The Times makes no apologies for the jingoistic streak running through this
week’s Top 50. With England’s rugby team setting off on what appears to be
an impossible mission to defend their world crown, with the football team
falling to pieces and in danger of missing out on Euro 2008 and with Tim
Henman leaving the world stage, we need every reminder we can of those rare
occasions when Britain truly ruled the waves, courts or pitches of the
world.
As usual, this is a purely subjective list using nothing more scientific than
instinct to rate the Top 50. Those near the top of the list are there
because, if only for a brief moment, they were the best in the world in
their sport; others get on the list for achievement over a long period of
time or because of the great rush of patriotic fervour that washed over us
when they did well. And it’s not just British sides: English, Welsh,
Scottish and Northern Irish teams get their moment in the sun, too. If we
have missed any, do let us know.
50) Great Britain tug-of-war team, 1920
Britain have been the reigning Olympic champions for the past 87 years, in
part because the sport has not been on the agenda since the Antwerp Games,
but the 1920 side sneak on to the list if only because one of their number,
Robert Spear, was banned from the final after he was too enthusiastic at
tugging and wrenched an opponent’s arm out of its socket. We admire that.
Great Britain, represented by the City of London police force, also won gold
in 1908.
49) Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas, golf, 1990-2000
The English women were the first to tee off for Europe in their inaugural
Solheim Cup against the United States in 1990 and won their first match 2
and 1 against Nancy Lopez and Pat Bradley. Although Europe lost that
contest, Nicholas and Davies won both their pairs matches in 1992 (Davies
won her singles too) to help Europe to level the series. In 2000, after
three US victories, Europe won the cup again with Davies and Nicholas once
more winning the opening match.
48) Great Britain boxing team, 1908
One medal away from sporting perfection: the British boxers won 14 of the
available 15 medals at the London Olympics with only Reginald Baker, of the
Australasia team, spoiling the party by reaching the middleweight final,
where he lost to Johnny Douglas, the future England cricket captain.
Admittedly, France and Denmark were the only other competing nations.
47) Wales football team, 1958
Eight years before Bobby Moore, another British side wearing red shirts set
the World Cup alight. Having qualified for the tournament in Sweden by
beating Israel 4-0 in a two-leg play-off, Wales, inspired by John Charles,
drew their group matches with Hungary, Mexico and Sweden before beating the
Hungarians in a play-off to reach the quarter-finals. There they met Brazil,
where a 17-year-old Pele score the only goal, ending Welsh hopes of a
semi-final place.
46) Reggie and Laurie Doherty, tennis, 1897-1905
The Victorian era’s version of the Lloyd brothers, only successful. Reggie
Doherty won the men’s singles at Wimbledon four times and his younger
brother, Laurie, won it fives times, but they also teamed up to win the
men’s doubles eight times and claimed the US Open doubles crown twice. They
also won gold together at the 1900 Olympics.
45) Northern Ireland football team, 1982
The mighty men of Ulster, with young Norman Whiteside in the team, reached the
second round after topping their group with a win over Spain and a draw with
Yugoslavia. Despite drawing with Austria in the second group stage, France
were too strong for them.
44) England football team, 1990
A World Cup that began slowly for England – they scored only two goals and won
one game in the group stage but still came first – ended in frustration at
the feet of West Germany in the semi-finals. On paper, England had a fine
side with Lineker, Gascoigne, Platt, Shilton and other world-class players
but they struggled to the semi-finals, needing extra time to beat Belgium
and Cameroon. Still, it was the closest England have come to a World Cup
final in the past 40 years.
43) England cricket team, 1928-29
Percy Chapman had an annus mirabilis as England captain in 1928, winning the
inaugural Test series against West Indies 3-0 and then taking the team to
Australia where the Ashes were retained 4-1. The following summer the
captaincy was split between Jack White and Arthur Carr, who kept up the good
work in beating South Africa 2-0 in a five-Test series.
42) Ryder Cup team, 1969
After the first four Ryder Cups were shared, the United States had won 12 of
the next 13 contests before this thrilling battle at Royal Birkdale. Tony
Jacklin was the inspiration, as he would be in the 1980s as captain, winning
three and halving one of his four pairs matches before sharing his singles
with Jack Nicklaus to ensure that the title was also split. Nicklaus
generously conceded Jacklin’s 18-inch putt on the final green.
41) England football team, 1996
Football came home, David Baddiel became a pop star and Terry Venables’s side
had the chance to be the first English winners of a leading international
competition since the previous time football had come home. After a
thrilling 4-1 win over Holland in the group stage, things looked good but
lurking in the semi-finals yet again were the Germans and their
penalty-taking wizards.
40) Great Britain curling team, 2002
The nation stayed up late, engrossed by the sight of four Scottish women
sliding stones over an ice rink at the Salt Lake City Olympics. Rhona
Martin, Debbie Knox, Fiona Macdonald and Janice Rankin had to rely on
Switzerland beating Germany in the final pool match to keep them in the
competition but after beating Canada in the semi-final they were in no mood
to return the favour to Switzerland in the final. Martin’s “stone of
destiny” won the gold.
39) Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood, 1999-2006
The Ulsterman and the Englishman made their Ryder Cup debuts in 1997 but did
not partner each other until the contest in 1999. Mark James’s hunch partly
paid off as they won two of their four matches together, but it was at the
2004 contest that the partnership flourished: they beat Phil Mickelson and
Tiger Woods on the first day and Jay Haas and Chris Di Marco on the second
as Europe won by a record margin. Two years later, Clarke and Westwood again
paired up for two more wins out of two as well as each winning his singles.
38) Men’s rowing eight, 2000
Steve Redgrave wasn’t the only oarsman to win an Olympic gold in 2000, there
were eight others who won on the next day. Britain had lost their heat to
Australia, the hosts, but after a repechage they got revenge in the final,
beating Australia to the gold by half a second.
37) England rugby team, 1980
Possibly the least feted of England’s grand-slam winning sides, in part
because they disintegrated so quickly, but Bill Beaumont’s team were rightly
made the BBC’s sports team of the year after winning all four Five Nations
matches at the start of the 1980s, including a 9-8 win over 14-man Wales.
36) Tony Nash and Robin Dixon, 1964
A turn at the St Moritz course is named after the British pair who won the
two-man bobsleigh at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Dixon, a soldier from
Northern Ireland who later inherited the title Baron Glentoran, was the
brakeman for the English Nash. They won the world title together in St
Moritz the next year.
35) Davis Cup, 1933-36
Yes, Britain have not always been hopeless at Davis Cup tennis, they even won
it four times in a row in the mid-1930s and are the third-most successful
team in the competition’s history with nine wins. Until 1972, however, the
defending champions got to the final on a bye, which may explain Britain’s
winning streak in the 1930s. Still Fred Perry’s 45-7 and Bunny Austin’s
36-12 winning records are not to be sniffed at.
34) Modern pentathlon team, 1976
Adrian Parker, Danny Nightingale and Jim Fox won the gold at the Montreal
Games and became the BBC’s sports team of the year but they had to fight
controversy when it turned out that one of their Russian competitors was
found to have been using an epee in the fencing category that was
electronically rigged to falsify “hits” on his British opponents.
33) Scotland rugby team, 1990
One of the most thrilling conclusions to the Five Nations pitted a strong
England against an unfancied Scotland at Murrayfield in the final
winner-takes-all fixture. Scotland had shown grit in beating Ireland 13-10
in Dublin and Wales 13-9 in Cardiff, sandwiching a walloping to France, but
felt patronised by the English, whose captain Will Carling was not shy about
pointing out his team’s superiority. David Sole, the Scotland captain,
marched his team out deliberately slowly to build up the tension. Scotland
scored two penalty goals but England scored their first try at Murrayfield
for ten years to narrow the gap. Tony Stanger’s second-half try plus some
stout defending won the day for Scotland, 13-7.
32) Great Britain ice hockey team, 1936
A huge shock as Canada lost their Olympic crown to Britain after being beaten
2-1 in the semi-finals. Britain held on to draw 0-0 with the United States
in their final match of the four-team medal round to win the gold. Although
most of the British team had played in Canada, only one was born there.
31) England rugby team, 1991
It was almost a perfect year. Will Carling’s side made up for disappointment
in Murrayfield the previous year by winning the grand slam, beating France
21-19 in the deciding match, then went into the World Cup with high hopes.
Despite losing to New Zealand in their opening match, England beat France
and Scotland – another thriller in Edinburgh – to reach the final against
Australia, where Tony Daley’s try and David Campese’s deliberate knock-on
spoilt the party.
30) Three-day eventing team, 1972
Richard Meade won the individual gold medal – the only British winner until
Leslie Law in 2004 – and was part of the four-man Britain team with Mark
Phillips, Mary Gordon-Watson and Bridget Parker who won the team gold.
Gordon-Watson’s horse, Cornishman V, would later have a starring role in the
film International Velvet.
29) Ryder Cup team, 1957
Great Britain & Ireland won the Ryder Cup for the first time in 24 years
at Lindrick under the captaincy of Dai Rees. After his side lost the
foursomes 3-1, Rees left Max Faulkner, the 1951 Open champion, out of the
singles; Peter Mills, Faulkner’s replacement, was one of six Britons to win
on the final day, beating Jack Burke, who had won the Masters and USPGA the
previous year.
28) Wales rugby team, 2005
Mike Ruddock’s side won Wales’s first grand slam for 28 years in style,
beating England 11-9 with a late Gavin Henson penalty from long range, then
coming back from 15-6 down to beat France in Paris thanks to inspiration
from Martyn Williams. The other three games were won with ease, but Wales
made the mistake of forcing Ruddock out a year later.
27) The Searle brothers, 1992
Jonny and Greg Searle, the brothers from Hampton School, won the now defunct
coxed pairs gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics by more than a second from
Italy’s fancied Abbagnale brothers. Famously, Garry Herbert, their cox,
broke down in tears on the winners’ podium as the anthem was played.
26) Scotland rugby team, 1983-84
It had been a long time in coming but Scotland won their second grand slam in
1984, just 59 years after their first. They had given indication of their
strength the previous autumn by holding the All Blacks to a 25-25 draw at
Murrayfield – a missed conversion cost them the win. A 32-9 win over Ireland
was their biggest margin, but with France also unbeaten by the final game it
was the 21-12 victory in Edinburgh that mattered most.
25) Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, 1987-89
The Englishman and the Welshman had already played two Ryder Cups together
when they were first tried as a pairing by Tony Jacklin in 1987. They were
an instant success, winning three and halving one of their four matches
(although each lost his singles) as Europe won on American soil for the
first time. At the Belfry two years later they picked up two and a half more
points together as Europe retained the cup.
24) Men’s 4x400 metres relay team, 1991
In an otherwise disappointing world athletics championships for Great Britain
in Tokyo, the men’s four-lap relay team claimed a belated second gold for
the nation to go with Liz McColgan’s 10,000 metres medal. Roger Black, Kriss
Akabusi, Derek Redmond and John Regis won by four-hundredths of a second
from the United States.
23) England cricket team, 1981
“Botham’s Ashes” may not have been won against the strongest Australia side to
come to England, but the series cannot be beaten for drama. The elements are
so familiar: the deposed captain back in the ranks, England on the rack at
Headingley, “oompty” from Beefy and Dilley, Willis bowling down the hill,
five wickets for one run at Edgbaston and Botham on the route to first
knighthood and possibly sainthood.
22) England rugby team, 1910-24
The opening of Twickenham as England’s international home in 1910 and the
birth of the Five Nations the same year proved a boost to the nation’s
fortunes. Having not won the Home Nations championship since 1892, England
won eight of the first ten Five Nations titles (sharing it once with Ireland
and once with Scotland and Wales) and, with Wavell Wakefield their talisman
in the back row, performed the grand slam on five occasions.
21) Great Britain rugby league team, 1972
The only time Australia have not won rugby league’s World Cup in the past 40
years was in 1972. The competition involved only Britain, Australia, France
and New Zealand and after beating the champions 27-21 in Perpignan, Britain
came top of a round-robin group and met Australia in the final in Lyons for
the title. That win in Perpignan was crucial as the final finished 10-10 and
the scores were level even after 20 minutes’ extra time, meaning that the
trophy was presented to Great Britain as the best qualifier from the group.
20) Great Britain sailing team, 2000
Great Britain are the most successful nation in Olympic sailing events and the
Sydney Olympics was their best Games, bar the 1900 and 1908 Olympics when
there were few competitors. In the waters off Sydney, Ian Percy won the Finn
class, Ben Ainslie the Laser and Shirley Robertson the Europe. There were
silvers in the 49er and Star classes for Britain as well.
19) England cricket team, 1932-33
Boo, hiss, drat those perfidious Englishmen and their villainous tactics. Yes,
this was Bodyline, the series that proved it is not only Poms who whinge.
Regardless of the rights and wrongs, it worked. “I’ve not travelled 6,000
miles to make friends, I’m here to win the Ashes,” said England’s captain,
Douglas Jardine. And he did: 4-1, with the blessed Don Bradman averaging
only 57.
18) The 1997 Lions
The first rugby tour by the British and Irish Lions to South Africa after the
end of apartheid was expected to be hard-fought. South Africa had, after
all, won the World Cup two years earlier. The Lions, surprisingly captained by
Martin Johnson, lost one match before the internationals but ran out 25-16
winners in Cape Town with tries from Matt Dawson and Alan Tait. The
Springboks hit back in Durban, scoring three tries, yet the Lions won the
match and series with composure, Neil Jenkins scoring five penalty goals and
the unlikely figure of Jeremy Guscott dropping the winning goal. The
thrashing in the third international was irrelevant.
17) Great Britain hockey team, 1988
Hardly a surprise as Britain were seeded second and had reached the World Cup
final two years earlier, but Sean Kerly and Imran Sherwani’s goals against
West Germany sparked one of those moments to remember. The team were met by
cheering hordes at Heathrow. As Barry Davies memorably said in his
commentary after the third goal: "Where were the Germans? Frankly, who
cares?"
16) Great Britain athletics team, 1980
A string of gold medals by a narrow margin marked a successful Games for
Britain’s athletes, although the lack of American athletes should be taken
into consideration. Allan Wells won the 100 metres, Steve Ovett the 800
metres, Sebastian Coe the 1500 metres and Daley Thompson the decathlon.
Wells and Coe also won silvers and Ovett, Gary Oakes and both women’s relay
teams won bronze.
15) Wales rugby team, 1978
The last grand slam success for Wales until 2005. A golden generation was
coming to its end. Gareth Edwards won his 50th cap in a 9-6 win over
England; Scotland were brushed aside 22-14 (Edwards scoring his 20th and
final try for Wales); Ireland went down 20-16 and then Wales came back from
7-0 to beat France 16-7. Edwards and Phil Bennett retired after the match.
14) Men’s 4x100 metres relay team, 2004
Kelly Holmes won two golds but the rest of the Britain athletics team in the
Athens Olympics mustered only one bronze between them until the sprint relay
side claimed a belated third gold. Jason Gardener, Marlon Devonish, Mark
Lewis-Francis and Darren Campbell took advantage of poor baton changes by
the United States, the favourites, to win by 0.01sec, Lewis-Francis pipping
the vastly more experienced Maurice Greene to the line.
13) Coxless four, 2000
Steve Redgrave’s final Olympics ended in glory – again – with a narrow win
over Italy. Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell fought
through pain and illness (Foster had back surgery and severed tendons in a
hand, Redgrave had diabetes) and instantly disbanded after the Games.
12) Great Britain athletics team, 1993
After a disappointing world championships in 1991, Britain had a much more
satisfying haul in Stuttgart two years later. Linford Christie won the 100
metres in 9.87sec, Colin Jackson won the 110 metres hurdles in a world
record 12.91sec and Sally Gunnell won the 400 metres hurdles in another
world record time. There were also three silvers and four bronzes.
11) Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, 1984
Da-da-da-daaaaah, da-de-dada-dade-da-da-da-daaah. Purple outfits turned into
gold medals as T&D spun and flipped their way through Bolero and into
the nation’s hearts with a string of perfect sixes in Sarajevo. Ten years
later, they tried again, but could come only third in Lillehammer.
10) Graham Hill/BRM v Jim Clark/Lotus, 1962-65
A good ding-dong battle in Formula One for four years between two British
drivers in British cars. Hill won four grands prix to Clark’s three in 1962
to win the championship, but the next year Clark won seven to Hill’s three
with only John Surtees, another British driver in a Ferrari, winning another
grand prix. Surtees won the crown in 1964 by one point from Hill and eight
from Clark, before Clark had another golden season in 1965, winning six of
the first seven grands prix to take the crown.
9) Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, 1990-96
The comprehensive boy from the university of life was partnered with the
Etonian Oxford Blue to become the greatest team on water since Ratty asked
Mole if he wanted to mess about on a boat. Four gold medals in world
championships and two in Olympic Games tell only part of the tale about how
dominant they were.
8) Wales rugby team, 1971
Wales used only 16 players in winning the first of three grand slams in the
1970s. Gerald Davies was the star, scoring two tries in an easy win over
England and another one against Scotland to set up a tense 19-18 win.
Ireland were brushed aside before JPR Williams sprinted 70 yards to score a
try against France that sealed the title.
7) The 1971 Lions
Number 8 effortlessly leads into this marvellous team as Wales supplied the
bulk of the victorious British Isles side, the only Lions team to beat the
All Blacks. Despite losing their first fixture on tour to Queensland, the
Lions grew in confidence and won the first international 9-3. New Zealand
fought back, scoring five tries in an easy win in the second, but the Lions
were not bowed. In Wellington, they won by two tries to nil and with only a
draw needed in the fourth match they got precisely that, 14-14, thanks to
JPR Williams’s dropped goal from 45 yards.
6) England cricket team, 2004-05
The journey that ended at the Brit Oval with the Ashes being regained for the
first time in 18 years began in the Caribbean in 2004 when Michael Vaughan’s
side discovered a fearsome edge to their bowling – particularly from Stephen
Harmison – and won 3-0. Whitewashes of New Zealand and West Indies (at home)
followed and then they showed character to rally in South Africa and win
there. In all, Vaughan’s side, which was enhanced in 2005 by the arrival of
Kevin Pietersen, won 16 Tests out of 23, losing only two.
5) England football team, 1966
Yes, you read that correctly. Fifth place. Call me perverted but although 1966
and all that was a wonderful moment was it really the best sporting
performance by a British team? Were they the best side on the planet in
their sport at the moment they won the World Cup? I’d suggest that the next
four sides were better. And we did have the advantage of playing at home.
Despite that, though, what a marvellous achievement, especially given the
paucity of success the England team has had since.
4) The 1974 Lions
The 1971 side broke the mould by beating the All Blacks, but the team who
toured South Africa three years later were arguably stronger. They were
certainly more successful, winning 21 and drawing one of their 22 matches on
tour. The international series was noted for violence on the pitch, with
Willie John McBride, the Lions captain, urging his team to “get their
retaliation in first” against the “blatant thuggery” of their opponents.
There was also the “99” call, at which everyone should bundle into a fight,
on the grounds that a referee would never send off the entire side.
3) Coxless four, 2004
This may provide a shock, but I place Matthew Pinsent’s four in Athens ahead
of Bobby Charlton and Co for the drama of the gold-medal final and the fact
that the team, which came together only in 2003, had to be rebuilt at very
short notice after Alex Partridge punctured a lung. Pinsent, James
Cracknell, Ed Coode and Steve Williams swapped the lead with Canada in the
final with almost every stroke but dug deep to find a finishing spurt to win
by eight-hundredths of a second. Pinsent wept on the podium and the nation
wept with him.
2) England cricket team, 1951-58
Consider these names: Hutton, Washbrook, Edrich, Simpson, May, Cowdrey,
Compton, Graveney, Bailey, Evans, Bedser, Laker, Lock, Trueman, Tyson,
Statham. These men, and others, provided the greatest period of cricketing
success in English history. Between beating New Zealand away in 1951 and
beating them at home seven years later, England won ten series and drew
four, losing none. They won the Ashes three times (twice at home, once away)
and won half the Tests they played.
1) England rugby team, 2003
Jonny and the boys were the best rugby team in the world four years ago,
although they often had to grind out results in the World Cup itself. At
last Clive Woodward’s side didn’t choke with the Six Nations grand slam on
offer, walloping Ireland in Dublin in the deciding match before heading on a
tour Down Under where they beat New Zealand with 13 men and put three tries
past Australia. Deservedly the favourites in the World Cup, they wobbled at
times but someone kept on popping up to put things right (Greenwood against
South Africa; Balshaw against Samoa; Catt against Wales and Wilkinson
against France).
The final moments of the final are seared on the brain: lineout 30 yards out;
Thompson throws to the back; Catt runs through; Dawson bursts out of a ruck
to gain 15 yards; Johnson drives the ball on again and then back it comes to
Wilkinson for the sweetest of dropped goals.
