Iconic Moments in Football No.58
It’s very rare that a tape measure and a pot of paint can cause such excitement but this week’s ‘Iconic Moment’ involves these two items.
A peculiar incident occurred on 30th April 1977 at the old Baseball Ground as Derby County were playing at home to Manchester City in a First Division match.
The Baseball Ground was notorious for having a bad pitch, with it turning into a mudbath in the winter months. Layers of sand were then heaped onto the mud in the summer months to help with drainage. Part of the reason why the pitch was always in bad condition was that the stands around the pitch were so high and that it was also four metres below the street level.
Derby were 3-0 up and coasting against Manchester City with only a few minutes left of the game. Suddenly Archie Gemmill burst in to the penalty area from the right wing was brought down in the area. The referee pointed to the spot to award a penalty.
But there was a problem…The penalty spot had disappeared under the sand and mud! Derby’s Gerry Daly didn’t know what to do or where to put the ball. The referee paced about and tried to work out what could happen next.
John Motson was commentating on the game for the BBC and could barely hide his excitement as he gave a rundown of what was going on in front of him.
‘Well this is extraordinary!’ squealed Motson like an excited schoolboy.
‘There’s certainly some footballing history being made here.I’m sure the penalty spot has never been painted during a First Division match bEfore!’
Eventually Bob Smith, the Derby County groundsman came running around the perimeter of the pitch, paint pot and tape measure in hand. Joe Corrigan in the Manchester City goal began pacing out the distance along the goal line to establish the centre of the goal. From there, the referee took the tape measure out the 12 yards to where the spot should be marked. Smith followed him with his tin of pain and slapped down the paint onto the sandy pitch.
Daly rubbed some san on the first load of paint before a second coat was added. The ball was put on top of the new spot and finally the kick was finally ready to be taken.
Corrigan dived the right way but Daly put enough pace on the ball to blast home Derby’s fourth and final goal of the afternoon.
It was perhaps one of the strangest things ever seen in the Baseball Ground’s history, Derby’s home until 1997 when they moved to Pride Park.
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