Arbroath F.C. 36–0 Bon Accord F.C.

Extreme score in association football from 12 September 1885

Football match

Event

Arbroath	Bon Accord

36	0

Date

12 September 1885

Venue

Gayfield Park

Referee

Dave Stormont

Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord is the result of a football match between Arbroath and Bon Accord which took place on 12 September 1885.

It holds the largest margin of victory in an unrigged professional football match. A match between AS Adema and SO l'Emyrne, a thrown game where SO l'Emyrne scored deliberate own goals in a protest against prior officiating decisions, took the title of most goals in a professional football match in 2002.

The referee for this match was Dave Stormont.

Background

Arbroath were drawn against Bon Accord in the first round of the Scottish Cup which was played on 12 September 1885. The lot gave Bon Accord home advantage, but the club decided to switch the tie to Gayfield.

Although Arbroath were only founded seven years earlier in 1878, they were already vastly more experienced than Bon Accord who were only a year old. Some sources state that Bon Accord were really Orion Cricket Club, who had received the entry confirmation from the Scottish FA instead of Orion FC. However, in reality Bon Accord had been formed in 1884 as a bona fide football club, while Orion FC were not formed until October 1885, well after the opening rounds of the Scottish Cup had been played. "Bon Accord" was used to commemorate the watchword that initiated the storming of the Castle of Aberdeen during the Wars of Scottish Independence. At the time, any Scottish-based team could enter the Cup without any previous experience.

A record-breaking game

Bon Accord are said to have arrived for the match without any form of standard football kit, a portent of what was to follow. With the teams being so mismatched, it was likely that Arbroath would win easily, but even in those days when high scoring games were common the result was unprecedented.

Arbroath were 15–0 up by half time, and scored another 21 goals in the second half. The Scottish Athletic Journal at the time wrote The leather was landed between the posts 41 times, but five of the times were disallowed. Here and there, enthusiasts would be seen scoring sheet and pencil in hand, taking note of the goals as one would score runs at a cricket match." Referee Dave Stormont later claimed that had he taken a harder line with the Aberdeen team, Arbroath could have won 43–0. Stormont said: My only regret was that I chalked off seven goals, for while they may have looked doubtful from an offside point of view, so quickly did the Maroons carry the ball from midfield, and so close and rapid was their passing, that it was very doubtful whether they could be offside. Other reports claim only 4 goals were chalked off. It was claimed that Arbroath goalkeeper Jim Milne Sr did not touch the ball in the entire game and spent the whole of the match sheltering from the rain under a spectator's umbrella.

The 18-year-old John Petrie scored 13 goals, still the record for most goals scored in a senior tournament, although it was equalled by Archie Thompson when Australia beat American Samoa 31–0 on 11 April 2001 in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup.

The Bon Accord goal keeper on the day was Andrew Lornie.

Concurrent Dundee Harp match

On the same day, 18 miles (29 kilometres) away in Dundee, Dundee Harp were also playing in the first round of the Scottish Cup against Aberdeen Rovers. Dundee Harp beat Aberdeen Rovers 35–0. The referee noted 37 goals, but Harp's secretary suggested a miscount must have occurred as he had recorded only 35. The match official, acknowledging it was difficult for him to keep accurate details during such a deluge of goals, accepted the lower tally and wired the official score of 35–0 to the Scottish Football Association headquarters.

Bon Accord and Rovers had played each other the previous February, Bon Accord winning 5–3.

Aftermath

In the following rounds of the Scottish Cup, Arbroath beat local rivals Forfar Athletic 9–1 in the second round and Dundee East End 7–1 in the third round before losing 5–3 to Hibernian in the fourth round, scoring a total of 55 goals in that season's Scottish Cup. Bon Accord did win a Cup tie in 1891-92, beating Stonehaven 8–0 away in the first round, but wound up at the end of the season.

To celebrate the historic achievement of the scoreline, the Angus MSP Andrew Welsh tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament in 2000.

In December 2000, Romanian side Carpați Mârșa beat Avântul Dârlos 41–0, but the result was not ratified as it was not in a professional competition, so Arbroath maintained their record. A similar situation arose in May 2016, when Pelileo SC beat Indi Native 44–1 in an Ecuadorian third division match.

On 31 October 2002, Malagasy side AS Adema beat SO l'Emyrne 149–0 in the national championship; while this has been claimed as the record for highest victory margin in a senior football competition, SOE intentionally scored own goals throughout the match as a protest to a refereeing decision in their previous match, meaning Arbroath still holds the record margin of victory for a contested match in senior football.

In March 2012, amateur side Wheel Power FC won 58–0 against Nova 2010 FC, eclipsing the Illogan Reserves' 55–0 victory against Madron FC in the Cornish Mining League in November 2010 to become the biggest win in British football history.

On 2 August 2020, TPS II Winogrady beat Big Show FC 46–0 in a Polish Cup regional tie in Poznań.

Match details

12 September 1885

Arbroath	36–0	Bon Accord
Petrie (13) Munro (7) Robertson (6) Crawford (6) Marshall (2) Tackett (2)

ArbroathReferee: Dave Stormont (Keith)



GK	Jim Milne Sr.
DF	Bill Collie
DF	Tom Salmond
DF	Hen Rennie
DF	Jim Milne Jr.
DF	Dyken Bruce
MF	John Petrie
MF	Johnny Tackett
FW	Jim Marshall
FW	David Crawford
FW	Jim Buick
Match secretary: D. A. Duncan



GK	Andrew Lornie
DF
DF
DF
DF
MF
MF
MF
MF
MF
FW
Secretary:	William M'Lean

Notes and references

"Bon Accord v Arbroath". Bridge of Allan Gazette: 3. 19 September 1885.
"Orion v Bon-Accord". Aberdeen Journal: 6. 9 November 1885.
^ A day when Scottish football scorched the record books The Scotsman, retrieved 14 July 2007. Archived from the original Archived 14 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine on 27 March 2008.
Arbroath FC Official History Arbroath FC, retrieved 14 July 2007. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007.
"Bon Accord v Arbroath". Stirling Saturday Observer: 3. 17 September 1885.
"Arbroath v Bon-Accord (Aberdeen) - Extraordinary Farce". Dundee Courier & Argus: 3. 15 September 1885.
Goals,Goals,Goals Footballsite.com, retrieved 25 June 2016
"Football". Aberdeen Journal: 6. 9 February 1885.
Scottish Cup results 1885–86 Archived 19 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Soccerbase.com, retrieved 14 July 2007
Scottish Parliament business bulletin 8 December 2000 Archived 9 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine Scottish Parliament, retrieved 14 July 2007
"Arbroath retain world record". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 December 2000. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
Ogston, Graeme (26 May 2016). "Arbroath's record win safe despite Ecuadorian side's 44–1 victory". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
"Madagascan champions win 149–0". The Guardian. 1 November 2002. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
"Wheel Power FC race to British record 58–0 win". espn.co.uk. 23 March 2012.
"Amateur team Wheel Power FC inflict 'heaviest defeat in British history', 58-0". metro.co.uk. 22 March 2012.
"We're the pits: manager admits football team is 'probably worst in Britain'". The Guardian. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
"TPS II Winogrady Poznań rozgromiło Big Show FC Poznań w Pucharze Polski". polsatsport.pl (in Polish). Polsat Sport. 2 August 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
"Bon Accord v Arbroath". Perthshire Herald: 3. 19 September 1885.

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