Last weekend France almost pulled off an iconic sporting comeback on the biggest stage of all. Both Liverpool and Manchester United can lay claim to the greatest Champions League final comeback while the Reds also pulled off a major shock against Barcelona at Anfield in 2019.
On the biggest stages, these heroics are seen all around the world. But what about those comebacks that happened way before the days of Sky Sports, Roy Keane and online fan channels?
Arguably the greatest of the lot, was a true Christmas miracle. On this day 65 years ago, Bill Shankly’s Huddersfield Town travelled to Charlton Athletic for a Second Division clash. Aside from the legendary manager, who would go on to win three league titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup for Liverpool in his 15 year tenure, it was poised to be a fairly run of the mill encounter.
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Charlton were in the hunt for promotion for the top flight, while Huddersfield, with a 17-year-old Denis Law injured in the stands, were a mid-table outfit. It promised to be a decent match given the two sides had drawn 3-3 earlier in the season, but none of the 12,535 that bothered to turn up on that chilly December day could truly believe what they were about to witness.
A 7-6 thriller, arguably the greatest comeback of all time and a scoreline that has never been repeated in the English Football League. No other English side has scored six goals in professional football and ended on the losing side, to this day. Given Charlton’s defensive record from the previous season, when the Addicks conceded 120 as they finished bottom of the First Division, perhaps a freak result wasn’t so out of the ordinary.
Regarded as the Terriers ‘most successful failure’ in their history, it all started swimmingly for the Yorkshire side, as they dominated the newly-relegated title hopefuls. Charlton manager Jimmy Trotter had replaced Jimmy Seed in 1956 as Seed’s 23-year tenure at the Valley came to an end, but he was dealt a poor hand early on in this encounter.
In the days before substitutes were even a thing, let alone seven coming on for France in the 2022 World Cup final, injuries were just part of the game. So when captain Derek Ufton dislocated his shoulder after 17 minutes, he was taken to hospital and Charlton had to play on with ten men.
The visitors took full advantage and with a 2-0 lead at the break, looked certain to take home all two points. Doesn’t quite sound the same does it? However, whatever forward Johnny Summers had on his slices of orange at half-time clearly worked as he pulled one back for the hosts, but Huddersfield would stretch their lead to 5-1.
Charlton, with five forwards on the pitch as was tradition back in those days, just couldn’t defend and the Terriers took full advantage. With an hour played, the game looked dead and buried, but one tactical tweak changed the course of the match. Manager Trotter told the press after the game: "Things had not been coming off for Summers so I moved him from inside-left to centre-forward. As a last resort, I switched him to outside-left, his last chance to make good. How well he took it!"
That change saw Summers unleash fury on the terrified Terriers defence. Two goals in two minutes, one from Summers and one from Jonny ‘Buck’ Ryan made it 5-3, before the 30-year-old went on a solo mission to turn the game around.
He scored three goals in a row, to take his tally for the match to five to put Charlton 6-5 up and the Valley crowd were in raptures. However, Huddersfield came back again to level through Stan Howard in the 86th minute, before the dramatic and match-winning moment came.
Here’s how it was reported in the Huddersfield Examiner, 65 years ago.
"A spectator, breathing down the back of my neck said in agonised tones, 'For pity's sake, referee, blow the whistle.' Everybody, it seemed, was content with a draw.
"But the throw-in was taken. The ball travelled across the field. There was no apparent danger. Conwell was moving for an interception. Then - disaster! He lost his foothold in the mud and Ryan was left to race on his own towards goal.
"Kennon came out. It was all he could do. Ryan shot. It was not a hard drive and Kennon's attempt to divert it merely sent it up in the air. It had not enough velocity to go over the crossbar and fell into the empty net. Plucky Charlton - but, oh, so lucky!”
Charlton had come back from 5-1 down with ten men to secure an utterly heroic win. Huddersfield players left the pitch and complained that orange peel and other small objects were thrown at them, while Shankly was left to come to terms with his most shocking defeat.
A player scoring five in one game is outrageous. Doing so in a side with ten men is insane. Winning the game from 5-1 down? Bonkers. 65 years ago, Charlton Athletic did all three.
