149-0…Cricket’s…Sorry Football’s Biggest Ever Wins!

Despite a Copa America semi-final and Under 21 European Championship final, probably the most eyebrow-raising result last night emerged from Estonia.

Paide hammered Raudteetoolised 31-0 in the Estonian Cup, with one striker bagging NINE goals.

In March, Hearts’ 10-0 demolition of Cowdenbeath was a rare example of a British team reaching double figures in modern football. However, it was far from their record score – a 21-0 trouncing of Anchor 135 years ago.

Here’s a look at other large wins and the stories behind them.

Arbroath 36-0 Bon Accord
The Scots have a reputation for stinginess but it doesn’t seem to stretch to some of their football teams’ defences.

This match, in the same year as Hearts’ record win, held the record for biggest margin of victory for over 115 years.

The signs were ominous for this Scottish Cup tie when the away side arrived without a kit, but it could have been worse. The referee regretted disallowing seven more goals, stating he couldn’t keep up with the Hearts’ attack to determine if the strikes were legitimate.

The Arbroath keeper had such an easy afternoon he spent most of the match doing a Steve McClaren and sheltering under a fan’s umbrella. Bizarrely, on the same day just 18 miles away, Dundee Harps beat Aberdeen Rovers 35-0 despite the referee noting 37 goals.

AS Adema 149-0 SO l’Emyrne
Arbroath’s record stood until 2002 amidst farcical scenes in Madagascar’s national championship.

Adema had already been crowned champions and their opponents were irate at previous refereeing decisions that they felt cost them the title. So they decided to protest.

Richard Dunne would have had a field day as they proceeded to score 149 own goals.

Adema’s players didn’t get a touch after the first goal, spending much of the match watching bemused as each kick-off was followed by another own goal.

Despite witnessing football’s record win, both sets of fans demanded a refund, while the SOE coach and some of their players were immediately suspended.

Australia 31-0 American Samoa
This result became so notorious it inspired last year’s critically-acclaimed film “Next Goal Wins”.

America Samoa conceded 217 goals in their first 30 matches so it was no surprise they were beaten by Oceania’s strongest side. Both teams were under-strength with Australia resting several key players.

However, passport issues and the fact that a number of young players were sitting exams decimated America Samoa’s first-choice squad. They started with three 15-year-olds in a side with an average age of 18. Indeed, many of them had never played a game lasting 90 minutes beforehand.

The American Samoa goalkeeper, Nicky Salapu, was so traumatised by the result that he turned to drink.

However, he helped get the defeat out of his system by leaving one controller idle and beating Australia 50-0 on his Playstation.

Plateau United Feeders 79-0 Akurba FC
This result, along with the brilliantly-named Police Machine’s 67-0 win the same day against Babayaro FC, led the Nigerian Football Federation suspending the four teams for “scandalous scorelines”.

Both winning sides were chasing promotion and needed to boost their goal difference significantly.

Akurbu made it to half-time only seven goals down so eyebrows were raised when a second-half capitulation led them conceding another 72.

The four clubs were subsequently banned for 10 years while the match officials, players and club officials involved were banned for life. However a police probe was somewhat undermined by the fact Police Machine represent Nigerian’s police force…