What is the biggest football scoreline without anyone grabbing a hat-trick? | The Knowledge

The Guardian Sport3h ago10 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

QPR scored six goals against Pompey with three players netting doubles, raising questions about the highest scoreline without a hat-trick. Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, and Liverpool have all achieved significant wins without a player scoring three goals.

Key points

QPR scored six goals against Pompey with three players scoring doubles
Nottingham Forest won 7-0 against Chelsea in April 1991
Newcastle beat Sheffield United 8-0 in 2023
Liverpool achieved two 9-0 victories without hat-tricks

“QPR recently scored six goals against Pompey with three players scoring a double each,” begins Dan Trelfer. “This threw up a few questions.”

So it did. Let’s take Dan’s questions one at a time.

1) What’s the most number of goals a team has scored in a game without a player scoring a hat-trick?

Our readers recalled at least three examples of teams hitting double figures without anybody staking a claim to the match ball. Before we get to those games, let’s round up some hat-trickless hammerings from the English top flight.

Nottingham Forest thrashed Chelsea 7-0 at the City Ground in April 1991, with Stuart Pearce and a teenage Roy Keane scoring twice. Newcastle beat Sheffield United 8-0 in 2023 (see below), and Liverpool have had two 9-0 victories. Crystal Palace (1989) and Bournemouth (2022) were the unfortunate opposition.

And so to double figures. Chris Matterface and Michael Pilcher both mentioned Gillingham’s 10-0 hammering of Chesterfield in 1987-88. “Howard Pritchard, David Shearer, George Shipley and Karl Elsey all scored twice,” writes Chris, “but nobody went home with the match ball.”

From Priestfield back to Anfield, where Liverpool have had so many huge victories over the years – including a record 11-0 win over Norwegian side Strømsgodset in the Cup Winners’ Cup of 1974-75. “Nine outfield players scored,” writes Michael Haughey, “and two Phils – Boersma and Thompson – got a brace each.”

Phil Thompson shoots past Stromsgodset goalkeeper Inge Thun to score Liverpool’s third goal.

Phil Thompson slots home Liverpool’s third, the first of his two goals, in the 11-goal tonking of Strømsgodset. Photograph: Richard Williams/Mirrorpix

Liverpool’s haul was matched by Australia against Samoa in a World Cup qualifier 25 years ago. Australia had already won 22-0 against Tonga and 31-0 against American Samoa in their group. Pretty hard to rack up those scorelines without a hat-trick, but they did manage it in an victory. Aurelio Vidmar, David Zdrilic, Archie Thompson and Tony Popovic all scored twice.