Top ten chokes
As Manchester City close in on another title, The Goat looks back on some famous sporting chokes.
Before you get alarmed by that title, the Goat has not been bought by Andrew Tate or an American police organisation - here we are talking about the failure to convert a winning position into a win for psychological reasons - a loss of focus, a fundamental lack of self-belief and/or an inability to cope with the pressure.
This weekend Manchester City need only to beat West Ham United at home to win their fourth premier league title in succession, the first time that an English football club has ever won the league four times in a row since the league’s inception in 1888 - for any younger readers, I can confirm that football did exist prior to the Premier League’s formation in 1992. West Ham are already “on the beach”, playing in flip flops, their season over because they are going to finish ninth whatever happens. It will be a formality. Surely Manchester City won’t choke? It would surely go down as the biggest choke in football history, if not all sports history?
I know what it’s like to choke. It happened to me during the Mark Warner Lemnos resort tennis tournament in 2003. Through a series of freak results and opponents’ withdrawals I found myself in the final and serving at 5-4, 30-0 in the deciding set. My laser focus wavered momentarily and I started to think about what I would say in my little victory speech in the hotel bar later. 5 minutes later I had lost 7-5.
So, hoping it won’t happen to Manchester City, because that would be absolutely terrible for them, let’s look back at some of the biggest chokes in history. Click on the links to see videos and articles.
Doug Sanders
Doug’s choke at the 1970 British open is particularly poignant because that is really all he is known for as evidenced by his obituary in the Guardian in 2020 which does not spare his family’s blushes, mentioning it in the first sentence and the subtitle. He missed a short putt which would have won him the Open in a play off against Jack Nicklaus. "I never for a moment thought I'd miss," Sanders said later. "In fact, as I stood over the ball, I wondered which side of the crowd I'd bow to first." He never won a major championship. When asked in later life if he ever thought about that miss, he said “only every four or five minutes”.
Devon Loch
Can a horse choke? The Queen Mother’s horse Devon Loch was only 40 yards away from winning the Grand National when it inexplicably threw itself to the ground, like Harry Kane “feeling the contact” from a defender in the penalty area. It’s not clear whether he was distracted by the crowd or whether a shadow thrown by the adjacent water-jump fence (which horses only jump on the first circuit) may have baffled Devon Loch – confused as to whether he should jump or not, he half-jumped and collapsed.
His jockey Dick Francis was inspired by the incident to write a series of thrillers set in the horse-racing world, including the excellent “For Kicks” about horses conditioned by their trainer to be overwhelmed with terror when they hear a dog whistle blown from the stands…
Devon Loch had a further 6 years to rue his mistake before being put down in the cold winter of 1962-3. No luxury Red Rum luxury retirement for him.
Jana Novotna
Novotna was leading 4-1 in the final set of the Wimbledon final in 1993 and had game point to go 5-1 up against Steffi Graf. But suddenly her serve collapsed and she lost the next 5 games in succession. There was a moving scene at the end with the Duchess of Kent comforting Novotna who was in floods of tears as she came up to accept the runners-up trophy. She did eventually win Wimbledon in 1998, her only major title. She died aged only 49.
Arsenal 2006-2023
After Arsenal’s “invincibles” team of 2004 gradually disbanded and Arsenal suffered financially with the cost of building their new stadium, fans endured an agonising annual cycle - high hopes of a title or champion’s league victory, with Arsene Wenger always “firmly believing” they would succeed, until a disastrous week or 2 week period in March or April eliminated them from contention for all trophies. Arsenal’s annual collapse was a source of great amusement to fans of other clubs, especially Tottenham, incapable of winning trophies themselves due to the toxic substance Tottenhamium, which reacts violently with silverware. Unfortunately for Harry Kane, it is likely he carried traces of the toxic substance to Bayern Munich this season and was soaked in the stuff when he blazed over that crucial penalty for England against France in the World Cup in 2022. Fortunately, there are no Spurs likely to infect England’s team for this summer’s Euros, assuming Southgate keeps James Maddison at home to be the main man at his family’s roast dinners.
This year, under terrifyingly focused Basque manager Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s choking days are over, ready to pounce if City “do a Devon Loch”. They couldn’t, could they?
5. Greg Norman
Known as the “great white shark”, Australian golfer Greg Norman’s big choke occurred at the 1996 Masters, when he blew a 6 shot lead in the last round, with a round of 78 including 4 bogeys and 5 double bogeys. It was the seventh time in eight major championships that he failed to hold a final-round lead, definitely moving Norman into serial choker territory.
I remember seeing an incident on TV where a spectator called Norman a “choker” as he stepped onto the green and Norman went over to the spectator and appeared to be attempting literally to choke him, seemingly prepared to act out in public whatever a spectator accused him of habitually doing. It’s a relief he was only called a choker and not some earthier expletive.
Footage of the incident appears to have been erased from the internet - one of the fringe benefits perhaps of becoming CEO of LIV, Saudi Arabia’s sports-washing men’s golf tour.
Jimmy White
In 1994, White missed a simple black off the spot when on course to win the World Championship in a final frame decider. “Did he see the title right there Dennis?” said the commentator. Whirlwind White, always a fast cue-man, was playing that last frame like he’d seen the drug squad just enter the Crucible. 'It still pisses me off” said White a decade later. 'I just threw my cue at it.' Jimmy reached 6 world championship finals but never won. He has had some difficulties in his life, being addicted to crack cocaine, alcohol and gambling, and supporting Chelsea since 1972. But he is now sober and dates glamorous “darts walk-on girl” Jade Slusarczyk. “I keep her away from Specsavers” he quipped.
Jean van de Velde
Frenchman van de Velde needed just a double bogey 6 on the 18th to win the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie. But both he and his caddy choked. Bizarre club selection and poor execution meant he hit his drive onto the 17th, hit his second shot into the grandstand, hit his third shot into a creek, then took off his shoes and socks to try and play the ball in the water. “He’s gone gaga” said commentator Peter Alliss. He eventually thought better of it, took a penalty shot and then hit his next shot into a bunker. He ended up with a 7 and still went into a play-off, but his moment had passed.
He later said: “It took me three or four days to go through what happened on that 18th hole, looking for answers and thoughts that could help. Luckily a lot of therapy and 20 years hiding in a cupboard worked marvels!”
Roberto Duran
Not an obvious choke this, for someone who has gone 8 rounds with Sugar Ray Leonard, but “hands of stone” Roberto Duran often makes these lists because he suddenly and unexpectedly turned his back on his opponent in the middle of the round, allegedly saying “no mas”. Look at this clip at around 5 mins 35 seconds. Apparently Duran never said “no mas” and the commentator came up with it. Leonard cheekily taunted Duran throughout the fight and the crowd were laughing, which “really, really bothered” Duran, according to Leonard. It did not help Duran that his party lifestyle had meant he blew up by 40 pounds since their previous bout 5 months before which Duran won. So maybe not right to bleat about a choke here - more cheek and bloat, this one.
Scott Boswell
Boswell bowled what some people called the worst over ever in the C&G 2001 final, including 8 wides. Read this clip which is very instructive on how not to prepare mentally for a big occasion and how not to cope when things go wrong.
It started at a meeting the night before the final when a senior figure at the club told Boswell "not to fuck up". That stuck in his head.
Boswell’s first over went OK but his second over was to left-hander Marcus Trescothick and he had been struggling to bowl to left-handers. Suddenly Trescothick "looked as though he was 50 yards away. He was like a tiny dot. Then I bowled a wide and I heard the noise of the crowd. I bowled a second wide, and the noise got louder and louder and louder. I just couldn't let go of the ball. I wanted to get on with it, so I began to rush. The more I panicked, the more I rushed." He lost his run-up. The pitch, already on a slope, seemed to tilt sharper beneath his feet. “I was thinking: 'I just want to get this over, I just want to get this over' but it kept going and going and going, wide after wide after wide."
When it eventually finished Boswell slunk off to field at fine leg. The ball came his way. He dived for it and missed it, and a lump of the Lord's turf landed on his head. “So I was lying on the floor and I look up and there are 2,000 people behind me, and I see the ball trickling over the boundary. I have this bleeding lump of turf on my head. I thought: 'Fucking hell. This can't get any worse. Get me off this field.'" He froze. "There was a water bottle five metres away from me. My mouth was so dry. But I couldn't move. I couldn't walk five metres to go and get it." The Somerset fans chanted "Bring on the Boswell! Bring on the Boswell!"
His professional cricket career ended that day.
Manchester City?
Surely, it couldn’t happen could it? Die-hard, pre-sportswash City fans like Ken Woffenden, a regular reader, is not counting his chickens. "City fans have seen “too much disappointment over too many decades” he cautions. He remembers days like this, when City lost 5-1 at home to West Ham.
Their obsessive manager, Pep Guardiola, does not seem the sort of man to take anything for granted. But the current players know only success. They would not be human if they were not tempted by a degree of hubris - “look on my works, ye mighty and despair”.
Surely not, but stranger things have (nearly) happened.
We will know come Sunday evening whether Manchester City are to be promoted in pride of place to the top of this list.
Perhaps a bit harsh JP to send them to the top of this list based on a draw with the Hammers who after all did beat us at the Emirates, should still be thinking they owe Dec a favour or two, and must be, along with Moyesy, smarting at all the disrespect being dished out by the commentariat?! Time to channel some Goonerish optimism 💪🏽🤞
Fame at last! I have been name checked in the Bleating Goat! I stick with my natural pessimism, shared with most long standing City supporters. We never assume anything. We never feel entitled - we leave that kind of thing to fans of certain red teams. We will only win the title again if and when we actually win it. Hopefully we will get there but it will no surprise if we don’t. Not long to wait….