Scottish football has witnessed its fair share of high-scoring thrillers over the years, but when it comes to sheer dominance, one name stands above the rest – Arbroath Football Club. The Red Lichties don’t just hold a record; they hold the record. Their legendary 36–0 demolition of Bon Accord in 1885 remains the biggest winning margin in professional football history. No team, anywhere in the world, has ever topped it.
Sure, other sides have come close – Dundee Harp won 35–0 on the very same day (talk about bad luck) – but near misses don’t count in the record books. Arbroath’s incredible feat has stood for nearly 140 years, a testament to a performance so dominant that even the Bon Accord goalkeeper must have lost count.
The match itself was less of a contest and more of a relentless siege. Arbroath were ruthless from the first whistle, launching wave after wave of attacks, with Jock Petrie scoring an astonishing 13 goals – still the most by a single player in a British match. In modern football, teams celebrate a 5–0 or 6–0 win as a thrashing, but Arbroath took that idea and multiplied it by six.
And imagine this—back in 1885, there were no legal bookmakers. No in-play betting, no “next goalscorer” market, and certainly no way to stick a cheeky wager on 36–0. If you’d walked into a betting shop (which didn’t exist) and asked for odds on that scoreline, they’d have thought you’d lost your mind. These days, even a 9–0 win is a long shot, so goodness knows what kind of casino mobile madness a bookie would have cooked up for 36 unanswered goals.
Despite the passing of time and countless legendary matches in Scottish football, nobody has come close to taking Arbroath’s crown. Even these high-scoring encounters pale in comparison:
🔴 Dundee Harp 35–0 Aberdeen Rovers (1885) – Harp thought they’d matched Arbroath’s tally until a recount confirmed they’d “only” scored 35. A tough break.
🔴 Stirling Albion 20–0 Selkirk (1984) – The biggest British win of the 20th century, but still a full 16 goals short of Arbroath’s record.
🔴 Celtic 9–0 Aberdeen (2010) – The biggest Scottish Premier League home win, but nowhere near a real record-breaker.
🔴 Dundee United 0–9 Celtic (2022) – The only away win on this list, making Celtic’s victory at Tannadice the equivalent of a mobile demolition—taking their goal-scoring show on the road.
🔴 Motherwell 6–6 Hibernian (2010) – A ridiculous game of football, but Hibs were too kind to let Motherwell have all the fun.
🔴 Hibernian 7–0 Hearts (1973) – A derby-day demolition at Tynecastle.
🔴 Celtic 7–1 Rangers (1957) – The most one-sided British cup final ever.
And let’s not forget—every single one of these results (except for Celtic’s 9–0 win at Dundee United) happened at home. Arbroath, like so many great goal machines, turned their own ground into a fortress.
Arbroath’s history is rich with passion, commitment, and a deep connection to the community. But for all the ups and downs of football, that incredible September afternoon in 1885 ensures the club’s name will forever be etched in football folklore.
So, as teams across Scotland and beyond battle for their own place in history, one thing remains certain – when it comes to the biggest victory of all time, Arbroath FC will always sit proudly at the top of the table.
