On January 25th, 1997, at around 4.31pm in the afternoon, 14,317 supporters witnessed a miracle at Loftus Road.
That word is purposely hyperbolic, and yet in many ways it’s not an exaggeration at all.
Think about it. Since winger Trevor Sinclair scored a spectacular overhead kick to settle QPR’s FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Barnsley there has been – by very rough calculations – over 19,000 football matches involving the top four divisions, across every competition from the league, to domestic cups, to the Champions League.
That equates to 28500 hours of competitive football or, to really put it into context, nearly three-and-a-half years of continuous action.
And we are still to see a goal as aesthetically perfect.
A miracle? That’s admittedly too strong, but a very close cousin suffices. What the former West Ham and Manchester City wide-man did in West London 27 years ago today was nothing short of miraculous.
Relegated the year before, this was a season of readjustment for the Hoops, acclimatising to the second tier with a squad half made up of top-flight fare, and half with players drafted in to better suit their new surroundings. Ultimately, they would finish ninth, just missing out on the playoffs.
The cup though offered up the possibility of some respite, and with Huddersfield navigated in the third round – via a replay – QPR now faced tough opposition in the form of promotion-chasing Barnsley.
The Tykes had recently lost 3-1 to the Hoops in the league but, residing second in the Championship, went into this as slight favourites in the sports betting.
Those odds looked justified when the visitors took the lead 13 minutes in but to QPR’s credit they fought back, turning the tie around courtesy of two first-half goals by Gavin Peacock and John Spencer.
And that was how it remained until 15 minutes from time, when the ball was pumped high from out wide towards the edge of Barnsley’s box.
The only player in the vicinity as it steeply fell was Sinclair who, with his back to goal, took a couple of steps forward to locate the right launchpad.
From there he executed a sublime overhead bicycle kick, the kind that drops jaws to the floor when they come off. The kind that is greeted by silence as the crowd are too stunned to celebrate.
From a full 20 yards out, the ball arced so majestically into the net its trajectory may as well have been conceived by an architect’s pen.
So often with these goals it comes off the striker’s shin. Here the connection between boot and ball was sweet.
So often the climb and twist of an overhead volley is awkward. A limb hangs down, spare, or the knee comes close to striking the face on descent. Here every element was balletic and flawless.
So often the keeper is beaten due to surprise as much as anything. Here, Barnsley stopper Dave Watson saw it the whole way but still found himself flinging in despair.
Tricky and immensely skilful, Trevor Sinclair had long been a scourge of the live betting markets, he being a player capable of pulling off the unexpected. On this occasion he truly excelled himself.
His acrobatics naturally enough won Match of the Day’s Goal of the Season. The other contenders would have needed a miracle to even come close.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
