On 4 November 1909, future US World Cup hero Bert Patenaude was born in Fall River, Massachusetts.
A prolific forward, Patenaude began his football career in 1928 with Philadelphia FC. But after only eight matches there (and one with J&P Coats) he moved to his hometown team, the Fall River Marksmen. There, he won three American Soccer League titles (1928-29, Fall 1929, Spring 1930) and the 1930 National Challenge Cup (the forerunner of the current US Open Cup).
He was called up to the US national team in 1930, just in time to take part in the first World Cup. He scored a goal in the US opener against Belgium, then made history by scoring the tournament's first-ever hat-trick as the US beat Paraguay 3-0. After Argentina ended the US run in their next match, Patenaude and his teammates toured South America, but he never played for the US again in a competitive match. In total, he was capped 4 times, scoring 6 goals.
Returning to the States, he played for a number of teams before retiring in 1936. He returned to Fall River, where he died on 4 November 1974--his 65th birthday.
On 3 November 1987, Arsenal defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, starting the Blues' club-record run of 21 league matches without a win.
It was a surprising turn for Chelsea, who had gotten off to a high-flying start for the season, winning 6 of their first 9 matches. By the time the Gunners arrived in week 15, the Blues had suffered a small dip in form, but were still sitting comfortably at 6th place in the Division One table. Meanwhile, the Gunners had gone on a tear, winning 9 of their last 10 to arrive at Stamford Bridge in the top spot.
Arsenal proceeded to win 1-3, triggering a Chelsea slide that saw them go another 20 matches without a win (the last match in that series was a 1-1 draw with Arsenal). The poor run of results cost manager John Hollins his job, as the club sacked the former Chelsea captain in March. The Blues finally won again against Derby County on 9 April 1988, but it was their last league win of a season that ended in relegation.
On 2 November 1997, football featured on The Simpsons for the first--but not last--time.
That day's episode, titled "The Cartridge Family," centered on the problems created by Homer's purchase of a handgun. But it opened with the Simpson family attending a match between Mexico and Portugal, lured by the possibility of getting autographs from stars such as "Ariaga, Ariaga II, Bariaga, Aruglia, and Pizzoza!" There's also an appearance by Pelé, who receives a sack of cash for promoting Crestfield Wax Paper.
The Springfield crowd soon gets bored with the match (in contrast to the foreign announcer, based onAndrés Cantor, who loudly describes the action as the "center holds it! Holds it! HOLDS IT!") and erupts into violence. It starts when Lenny punches Principal Skinner, but turns into a full-blown riot when Groundskeeper Willie and his Scottish friends jump into the fray. After it spreads out of the stadium, Mayor Quimby declares mob rule, which results in Homer getting a gun.
Football returned to The Simpsons 10 years later with a guest appearance by Ronaldo.
On 1 November 1952, Gillingham's Jimmy Scarth entered the record books by scoring what was, at the time, the Football League's fastest hat-trick.
The accomplishment came in a Division Three (South) match against Leyton Orient, played at Gills' home ground, Priestfield Stadium. It was shaping up to be a dismal season for Gillingham, who on the day were sitting in 17th place out of 24 teams. Orient were right behind them in the 18th spot, giving the contest the appearance of an early relegation battle.
Scarth had just joined Gillingham that year from Tottenham. Although part of the Spurs side that won the League in 1951, Scarth never fully found his form at White Hart Lane, making only 7 league appearances (and scoring only 3 goals) between 1948 and 1952. Surprisingly, he matched that tally against Orient alone.
Initial reports record his hat-trick as coming in at 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the fastest in Football League history at the time. The record fell in 2004, when Bournemouth's James Hayter scored a hat-trick of his own in 2 minutes, 20 seconds. Subsequent reports claim that Scarth's goals spanned 2 minutes flat, but the League recognizes only the originally reported time.
On 31 October 2002, AS Adema won a match by the world record scoreline of 149-0. Adema, however, didn't score any of those goals.
The match came in the final round of Madagascar's THB Champions League tournament, played among three teams in a round robin format. The reigning champions, Stade Olympique de L'Emyrne Antananarivo (SOE), had been eliminated in their previous match by a controversial last-minute penalty decision, making Adema the new champions with one match to spare--against SOE.
With nothing at stake, SOE decided to use the match against Adema as a stage to protest their elimination. They kicked off and proceeded to put the ball directly into their own net. As Adema's players watched in astonishment, SOE continued to score an own goal from each successive kickoff, resulting in the final scoreline of 149-0, a margin recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest ever.
Afterward, the Fédération Malagasy de Football suspended SOE's manager for three years. Four of SOE's players also received suspensions.
On 30 October 2008, Nigerian midfielder Soo Adekwagh got her team off to a blazing start against South Korea in the 2008 U-17 Women's World Cup by scoring after only 22 seconds.
Hosted by New Zealand, the 2008 tournament was the first FIFA-sponsored U-17 women's world championship. The tournament started two days earlier, but Nigeria and South Korea met on the first match day for Group D, which also included England and Brazil.
Playing before a crowd of 11,500 at Wellington Stadium, Nigeria kicked off. Adekwagh (pictured, right) received the ball and fired a dipping shot toward goal. The ball surprised Korea's keeper, Lee Hyo Ju, who was unable to prevent it from going into the net. At 22 seconds, the goal bettered the previous record of 30 seconds, set by Sweden's Lena Videkull in 1991, as the fastest goal in FIFA women's history.
Nigeria proceeded to win the match 2-1, but were eliminated in the group stage after a loss to England and a draw with Brazil. South Korea rallied to win the group, but were themselves ousted by the United States in the first knockout round.
On 29 October 1933, Switzerland and Romania drew 2-2 in a World Cup qualifier. FIFA, however, later concluded that the Romanians had used an ineligible player and awarded the Swiss a 2-0 win instead.
The controversial match was the second in the three-team qualification group that also included Yugoslavia. The Swiss had already drawn with Yugoslavia, while Romania had not yet played. The teams met at the Wankdorf Stadion in Bern, where the visitors went up 0-2 with goals from forwards Gratian Sepi (18') and Stefan Dobay (65'). Switzerland pulled back within one after a score from forward Erwin Hochstrasser (75'), then midfielder Ernst Hufschmid converted an 80th-minute penalty to earn what they thought was a draw.
After the match, Swiss officials complained to FIFA that Romania had illegally included forward Iuliu Baratky (pictured). Baratky had made nine appearances for Hungary between 1930 and 1933, making him ineligible to play for neighboring Romania. In response, FIFA recorded the match as a 2-0 Swiss victory. Romania went on to defeat Yugoslavia 2-1 to qualify for the tournament anyway.
Meanwhile, Baratky continued to play for them, making a total of 20 appearances and scoring 14 goals from 1933 to 1940.
On 4 November 1909, future US World Cup hero Bert Patenaude was born in Fall River, Massachusetts.
