Inside Track: England ladies are better at penalties than the menfolk

A question to begin with. It’s maybe one for only quiz buffs, those who are no strangers to sitting around tables in teams of four. They have only pencils in hand - taking a sneaky peep at a mobile would be anathema to them. Maybe.

By that you can take it this is a six-marker, not one for those who only go along to support whatever cause the quiz is for.,

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In what decade was a penalty shoot-out first used to decide a soccer match? It’s not much of a clue to say the game was played in England, and it wasn’t this century.

This means of deciding a match is very much in vogue now. It was only last weekend that the team that’s become known as The Lionesses won the Women’s Euro 2025 in this manner, having also won from the spot in the semi-final. Lucky Lionesses.

Cue for celebrations all over England, but also a reminder of how often in the past the country’s men’s team were foiled in big matches, one of their penalty-takers failing to hit the target.

The GAA has embraced penalty shoot-outs. It was introduced during the Covid period as a means of getting matches decided on the day.

There was none in any match of significance this year – hopefully, when it comes to tweaking the new rules, shoot-outs will get a quick shrift, not that this may be in the FRC’s remit.

The answer to the question. It was in the 1970s, and was first used in the short-lived Wattney Mann Invitation Cup.

This was a pre-season subsidiary competition for the two top-scoring teams each of the four of the previous seasons’ four divisions, but only if they hadn’t qualified for European football.

Manchester United were among the eight, which illustrates as much as anything else the speedy descent of the European champions of just two seasons previously.

Okay, they got goals in the 1969/70 league, but not enough of them to make it back to the continent. (It would be over two decades before United would again would out in the top tier.)

After struggling to get past Reading in the first round, United played Hull City in the semi-final – on this day 55 years ago. Hull went two up, but after pulling one back, United levelled it with a late Denis Law score.

So, it was up to the penalty spot for the first time in a soccer match. George Best was on the mark, but when Law missed, it was down to the wire.

United prevailed 4-3 to qualify for the final with Derby County three days later. No luck here for the former kingpins – they were beaten 4-1 by Brian Clough’s team.

It may have been later when the FA adopted this as a means of deciding matches, but it is now very much in use, in games played throughout the world.