Fifty Footballing Muck-Ups

It was Dutch legend Johan Cruyff who said, ‘Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins matches.’ Some players and clubs just seem to muck things up more than others. No matter who you support, from a non-league to a world class team, there is always the potential for a muck-up to occur. The substitute who was sent off before he came on. The goalkeeper who had his career finished by a collision with a dog on the pitch. The defender who fell asleep in the middle lane of the M1.

The Premier League team who won one match all season. The international side who attacked another team with a chair. The referee who couldn’t count to two. The manager who lasted 10 minutes in a job. The players who were not available as they were in prison. The game in which every single player was sent off. Quoting John Cleese completely out of context from the film Clockwise, ‘It’s not the despair. I can take the despair. It’s the hope I can’t stand.’ And there is always hope that this time your players, your club, your international team will not muck-up. But they probably will.

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