Sporting Witness
Mar 26, 2026
On 5 August 1970, a pre-season match between second division Hull City and European giants Manchester United changed football forever.
With the game drawn, it became the first professional competitive fixture in the world to be decided by a penalty shootout. Tied matches were previously decided by coin tosses, the drawing of lots, or replays.
The match was in the inaugural season of the Watney Cup which was a short-lived English knockout competition.
Manchester United’s team included George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton.
Hull City player Frankie Banks and fan Martyn Kelly, who was 11 at the time, tell Phil Jones how the penalties played out.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.
Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.
(Photo: The penalty shootout between Hull City and Manchester United. Credit: Hull City AFC)
