In the history of the European Cup, which was founded in 1955, and the Champions League, which replaced the European Cup in 1992, British clubs have won the competition on 15 occasions. Liverpool, with six wins, in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005 and 2019, has been the most successful British club, followed by Manchester United, with three wins, in 1968, 1999 and 2008, and Nottingham Forest and Chelsea, with two wins apiece, in 1979 and 1980, and 2012 and 2021, respectively. The only other British clubs to win the most prestigious club tournament in Europe, so far, have been Celtic, in 1967, and Aston Villa, in 1981.
Indeed, a 2-1 victory over Internazionale, a.k.a. Inter Milan, at Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on May 25, 1967, made Celtic the first British Club to win the European Cup. At that stage, the European Cup was contested by the champions, and only the champions, of domestic leagues throughout Europe, such that Celtic qualified as champions of Scottish Football League Division One. The tournament format was straight, but double-legged, knockout, with the total aggregate score over home and away ties to count as the result.
The Bhoys made serene progress through the first two rounds, beating FC Zurich 2-0 at home and 3-0 away, and Nantes 3-1 home and away to set up a quarter-final clash with FK Vojvodina who, at the time, were one of the most successful clubs in the former Yugoslavia. Celtic lost the first leg, at the Gradski Stadium in Novi Sad, 1-0, but won the second leg, at Celtic Park, Glasgow, 2-0 to go through 2-1 on aggregrate. A 3-1 win against Czechoslovak champions Dukla Prague at home, followed by a 0-0 draw away, took Celtic through to the final, in which they trailed 1-0 to a seventh-minute penalty scored by Alessandro Mazzola, but recovered to win 2-1 thanks to second-half goals by Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers.
The youngest world heavweight boxing champion in history was Michael Gerard ‘Mike’ Tyson. On November 22. 1986, at the age of 20 years and 145 days, Tyson beat reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick by second-round technical knockout at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada to win his first heavyweight title. ‘Iron Mike’, as Tyson was known because of his colossal strength and devastating punching power, made short work of the 32-year-old Jamaican, knocking him down twice in the second round, before referee stopped the fight after 2 minutes and 35 seconds.
Having tried, and failed, to make the United States team for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, under the tutelage of legendary manager Constantine ‘Cus’ D’Amato, turned professional in 1985, at the age of 18. D’Amato died the following year, by which time Tyson was 11-0-0 as a professional, having won his fights by knockout, or technical knockout, including eight in the first round. Indeed, he was not taken the distance until May 3, 1986, when beating James Mills by unanimous decision over ten rounds at the Civic Centre in Glen Falls, New York.
Tyson continued his devastating unbeaten run until February 11, 1990, by which time he had won, and retained, the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and The Ring heavyweight titles and reigned supreme as undisputed world heavyweight champion. However, on that fateful day, he fought James ‘Buster’ Douglas at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan and, in one of the biggest upsets in boxing, was knocked down – for the first time in his career – in the tenth round and, although he attempted to struggle to his feet, was counted out by referee Octavio Meyran.
In cricket, ‘leg theory’ is an outdated term for a tactic that involves bowling at, or just outside, leg stump, where a batsman taking anything other than an off-stump guard stands. The intention is to cramp the batsman, preventing him from swinging his arms freely, so that he has to play the ball with the bat close to his body. Consequently, it becomes difficult to score runs, especially through the favoured off side, which can lead to frustration and rash decision making on the part of the batsman.
Leg theory can be adopted by fast bowlers or slower, spin bowlers but, in either case, the batsman is encouraged to play the ball into the leg side. Accordingly, the tactic is often complemented by an attacking field, with a cordon of close fielders, in catching positions, on the leg side.
Historically, the most potent, and controversial, example of leg theory was ‘fast leg theory’, a.k.a. ‘Bodyline’, which was developed by England captain Douglas Jardine for the Ashes tour of Australia in 1932/33. To curb the scoring potential of Donald Bradman, widely regarded as the greatest batsman of all time, Jardine utilised the pace and accuracy of opening bowler Harold Larwood to bowl fast, short-pitched deliveries that bounced into the chest of the batsman.
The batsman essentially had the choice of taking evasive action, exposing his wicket or risking painful injury – Australian wicketkeeper Bill Oldfield retired hurt with a fractured skull during the third Test at the Adelaide Oval – or defending himself with the bat and risking being caught out. The Australian Board of Control for International Cricket subsequently complained to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) about ‘unsportsmanlike’ tactics, Jardine threatened to withdraw his team and, eventually, the intervention of Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons was needed to calm the situation.
Probably the first thing to say is that, as far as averages are concerned, darts matches essentially fall into one of three categories. They may be broadcast live, streamed live or neither, such that, in the latter case, averages are based on anecdotal evidence provided by a person, or people, who witnessed the match in question. The second is that, following the demise of the British Darts Organisation (BDO), which went into liquidation in September, 2020, the three-dart average, or points per round (PPR), as popularised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is the most common and meaningful metric.
Three-dart averages in televised matches are obviously the easiest to verify and the world record holder in that respect is Dutch professional Michael van Gerwen. On February 25, 2016, van Gerwen defeated Englishman Michael Smith 7-1 in a Premier League match in Aberdeen, Scotland, achieving a three-dart average of 123.40 in the process. Three years later, on October 14, 2019, in a quarter-final match live streamed from the Barnsley Metrodome at Players Championship 29, Scotsman Peter Wright defeated Polander Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0, averaging a monstrous 123.53.
Anecdotally, though, the highest three-dart average ever recorded in a professional darts match was achieved by the late Kyle Anderson, who tragically died from kidney failure in August, 2021, aged just 33. On April 12, 2015, the Australian defeated Englishman Terry Jenkins 6-1 in Players Championship 5 – again at the Barnsley Metrodome but, at the time, part of the non-televised PDC Pro Tour series of tournaments – courtesy of a remarkable 134.84 average. Anderson reportedly required 10 darts, three times, 11, 12 and 15 darts to win his six legs and was on a finish of 46 after nine darts in the only leg he lost.