Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa instructed his team to score an uncontested goal amid some extraordinary incidents in their match against Aston Villa overnight.
Leeds had scored the opening goal against Villa while they had a man down injured and there decision to not kick the ball out of play to allow for treatment resulted in melees during which Aston Villa Anwar El Ghazi was sent off for violent conduct.
Biesla told his players to let Villa get the equaliser, which resulted in Albert Adomah running from halfway through the Leeds team and scoring into an empty net.
It was an extraordinary and rare act of sportsmanship which we don’t get that often these days.
So with that in mind, and in these tense and negative times, it’s time to celebrate good sportsmanship with 10 fine acts and gestures from over the years.
Players Swapping Jumpers
With sponsorship deals intact, the lost art of jumper swapping is a rare occurrence these days.
Up until the age of colour television, you would see players swap jumpers after moments like a Grand Final leading to things like St. Kilda fans regretting that their only premiership has them celebrating in Collingwood jumpers.
But it was a nice and once celebrated sporting gesture.
The last known occurrence of a player jumper swap happened back in 2015 when Geelong’s Cam Guthrie swapped jumpers with his childhood hero Chris Judd after the Cats thumped the Blues on a Friday night.
Allowing the other team to score
Similar events of what occurred in Leeds United-Aston Villa has happened before.
Back in 2015, in the Turkish Super Lig, the manager of the Kasimpasa team showed the ultimate act of sportsmanship by allowing the opposition to score.
His team had scored when a player was down injured for their opponent Konyaspor, so the Kasimpasa manager Shota Arveladze did the right thing by allowing his team to step aside and allow their opponents get the equaliser.
At the end of the game, Shota Arveladze announced his resignation as manager of Kasimpasa.
“I do not want to talk about this situation. Anyone would make the same decision as me,” he said afterwards.
“I decided to make this choice because this is what Kasimpasa really are.
“I talked with my guys after the match and told them that I’m going to resign. Thank you very much to everybody in the club.”
Injured Helping The Injured.
Good sportsmanship was in force at Randwick recently.
During The Championships at Royal Randwick, Glyn Schofield looked across the track and noticed that fellow Jockey Andrew Adkins wasn’t moving and that something was wrong.
Schofield, who was in pain himself, got to his feet and rushed over the comfort Adkins after both Jockey’s suffered a heavy fall.
Schofield was in shock himself, but still made sure his mate Adkins was ok before the paramedics arrived.
“When I got to Andrew I was very concerned,’’ Schofield said. “He was blue in the face, he wasn’t breathing and he was unresponsive. It was terrible,’’ he told The Daily Telegraph
Outstanding shot of Glyn Schofield comforting Andrew Adkins following the race one fall at Randwick
👏👏👏@GettyImages pic.twitter.com/wu3uFt60kz
— Punters+ (@Punters) April 13, 2019
The opposition giving parting gifts to retiring players
Back in the day and in some workplaces still, they give you a Gold Watch and wish you a happy retirement when you decide to call it a day.
Sport around the world has gotten in on the act of giving parting gifts to players, even to the opposition.
A great example of this was when in his final game of Rugby League last year, the Neds Gold Coast Titans did a wonderful presentation to Jonathan Thurston, presented him with a jumper and let him say goodbye to the crowd.
Farewell JT 😥#TelstraPremiership moment of the match#NRLTitansCowboys pic.twitter.com/7VXoYnW95y
— NRL (@NRL) September 1, 2018
Back in 2007, the West Coast Eagles played host to Essendon in what would be Kevin Sheedy’s final game as coach and James Hirds final game of AFL Football.
At the end of the match, the Eagles presented Sheedy with a bomber jacket made famous after that jacket wave from the coaches box when the Bombers beat West Coast in their premiership year of 1993.
Freddy Flintoff and Brett Lee – 2005 Ashes
The 2005 Ashes series in England will always be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.
In the fourth Test at Edgbaston, Brett Lee was subject to a number of bouncers from Andrew Flintoff and the Aussies were digging in and chipping away at England’s lead.
The Aussies came within two runs of winning and Brett Lee was on the verge of becoming the hero of the game.
When the Aussies were eventually bowled out, Lee couldn’t hide his disappointment and remained on the pitch for a while, Flintoff went over to him to console a heartbroken Lee.
Giving a Rival A Lift
Before he eventually won a Grand Prix, back in the day, Nigel Mansell had a bit of reputation of being a great driver that never won his own drivers crown.
His rival was Ayrton Senna and the pair had a rivalry that F1 fans thoroughly enjoyed watching.
So back in 1991, when Mansell managed to hold off his rival Senna’s challenge for most of the race, he was pleased.
The race was close but with 10 laps to go, Senna ran out of fuel.
Mansell got the win but made the effort during his victory lap to pick up Senna who would have had to do the walk of shame back to the garage.
If this were an Uber driver, he would have got five stars and a nice tip.
The Concession
Many in Golf speak fondly of the sporting gesture between Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin’s actions at the 1969 Ryder Cup.
The event occurred 50 years ago with both the British and American teams locked at 15 ½-15 ½ with the final rubber between Tony Jacklin for Brittan and the formidable Jack Nicklaus for the US deciding who would hold the trophy for the next two years.
The two men reached the 18th tee and the match was all square.
Nicklaus played the hole perfectly and holed-out for a regulation par while Jacklin faced a tricky three-footer to force the first ever tie in the event.
Even with the chance of being a hero, Nicklaus made one of the all-time great sporting gestures, picking up his opponent’s ball marker rather than forcing Jacklin to putt out.
Nicklaus told Jacklin: “I don’t think you would have missed that Tony, but I didn’t want to give you the chance.”
Now, that’s sportsmanship!
Derek and Jim Redmond
It’s one of the most iconic images at the Olympic Games.
Back at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, British athlete Derek Redmond’s 400-meter semi-final run will be remembered not for a medal or any heroics.
It was when he tore his hamstring with less than half the race to go where Redmond did everything he could to simply finish.
As he attempted to get across the finish line, Derek’s father, Jim saw his son in agony ran from the grandstand, fended off the stewards and helped his son finish off the course with a standing ovation from the crowd.
Redmond was officially disqualified but it is a cherished moment of sportsmanship and Jim was even made a torchbearer during the 2012 London games.
The Gladiators
It’s immortalised on the NRL Trophy – the gesture of the “Gladiators” Norm Provan and Arthur Summons embracing after the 1963 Grand Final between Western Suburbs and St. George.
The game was played with a torrential downpour between the Red V and the Magpies and at the conclusion of the match resulted in the two team captains embracing each other for their stoic efforts after St.George won the game 8 to Wests 3.
Newspaper photographer John O’Grady took the pic for the Sun-Herald newspaper and was on the Front page the following day.
Described as the ultimate symbol of “triumph, courage and sportsmanship” on a muddied SCG pitch the picture is arguably the most iconic and enduring symbols in the game of Rugby League.
Summons has recently said that The Gladiators actually shows him complaining about the referees decision to Norm Provan, but we still like to believe in the myth.
Luz Long and Jesse Owens
The 1936 Berlin Olympics were infamous to say the least but the story of Luz Long and Jese Owens is something special.
During the final in the Long Jump, Owens who was the American world record holder in Long Jump had twice foot-faulted in his bid to qualify in the final.
His rival, Germany’s Luz Long, offered Owens advice on how to adjust his run up to get the qualifying distance.
The next jump Owens did was a success and he went on to win the Gold Medal, Long got silver.
It was a wonderful act of sportsmanship and made Adolf Hitler uncomfortable, to say the least.