After Coventry City scored this goal in 1970, the FA put on its soberest gray suits and urgently convened in a very serious room where they changed the rules of the game to prevent anything like it from ever happening again. And it’s probably thanks to their diligence that football was not torn apart by a rash of goofiness and whimsy. But I don’t know. Sometimes you just want to see a good donkey kick. Sometimes you can’t help it. This is Willie Carr and Ernie Hunt, scoring the football equivalent of the words “hornswoggle” and “gobsmack” for Coventry City against Everton in October 1970, and this is your historical goal of the week.
Read More: Historical Goals
by Brian Phillips · March 1, 2008
Also: In the face of the overwhelming evidence contained in this clip I have no choice but to admit that old-fashioned kits were not always better. Coventry look they’re waiting for their mom to bring them a glass of water in the middle of the night, and Everton are just a pair of wristbands and their sister’s tasselled handlebars away from being the weird new kid on your street who knows a little too much about fireworks.
Whereas today, Coventry City look like they’re in 17th place in the Championship, and Everton look like they spent too much money buying replica Everton kits. It’s confusing all the way around.
My favourite part of the clip is the ref’s signal for why he’s given the free-kick.
More of this, I say, in the modern game
And here I was just thinking how great those kits are. Is this is a sign of age?
I’m with Sp3ktor, the referee’s little hop rivals that of the player for its hornswoggle-ness.
When I first saw this goal as a kid (not actually in 1970), my friend and I immediately ran to the park and literally spent all afternoon recreating this goal. I can tell you it’s not as easy as it looks (to get both parts right).
Tom, that’s fantastic—I read a Times piece from a few years ago that talked about how after the match every playground in England was full of kids trying to duplicate the donkey kick. Nice to know it wasn’t empty rhetoric. From what I can tell, actually, it’s so difficult that Carr and Hunt didn’t even get it right the first time, but apparently had to try it in a few other matches before they finally got it to come off.
Martha, I don’t know—it might just as well be a case of me trying to hide from mine.
And my God, the referee hop. Just grand.
I remember watching the match highlights on MOTD in 1970. It was the featured match. My brother howled with laughter. I just howled. It was great listening to Harry Catterick talking in his very clipped plummy tones afterwards – managers knew how to speak English in those days, even the English ones – “It shouldn’t be allowed” he said, “It’s like some sort of circus trick !”.
Needless to say, come Monday, the playground was full of kids perfecting their “Donkey kick” technique. Me included.
…oh, and boy don’t Ernie Hunt’s “Lamb chop” sideburns look the business ?
Seriously. Lambs everywhere are demanding an apology.
Fantastic goal. I have no idea why any league in the modern game wouldn’t want a showpiece highlight like that. I know it was thoroughly anti-English, but I say bring back the donkey.