Welcome back to This Day in Scottish History. I’m your host, Colin MacDonald, and today we’re diving into one of the most astonishing feats in the world of football. On this very day, the 12th of September in 1885, a match took place that would go down in history as the largest margin of victory in professional football. That match was between Arbroath and Bon Accord, and the final scoreline was an incredible 36-0 in favour of Arbroath.
To put that into context, it wasn’t just an ordinary football match—it was a Scottish Cup tie, and it remains the largest margin of victory in a professional, non-rigged match to this day. There have been higher scorelines since, but those games were either at amateur level or deliberately thrown. Arbroath’s victory, however, was a true, uncontested demolition.
So, what led to this legendary scoreline? Let’s set the stage.
Arbroath FC had been founded just seven years earlier, in 1878, and already had a reputation as a strong side. Bon Accord, on the other hand, had only been formed a year prior to the match, in 1884. To make things even more complicated, Bon Accord wasn’t really a football club in the traditional sense—they were said to be a cricket club that mistakenly received an invitation from the Scottish Football Association. This left them woefully unprepared for what was about to happen.
Even before the game started, it was clear that the teams were mismatched. Bon Accord reportedly arrived without any proper football kit, which was a bad omen. As the game kicked off, the difference in quality became painfully apparent. Arbroath scored goal after goal, and by half-time, they had already put 15 goals past Bon Accord. But that was only the beginning.
The second half saw Arbroath pile on another 21 goals, bringing the final score to 36-0. To add to the absurdity, the referee, Dave Stormont, disallowed between four and seven additional goals, which could have made the scoreline even more staggering. Stormont later remarked that if he had been stricter with the Bon Accord defense, the score could easily have been 43-0.
One of the most impressive individual performances came from Arbroath’s 18-year-old John Petrie, who scored a record 13 goals during the match. That record for most goals scored by a single player in a senior football match remains unbroken, though it was equalled by Australia’s Archie Thompson when he scored 13 goals in a 31-0 win against American Samoa in 2001.
A notable detail from the game is the role of Arbroath’s goalkeeper, Jim Milne Sr., who reportedly did not touch the ball once during the entire match. He is said to have spent the entire 90 minutes sheltering from the rain under a spectator’s umbrella. It’s hard to imagine such dominance in today’s football!
But incredibly, Arbroath’s 36-0 wasn’t the only blowout that day. Just 18 miles away in Dundee, Dundee Harp was also playing in the first round of the Scottish Cup, and they defeated Aberdeen Rovers 35-0. The referee in that match initially recorded 37 goals but, after consulting with Dundee Harp’s secretary, decided that a miscount had occurred, and the official scoreline was adjusted to 35-0.
This meant that Arbroath’s 36-0 victory against Bon Accord narrowly edged out Dundee Harp’s result for the record. What an extraordinary day for Scottish football!
While this match has gone down in history for its sheer scale, it also remains an example of the early days of football, when such mismatches were more common. Back then, any Scottish-based team could enter the Scottish Cup, regardless of experience or skill level, which occasionally led to these kinds of lopsided results.
After their historic win, Arbroath continued their Scottish Cup run, defeating Forfar Athletic 9-1 in the next round and Dundee East End 7-1 after that, before finally losing 5-3 to Hibernian in the fourth round. In total, Arbroath scored an impressive 55 goals in that season's competition.
As for Bon Accord, they didn’t fare so well in their footballing future. Although they did manage to win a cup tie in the 1891-92 season, beating Stonehaven 8-0, they disbanded soon after. The club’s short-lived existence is forever overshadowed by this single, infamous match.
In modern football, while other scorelines may have eclipsed Arbroath’s 36-0 in amateur and unofficial settings, no professional match has ever come close to matching its scale. Even the notorious 149-0 victory by AS Adema over SO l'Emyrne in 2002 is not considered a true record, as SO l'Emyrne deliberately scored own goals in protest of a refereeing decision.
So, Arbroath’s monumental achievement still stands as the largest margin of victory in a legitimate professional football match. This match, held on a rainy day in September 1885, continues to hold a unique place in the annals of sporting history.
Thanks for joining me today on This Day in Scottish History. I’m Colin MacDonald, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back at one of the most remarkable football matches ever played. Tune in tomorrow for more fascinating moments from Scotland’s past. Haste Ye Back!
September 12, 1885 - The Day Arbroath Made Football History