Nova England 57–0 Franklin Islands
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| Date | 29 October 2014 | ||||||
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| Venue | West Grinstead National Stadium, West Grinstead | ||||||
| Attendance | 9,044 | ||||||
On 29 October 2014, Nova England played a football match against the newly-created Franklin Islands national football team. The friendly game was held at the West Grinstead National Stadium. The scoreline of 57–0 set a new world record for the most goals in any match, with Paul Gimbel's tally of 20 goals also breaking the record for an individual player.
Background
The match was held shortly after the Franklin Islands were admitted into the FMF. The nation, with a population of just 47, had been isolated from the rest of Micras for 125 years prior to their membership, after the mutineers on the Venture were left stranded on the largest island in the group, when the ship was destroyed during an overnight storm in 1889. Due to their isolation, the Franklin Islands team only had two weeks to prepare for the game, during which time, they had to learn the modern rules, having only ever played under the 1889 version before. Before the match, the mutineers were officially pardoned by Governor of Nova England, Peter Alnwick.
The Nova English side was composed of much younger players than usual, with an average age of 22. The inclusion of these young players in the squad contributed towards the inflated scoreline, due to their desire to secure a permanent spot in the senior side.
Match summary
The match was characterised by the Franklin players' lack of rules knowledge, including several occasions where they would remain behind the player in possession of the ball, and would not pass forward. The first four goals were as a result of poor attempted forward passes, and after just 15 minutes, the score was 8–0. The Nova English continued to mercilessly attack, with a further 20 goals being scored before half-time, with Paul Gimbel and Graham Savoy sharing 18 goals between them.
The score exceeded the previous world record of 29–0 just three minutes into the second half, and goalkeeper William Harrington scored from a free-kick to make it 31–0. He scored a second goal from a penalty 17 minutes later, with the restart being delayed by Franklin players attempting to form a wall, being unfamiliar with the procedure, which was introduced in 1891, two years after the colony was settled. With ten minutes remaining, the score reached 50–0, and an additional 7 goals in the last ten minutes, including a 20th goal for Paul Gimbel, completed the scoring.
29 October 2014
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Nova England 
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57–0 |  Franklin Islands
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Gimbel  5', 9', 12', 14', 19', 21', 26', 30', 35', 42' 48', 53', 58', 61', 67', 73', 77', 82', 87', 89'Tracnell 6', 10', 16', 24', 31', 33' 37', 47', 62', 74', 84'Savoy 8', 11', 22', 28', 36', 39', 41' 44', 51', 55', 63', 65', 70', 71', 85'Clark 25', 34', 40', 59', 79', 83'Harrington 50', 69' (pen.)Henderson 60', 75', 86'
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West Grinstead National Stadium, West Grinstead
Attendance: 9,044 |
Records
The match broke the record for the most goals in a game previously held by Moroni Football Academy, who defeated the River Warriors under-18 team in the 2012–13 Senyan Under-18's League. The River Warrior side had also been involved in three other 20-goal-plus defeats that season. In an international match, the previous record was held by Novatainia, after their 16–0 defeat of Lucerne in the 2013 FMF World Cup qualifiers.
Aftermath
The Franklin Islands remained FMF members for two years, competing in the 2015 FMF World Cup qualification and 2016 Benacia Cup qualification, losing all six games in 2015 and all eight games in 2016, conceding a total of 83 goals in their 14 competitive matches. The team was also invited to three editions of the Emerging Nations Cup, losing all five matches in those tournaments. The team was disbanded in late-2016, after the nation's membership of the MCS was rescinded, before rejoining the FMF following Mercury's claim on the islands in early-2019.
