the day hyde fc lost 26 - 0 hyde fc hold the dubious record for the biggest ever competitive defeat in english football when they were beaten 26–0 by preston north end in a match at deepdale in 1887. deepdale is recognised as the oldest professional footballing site in the world so if hyde fc were going to lose properly then why not here!
here is a newspaper cutting describing the game. the cutting is from the newspaper ,the north cheshire herald ,or just plain old reporter to most , dated october 1958.
preston 26 – hyde 0
anyone with an interest in football is able to reel off certain facts. they can tell you the first winners of the fa cup, the record goal scorer for their team, who got the most caps for england etc.etc. a special favourite however is hyde’s 26-0 defeat at the hands of preston north end 100 years ago, on october 15th, 1887. the game was played at deepdale and has taken on legendary proportions. people will tell you that hyde’s players were drunk or that the referee lost track of time, but press reports of the time bear out none of this. preston, just about the best club in the world at that time wanted the game played in midweek so they could complete their scheduled fixture with west bromwich. hyde declined, so the ‘ınvincibles’ fielded their strongest side. a match report would be pointless – those published merely gave a list of who scored each goal. for the record, dewhurst got 3, drummond 2, jimmy ross 7, graham 2, thomson 4, gordon 5, jack ross, russell and goodall got 1 goal each. the half time score was 12-0. there is evidence that the first substitute appeared in the match… even if he was illegal and unofficial. after the 3rd goal in the 17th minute hyde’s centre-half ‘bowers’ left the pitch injured. later another player took his place, against the rules, but preston were not complaining …. they were winning 12-0! astonishingly, hyde’s best player was goalkeeper charles bunyan who is reported as having been “a clinking good opponent”. later he became a coach in belgium and was a major force in establishing soccer there. hyde did eventually get their revenge in 1891, winning 3-1.
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