The Historic Night Football Replaced Coin Tosses with Penalty Shootouts

The Historic Night Football Replaced Coin Tosses with Penalty Shootouts

On August 5, 1970, Manchester United and Hull City contested the world's first official penalty shootout, marking a revolutionary moment that would forever change how football decides tied matches.

For decades, football clubs and their supporters had endured an uncertain fate when cup ties remained deadlocked. Coin tosses, drawing lots, and replays had been the standard methods of breaking deadlocks, but frustration with these arbitrary approaches grew increasingly vocal within the sport's governing bodies.

A Call for Change

The catalyst for reform came in 1968 when Israel's national team was eliminated from the Olympic quarter-finals against Bulgaria following a 1-1 draw decided by lot. The decision to draw a slip of paper from a sombrero hat determining the outcome sparked outrage among Israeli football officials. Yosef Dagan, an Israeli Football Association representative, argued passionately that such a method was neither moral nor honourable.

Dagan collaborated with Michael Almog, who would later become chief of the Israeli FA, to develop an alternative system. In their 1969 proposal submitted to FIFA, Almog described the existing method as "an immoral and even cruel system for the losing team and not honourable for the winner." They proposed instead that five players from each side attempt penalties from 11 yards, with sudden-death rules applying if teams remained level.

The International Football Association Board debated the suggestion before officially adopting it at their Annual General Meeting in Inverness on June 27, 1970.

A Match for the History Books

Just over a month later, the world witnessed the new system in action. At Boothferry Park in Hull, Manchester United—featuring legendary players George Best, Bobby Charlton, and Denis Law—faced second-division Hull City in the Watney Cup, a pre-season competition featuring the highest-scoring teams from England's top four divisions.

Chris Chilton gave Hull City the lead after 11 minutes, but Denis Law equalised in the 78th minute, forcing the match into extra time. As the additional 30 minutes elapsed with the score remaining 1-1, both sets of players realised they were about to participate in something unprecedented.

Hull City player Frankie Banks recalled the atmosphere: "The noise was deafening. On paper we didn't stand a chance. We wanted to prove to everybody that although they were the best side probably in the world we could go out and give them a game."

Historic Firsts

The shootout produced a series of momentous milestones:

• George Best became the first player to score in a penalty shootout, striking low into the left corner with his right foot
• Hull City player-manager Terry Neill became the first player-manager to score in a shootout
• Denis Law earned an unwanted distinction as the first player to miss, with his low shot saved by Hull goalkeeper Ian McKechnie
• McKechnie recorded the first save by a goalkeeper in a shootout
• Willie Morgan restored Manchester United's lead with a successful penalty

The final and most dramatic moment came when McKechnie became the first goalkeeper to attempt a penalty in a shootout. His powerful strike struck the crossbar, making him also the first keeper to miss. Manchester United won 4-3.

Frankie Banks later reflected: "Missing that penalty stayed with Ian for the rest of his life."

A Legacy That Endures

The penalty shootout has since become football's primary method for deciding tied matches, though it remains an agonising experience for all involved. Modern statistics show that approximately 24 percent of penalties in shootouts are missed.

The system has decided some of football's most significant competitions. The FIFA World Cup final has gone to penalties three times—in 1994, 2006, and 2022. The 1976 European Championship final between Czechoslovakia and West Germany featured the now-famous audacious chip penalty by Antonin Panenka, creating a technique that would thereafter bear his name.

England's men's national team has experienced particular heartbreak in shootouts, losing seven times at major tournaments through this method. Most recently, Wales saw their World Cup aspirations ended by Bosnia-Herzegovina in a penalty shootout.

Yet despite the decades of development and countless shootouts played since that August evening in Hull, the fundamental truth remains unchanged. For the 11-year-old Hull City supporter Martyn Kelly watching that historic night, each penalty was "agony." More than sixty years later, that sentiment still resonates with football fans worldwide.