i) Wallabies 76 - England 0, 1998: Marked the beginning of the infamous ‘Tour From Hell’ on which England were routed by Australia, the All Blacks and South Africa over four consecutive weekends.
ii) England bowled out for 46 by the West Indies in 1994: And this in a test match we looked set to win. What’s more, in 2009, the Windies turned us over again, this time for just 51!
iii) Liverpool 9 - Crystal Palace 0, 1989: Incredibly the Eagles would turn over Liverpool in a thrilling FA Cup semi-final just six short months later.
iv) Europe 18.5 - American 9.5, 2006: This Ryder Cup defeat was so emphatic that the British & Irish players alone scored more points than their American counterparts.
v) England 3 - Hungary 6: 1953: This Wembley defeat wiped clean away any notion that England might be the best side in the world. As for losing at home, England hadn’t suffered that indignity for some 90 years. Oh, and things went even worse a year later in Budapest when the Magyars massacred us 7-1.
vi) Real Madrid 11 - Barcelona 1, 1943: Hard to imagine a score line like that occurring in a modern-day El Classico.
vii) England 60 - Wales 26, 1998: Pure joy for anyone who grew up in the ‘70s watching JPR Williams, Gareth Edwards and Co run rings around England.
viii) Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks, 1988: Iron Mike was just 22 when he went up against the undefeated Spinks, the man many critics believed had sufficient skill to bring the young pretender to his knees. Ninety-one seconds after the opening bell, Spinks was heading to hospital and Tyson had his place in boxing’s pantheon.
ix) Kangaroos 64 - 10 Great Britain, 2002: Australia handed down a rugby league lesson with a side-order of humiliation. And I had the misfortune to be there!
x) 2010 Ashes: Not only did England defeat Australia, not only did they win on foreign soil, and not only did they win 3-1 but each of said victories was by a innings. Bliss was it to be alive, etc.