over for the second time in 14 months (he ran off to join them after getting us promoted)
Stefgrep66@reddit
1996 fa cup final.
The media hyped this game up which didn't help .Liverpool Man Utd the big 2, highest scorers in the league, top strikers Fowler Cole Cantona Collymore.
It was a dire dull thoroughly unexceptional 90 minutes of tedium.
paper_zoe@reddit
at least that final gave us the white suits
skibbin@reddit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bramall_Lane
Match abandoned at the 82nd minute due to United being down to just 6 players
paper_zoe@reddit
That has an element of farce in it that I think I would've found very entertaining
paper_zoe@reddit
two high profile football matches that stand out:
2007 FA Cup final Chelsea 1 Man Utd 0. Typified many of the Chelsea v Man Utd and Chelsea v Liverpool matches in this era which happened often in the cups, all about not losing rather than trying to create something. The style was famously described by Jorge Valdano as 'shit hanging from a stick', he was describing a Chelsea vs Liverpool match, but I remember this FA Cup final actually being the worst of this era. Made all the worse by the fact that this was the first FA Cup final in the new Wembley
2019 Champions League final - Liverpool 2 Spurs 0. Appalling match, Liverpool got a penalty in the first 30 seconds and then not really much happened. There was quite a big gap between the end of the league season and this match (last match of the season was 12th May, the final was 1st June), and it seemed like that might've had an effect. Particularly disappointing given how exciting Liverpool and Spurs' matches in the Champions League had been that season.
PeroniNinja84@reddit
Champions League final in Madrid between Spurs and Liverpool. Both teams absolutely bottled it. If Spurs hadn’t then they would have a CL in their trophy now.
Traditional_Rice_123@reddit
Watford 0-3 Yeovil.
chopfon@reddit
Bellew-Cleverly
SaltyName8341@reddit
Any Wales game in the last 6 nations, it was truly awful viewing.
Hamsternoir@reddit
Only if you're Welsh. To be fair it has been tough for the rest of us seeing what a mess is being made of Welsh rugby by the suits.
Tigers got nilled by Glasgow in the European cup. Painful for us but it was probably the highlight of the season for Saints fans.
Corvid-Ranger-118@reddit
I've got a season ticket at Leyton Orient. Enough said
philff1973@reddit
I seem to remember an audley Harrison fight where the referee had to keep encouraging them to fight or he would end the fight.
Huntsman2701@reddit
Nottingham Panthers 4-10 Coventry Blaze
The Panthers goalie just looked awful. Every time the puck came near, it felt like he was going to give up another goal. You could just tell the rest of the team had lost all faith in him and just wanted to get to the end of the game.
Winston_Carbuncle@reddit
Leeds v Millwall. League one. Either 0-0 or 1-1.
I was really looking forward to it as a neautral given the notoriety of the firms and fans involved.
About 30 Millwall fans were in attendance, stale atmosphere and 2 penalties missed if I remember correctly.
Two of the lads I was with ended up dropping a bean at half time it was that bad.
BoroBob@reddit
Late 1990s I was in a pub with a mate who was a Bolton fan watching Bolton Wanderers vs Sunderland in, what was then, a Premier League match. It stands to this day as the most boring game of football I have ever watched. So bad I wished there was a way both teams could lose. Ended 0-0.
nothingandnemo@reddit
I saw Exeter lose to Bath at home, in a riveting 9-6 contest in the pouring rain, where they ran out of pasties. Never has something so dull aroused such passionate fury in me
JMCity97@reddit
I stupidly thought you were referencing an (association) football score and assumed you were being sarcastiv about the level of entertainment!
nothingandnemo@reddit
Regardless of the score, the failure to adequately stuff me with pasties is a deadly sin
Fun-Brush5136@reddit
Ashes match at Edgbaston. Muggy weather. Australia in all day, grinding out runs slowly. I think we got one wicket all day.
Making the beer snake was more interesting
billyryanwill@reddit
Also there. At least being live the Hollies was entertaining, must have been worse on TV. Matthew Wade century confirmed what a terrible day it was.
Fun-Brush5136@reddit
Hollies was fun but they ran out of new chants to sing by about lunchtime!
foodygamer@reddit
I was there and can concur, pretty dismal viewing.
Justinian482@reddit
I lived in SW London for a bit and went to watch the boat race. Cambridge Uni were playing Oxford Uni at football at Craven Cottage as a warm up so we went to watch it 'for a laugh'.
Utterly dire with a very low level of ability, you could have found a better match to watch in any park that day. Tiny, bored crowd. Someone won 1-0. It didn't even have the edginess of a shit Conference match. Not one single redeeming second. 0/10
Rgf279@reddit
Czech Republic 1 - 0 Scotland, qualifying match for the 2012 Euros.
With the national team already struggling (even by Scottish standards!) Craig Levein sent the team out in a 4-6-0 formation with no strikers.
Fearless-Hedgehog661@reddit
Aye, let's play the Barcelona formation, without the calibre of player to make it work. Didn't seem to have a plan B either.
There's also:
Czechoslovakia 1-0 Scotland, 1974 World Cup qualifying. Scotland had already qualified, then after the Czechs took an early lead, through a 15th minute penalty, neither side wanted to play. It was a complete non event of a game.
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
Bury 0 - 1 Sheffield United
I went there with my Dad as a kid. I think Brian Deane scored the only goal from a corner.
What made it so bad was a mix of our seats being so low down and the miserable foggy weather making it so hard to see much of anything that nobody was really sure we'd scored until the players got back to the half-way line. Miserable afternoon even though we won.
LovlehKebab@reddit
Sheffield United vs Blackburn Rovers - Aug/September 2006. United had two penalties, Blackburn had one, the game ended 0-0..
cvslfc123@reddit
England 1-2 Iceland
HMSWarspite03@reddit
England v Scotland 2012 Murrayfield.
England won 13-6 but it was dire, nothing exciting happened for 90% of the game.
I remember sitting up in the God's with my mate and just about everyone within earshot was saying just how crap the game was.
el_duderino_316@reddit
My football team dropped into the fifth tier a few years back, and got stuck down there for four years.
One of the worst games I can recall was a 4-1 hiding at home to Woking. Dark days.
UnspeakableGnome@reddit
A three day county cricket match between Worcestershire and iirc Kent. Five hourse of play in total over the three days. For some reason the impires decided that they should start the final session despite the fact there was zero possibility of a result and it wasn't exactly good conditions to play in. Two teams that didn't want to be out there playing to get it over with.
Breakwaterbot@reddit
Lincoln away against Coventry in December 2019.
At the time, Coventry didn't have their own stadium due to having a fall out with the Ricoh so they were playing their home games at St Andrews (Birmingham's ground).
The attendance was absolutely abysmal. We were the away team and took as many fans as Cov did. There were about 5,000 fans in a 30,000 capacity stadium. The atmosphere was shocking.
It was cold that day, and wet. We also ended up losing 1-0 after they scored relatively early and just sat back. That goal was the only shot of the whole game.
sully-_-420@reddit
Every LFC game over the past 12 months. Absolute dross
ProfessionalEven296@reddit
This!! Salah had it right - Slots team has given up on Klopps Heavy Metal approach to a game. Slot just doesn’t have passion, and that’s reflected in the team. It was painful to watch!
sully-_-420@reddit
I cant watch it anymore. Been a fan since 87 so obviously seen us play some awful football over the years, but slot has completely sucked the soul out of the club. He's got to go before he ruins us beyond repair
Funny-Seesaw-2977@reddit
France 2016: Northern Ireland 0 - Poland 1, in Nice.
Was so excited to travel to see NI in their first major tournament since Mexico ‘86, had a great day sinking beers with the fans the day before, then spent the day of the match at some beach club swimming and drinking rose before heading to the match that evening. Great atmosphere on the bus drinking beers with the Poland fans, got to the stadium, it’s totally dry with only non alcoholic beer available, boiling hot and we’re sat right in the sun, absolutely awful game of football with 2 day hangover starting to kick in, followed by queuing afterwards for over 2 hours to get a “shuttle bus” back into town. Total shite
foodygamer@reddit
Stoke City Vs Norwich in the Premier League as a neutral.
Finished 1-0 Norwich, 1 shot on target in the entire match which Norwich scored until the 83rd minute when Stoke had a pot shot from about 45 yards that just floated to the keeper.
WinkyNurdo@reddit
Any friendly match, at any level, in any sport. Literally pointless.
revrobuk1957@reddit
The only sports match I’ve been to was Tranmere Rovers vs Grimsby in the late sixties so I guess that’s it!
MKBRD@reddit
United 2 - 2 Fulham, February 2014
The famous "81 crosses" game.
That was the moment I knew David Moyes had to go. It wasn't the result, it wasn't even the 81 crosses - it was the way he celebrated after Carrick put us ahead, as though it was a cup final, and "81 crosses" was his master plan all along. And then Bent equalised a few minutes later for the draw.
Put simply, the most uninspired United performance I have ever seen. And we've had some absolute shockers over the years. We didn't even lose, but it was actually embarrassing to me. That team were the League champions at that point and while they were getting on a bit and in need of a rebuild, they were certainly more than capable of putting Fulham to bed.
It was everything United shouldn't be.
https://youtu.be/-A3STXzFrTQ?si=70BjfCp4GAmB2Gun
HiCabbage@reddit
Arsenal 0-3 City, 1 March 2018. We'd just lost to them in the League Cup final a few days beforehand, it was fking freezing, and the stadium was half-empty bc people couldn't be arsed to watch us lose again in the cold, so I didn't even have the body heat insulation of the people I sit with. And we were terrible. It was so grim.
Have just looked up Arseblog's post from the following day: "ARSENAL 0-3 MAN CITY: WENGER’S EMIRATES VISION IN RUINS, BUT HE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME" 🥲
Carnste@reddit
The 2024 EURO final. I travelled all the way to Germany and followed the team from Düsseldorf to the final, then we lose. Never been so gutted (and drunk) in my life.
BowiesFixedPupil@reddit
Seeing as it's you asking, I went to Scotland Vs New Zealand in the Rugby one time. I'd never been to watch a Rugby Union match before but sat at the back of Murrayfield to watch Scotland get trounced 49-3, I haven't felt a desire to return.
10BAW@reddit
The Scottish Heavyweight boxing title fight a few years ago. They'd waited years to have two Heavyweights and these were diabolical (but dont tell them I said that).
flashdonut@reddit
England 0 - 0 Sweden. 1999 at (the old) Wembley.
Four of us got tickets and travelled down from Bradford. Worst game of football I have ever seen.
qualityvote2@reddit
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