A SLIDING doors moment is a popular term defined as a ‘tiny, seemingly inconsequential moment that can alter the trajectory of future events’.
A 2019 survey claimed that 80 per cent of British people have experienced one, although its very nature means we can only recognise them in hindsight.
For example, most of our friendships are made through circumstances out of our control, however much we would claim otherwise.
Arrive at a destination five minutes before or after you intended and opportunities that seem pre-ordained would not exist. This would seemingly prove that human experience is fragile and largely reliant upon chance.
This applies equally to football, a sport overflowing with ‘what-if’ moments.
Supporters of every club cling onto snapshots of time that insulate them against cold-hearted reality. Better to believe that your team were a fraction away from glory than never in the running at all.
For supporters of West Ham United one season encapsulates the phenomenon. In 2002/03, the club were relegated from the Premier League with 42 points – a tally that has never since been matched by a relegated side in England’s top flight.
The previous year an editorial in the magazine When Saturday Comes lamented the lack of ‘eyebrow-raising relegations’ in the first decade of the Premier League – West Ham’s relegation saw numerous pairs of eyebrows requiring planning permission in a different postcode.
The Telegraph claimed that 42 points gave a team a 98.4 per cent chance of survival, meaning West Ham’s relegation was a two-in-one-hundred occurrence. This statistical anomaly saw one of the most talented squads in the club’s history sold piece-by-piece, mostly to local rivals Chelsea and Tottenham.
Bu hikaye Late Tackle Football Magazine dergisinin August - September 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Late Tackle Football Magazine dergisinin August - September 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
PASSING THE BATON
NOTTS COUNTY FAN IAN KIRKE REFLECTS ON AN UNFORGETTABLE DAY AT MEADOW LANE...
CHEEKY CHARLIE
TOM GREEN LOOKS AT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CHARLIE MITTEN, WHO WENT FROM BURMA TO BOGOTA VIA OLD TRAFFORD
HAPPY WITH OUR LOT
WATFORD FAN JONNY BRICK IS QUITE CONTENT WITH HIS TEAM NEVER GOING UP AND NEVER GOING DOWN...
LIFE AFTER THE CUP HEROICS
BEN SMITH LOOKS AT THE REALITY FOR MAIDSTONE UNITED FOLLOWING THEIR STINT IN THE SPOTLIGHT...
JAMES RODRIGUEZ TEN YEARS ON
DANIEL MOFFAT LOOKS AT THE CAREER OF THE COLOMBIA STAR
AND SMITH DOES SCORE
BARNABY ROSTANT LOOKS AT THE CAREER OF EVERGREEN CENTRE-FORWARD MATT SMITH..
JUST HOW DO YOU REPLACE JURGEN KLOPP?
ROBERT J WILSON ON THE CHALLENGE AHEAD FOR LIVERPOOL AS THEIR INSPIRATIONAL GERMAN BOSS PREPARES TO WALK AWAY...
FIGHT TO THE FINISH
JOHN LYONS LOOKS AT HOW THE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE RACE IS SHAPING UP AS WE APPROACH SQUEAKY-BUM TIME..
GIANT-KILLING CANARIES
SAM TODD RECALLS WHEN NORWICH CITY ENJOYED A SENSATIONAL FA CUP RUN 65 YEARS AGO...
HOWARD'S WAY
LIFELONG BIRMINGHAM CITY SUPPORTER KEITH DIXON RECALLS WHEN HOWARD KENDALL HELPED SAVE THE BLUES FROM RELEGATION HALF A CENTURY AGO...