It doesn’t happen like that: unusual circumstances of match cancelations and stoppages

Every day, hundreds of thousands of soccer matches are played around the world at many different levels. However, in some situations the game has to be canceled or stopped. History knows many such cases. Mostly it happens because of natural disasters, clashes of fans or threat to the safety of players. But sometimes the reasons for canceling or stopping matches are so bizarre that they cause a special resonance in the sports world. We have picked out 5 of the most unusual cases when match organizers had to face extraordinary problems.

To keep the legs breathing

In 1948, the Indian national team shocked the entire European soccer world. At the Olympics in London, the players decided to play in cleats only when it rained or on a viscous field. In all other cases they did not want to change their soccer traditions and played barefoot. If the weather conditions suited the Indians, before the match, they wrapped their feet in a kind of sweatbands, with the toes sticking out. For example, in the game against France, only the goalkeeper and defenders wore boots. And since India used in that match crazy by the standards of modern soccer scheme 2-3-5, where 2 – the number of defenders, barefoot on the field ran as many as 8 out of 11 players.

Indian soccer players play barefoot

FIFA soon banned players from going out without boots. India thus became the first and last team to play without shoes at a major international tournament.
It is believed that it was the reluctance to play in boots that led to the team’s refusal to participate in the final of the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. However, many cite another reason: the country simply did not have enough money to send its national team to Brazil.

Darkness on the pitch

In 1961, England’s Gillingham had to travel to visit Barrow. Since the hosts did not have a stadium equipped with floodlights, the match was scheduled for daytime to be played before dark. It would seem that the problem was solved, and the footballers from Jillingham only had to get up early to arrive in the north of the country, at Barrow Stadium in the afternoon. But in reality, things turned out to be much more complicated.

First of all, the Jillingham players missed their train. They could not wait for the next one, as they would have lost too much time and would have received a technical defeat. Therefore, the club management had to go to the emergency measures – to rent an airplane, which at that time was an unacceptable luxury for a soccer club from a small English town. The team flew to Blackpool, from which there was still 70 kilometers of travel. In the end, the players got to the stadium by car, accompanied by a police escort. In the camp “Barrow” to the last waited for guests and time after time postponed, but not canceled the game. As it turned out, not in vain: the teams gathered, the fans filled the stands, and the starting whistle still sounded.

Jillingham players on the field

However, this match, apparently, was not destined to take place. On 76 minutes, with the score 7:0 in favor of Barrow, the referee decided to end the game. And why do you think that was? Because it was getting dark. The Football League decided not to call a replay of the match and leave the result, in which the teams left the field, and the footballers “Jillingham” returned home without adventure and without points.

It’s too cold, let’s play tomorrow

The match between “Lincoln City” and “Coventry” in the third round of the FA Cup – 1962/63 was scheduled for January 5, but because of the frost, the match had to be postponed for a few days. And then a few more days. And another. Nature did not want this game to take place. A total of 15 attempts were made to set a date, until finally, after 3 months and 1 day, on March 6, the meeting was not held. It seems that the Coventry players were very annoyed by the endless postponements and decided to take their anger out on the Lincoln City players. The match ended in a rout – 5:1 in favor of Coventry.

“Lincoln City” at the match, 1957

Sorcerer in goal

If scouts of European top clubs learned that Rwandan goalkeeper Mohamud Mossi can not only kick balls, but also chase away evil spirits, the transfer value of Mohamud would certainly exceed the budget of his African homeland.

In 2003, during an African Cup of Nations qualifying match between Rwanda and Uganda, Mossi lit a bonfire right in his team’s goal to chase away the evil spirits that could prevent the success of his national team. It is unclear how the goalkeeper managed to sneak the flammable mixtures onto the pitch, but the performance caused the match to be halted for half an hour until players from both teams and firefighters managed to put out the fire, which almost spread to the stands.

Mossi’s sorcery helped: the goalkeeper did not concede a goal and Rwanda won 1-0. Uganda tried to appeal the result of the match and award the opponent a technical defeat for the fire on the pitch, but was denied.

The most loyal goalkeeper in history

The circumstances surrounding the cancelation of the 1937 English Championship match between Chelsea and Charlton were not strange at all, and at first this story seems completely ordinary. The teams played the game on Christmas Day in a very heavy fog. At one point the referee decided to end the match due to poor visibility, and all the players left the field. All except the Charlton goalkeeper, the legendary Sam Bartram.

Goalkeeper Sam Bartram in front of the goal

Later in his autobiography he recalled:

“Shortly after kick-off, the fog began to thicken over the Chelsea goal. The thick fog was advancing evenly towards my goal. The first to disappear from sight was Chelsea goalkeeper Vic Woodley. The referee suspended play for a while and after a few minutes, when the fog began to clear, the referee signaled for the match to continue. The game and territorial advantage was ours and I watched as ours attacked the other side’s goal. As ours were on the attack at the other side’s goal, I began to distinguish less and less of my comrades.

I paced back and forth along the goal line and was glowing with happiness that our boys were chasing down Chelsea in their half of the pitch. Some time passed and I started to move towards the try line, peering into the murk. The Blues’ defense was clearly exhausted, I thought. Finally, I saw a figure of some sort, “What are you doing here? The match was canceled a quarter of an hour ago. The pitch is completely empty,” it was a policeman. When I reached the locker room, my teammates had already showered and were convulsing with laughter”.