Sport can be cruel sometimes.
We were all extremely sad to see the extent of South Leicester’s problems at the weekend, where they were humbled 240-0 by an established, experienced Bromsgrove RFC side in the Midlands Premier Division.
After losing all of their senior squad in the pre-season following relegation, the side have simply struggled to keep up with the physical and talented demands of these leagues.
The result, however, did get us thinking. What are some of the worst sports results in modern history? Let’s take a little walk through some extraordinary scores as we explore the worst results in various sports over the last 25 years.
Rugby Union:
Let’s start with a relevant score. While the above score may be remarkable, it’s actually not the worst. In 2015, a Belgian rugby club by the name of Kituro claimed the record with a monumental 356-3 victory over Soignies.
It’s time to break that down a bit more. A mammoth 56 tries & a pretty convincing 38 conversions, which works out at around four points every minute over the duration of the eighty minutes.
There’s a little element of politics here, though. Highlights of the game show Soignies team not actually competing, after a number of squad members had left the venue due to the referee being over an hour late. Rather than forfeit the game, the remaining players effectively took part in a no contest game to pick up the ‘loser’s point’.
You know what’s even more strange? Even after a result of this magnitude, Soignies still sat a point about Kituro in the league after this hammering! Point difference, on the other hand, may have been slightly in Kituro’s favour.
Rugby League:
In 2018, York City Knights took on the West Wales Raiders, and secured the biggest ever scoreline in rugby league records with a 144-0 result. This beat the previous winning margin record of 138, held jointly by Huddersfield Giants & Barrow.
In front of 1,081 people, Kieren Moss equalled an all-time record of seven tries in a match (out of a total of 25 tries scored), in a game that was 60-0 at HALF TIME. Imagine the half-time team talks for both sides…
The York Press website, rather harshly (or honestly, as you may look at it) described the ‘Gaffe of the Match’ as being “West Wales’ decision to go on the field”.
Football:
Much like the Rugby Union record, I will warn you; this one has a little bit of politics associated!
A previous record of 36-0 from 1885 in Arbroath’s victory over Bon accord, Madagascan champions AS Adema won 149-0 in 2002.
A referee’s decision, hotly contested by Stade Olympique L’Emyrne, meant that AS Adema didn’t touch the ball between the first goal and the 149th, as the aggrieved visitors deliberably netted 149 own goals in protest. Like it was going to change anything!
It has to be added that Stade Olympique L’Emyrne weren’t exactly a group of no-hopers. They were in fact the Madagascan champions of 2001, known at the time for their impressive run in the AFC Champions League! I have a sneaky suspicion that the cup run has been quickly forgotten about, with a result of this heavily inscribed in the history book!
Hockey:
Researching this one was a struggle! I had to use my head a little more than I wanted to here, not going to lie; although I’m sure it’s not going to be the last sport with a difficult trace.
What I’ve been left with is the official international record, and a result from the men’s 2003 Pan-American Games. On the 2nd August 2003, eventual champions Argentina demolished the Dominican Republic 30-0, with Jorge Lombi securing a triple hat-trick with nine goals!
Play field hockey and know of a local record with a little bit of evidence to back it up? Get in touch and we’ll update accordingly!
Netball:
I knew it. Much like hockey, I’ve had to trawl the depths of the internet to try and bring you what was sure to be a (heavily disputed) score.
Unfortunately, at the moment, I don’t feel comfortable enough with what I’ve found to share with you. The research will continue, and we will try and get something for you in time for part two of this feature next month!
Cricket:
I’m going to keep this nice and simple for you, and provide records for the three main formats of cricket; test, one-day and Twenty20.
Test Cricket: The greatest win margin at test-cricket level in the last 25 years was back in 2001-02, in the match between Australia & South Africa. Australia, after setting a 652-7d, bowled South Africa out for 159 & 133, winning by an innings and 360 runs.
ODI: In terms of one-day performances, 2008 saw a brilliant New Zealand performance outclass a relatively young Ireland side. After setting 402-2, Ireland went about the chase, falling for just 112. 290 is the highest win margin by runs ever posted in ODI history.
Twenty20: As the fast paced, short form of the sport, Twenty20 records are relatively new. That’s why Afghanistan’s record innings total of 278/3 in February 2019 against Ireland is so new! Hazratullah Zazai set an unparalleled 162 for Afghanistan off just 62 balls.
American Football:
I very nearly had to break my own 25 year rule here, but no. A big thank you goes out to the Rockford College team of 2003! Five touchdowns and 334 yards for Marcus Howard set the precedent, with backup running back Isaac Holloway adding to the haul with four touchdowns and 78 yards.
The reason for the difficulties in achieving this feat is better explained this way. Out of 199 100-point games that have been achieved in college football history, 192 took place before 1950.
In terms of top tier college & NFL levels, 2014 saw TCU Horned Frogs (Texas Christian University) beat Texas Tech Red Raiders 82-27 in an absolute mauling, a game that is in fact a huge college football rivalry.
That’s it for Part One of our Surprising Scores feature!
It wasn’t the easiest one to research, I can tell you that much.
Any major shocks there? If you have any sports you’d like us to investigate as part of Part 2, get in touch with us on social media.
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