Friday 21st April 2017; Brighton were seven points clear with three games remaining after wrapping up promotion to the Premier League – the first in their history.
Playing a Norwich City side who had already missed out on the play-offs, a win would have secured the league title for the visiting Seagulls – but it all went horribly wrong in the most freakish way.
An evening to forget for David Stockdale
Having smashed Norwich 5-0 earlier in the season thanks to a Glenn Murray hat-trick, Brighton visited Carrow Road on the crest of their most remarkable season.
Along with Murray, Lewis Dunk was another of four Brighton players still plying their trade on the South Coast, the central defender also netting in the reverse fixture. As for Norwich, current players Alex Tettey and Michael McGovern were on the bench, whilst a certain James Maddison made a cameo appearance.
Defensively, Norwich were solid. Jonny Howson kept out a Murray effort on the line as star player Anthony Knockaert had an unusually ineffective game.
But the game hinged on two historical moments at the other end of the pitch.
Within 21 first-half minutes, Alex Pritchard, now of Huddersfield, cannoned the woodwork on two separate occasions – the first hitting the crossbar and then Brighton goalkeeper David Stockdale; the second hitting the post and then Stockdale – both finishing in the back of the net.
"Not something I have ever seen before"
Remarkably, Norwich failed to execute a single shot on target as they ran out 2-0 winners. Then Brighton manager, Chris Hughton, could not believe what he had seen as he spoke to BBC Sport.
"That's not something I have ever seen before. It happens to keepers from time to time, but not usually twice in one game.
Obviously, there is no blame attached to David at all - he was just trying to make the saves and the ball just came back off him.”
Stockdale would play just two more games for Brighton after a 133-match career and has since struggled for consistency at Birmingham City – shipped out to Southend, Wycombe and Coventry on loan over the past two years.
During those final two games of the campaign, Brighton manufactured just one more point as Newcastle leapfrogged them to the top of the table.
The record books
Stockdale’s name is now firmly etched in the record books – it appears that no goalkeeper has scored more than two own goals in such a high-profile professional contest.
In the Premier League, only seven goalkeepers have netted two own goals in their entire careers – Mark Bunn, Petr Cech, Shay Given, Robert Green, Russell Hoult, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Richard Wright.
However, defender Stan van den Buys did once score a hat-trick of own goals for Germinal Beerschot against Anderlecht in Belgium, whilst the likes of Jamie Carragher and Jon Walters have scored a double of own goals in the Premier League.
And own goals haven’t been far from the spotlight at Brighton this season – 3 of the 26 goals scored for or against have been in the wrong goal, more than any other Premier League club – but two did work in the favour of the Seagulls.
Meanwhile, Shane Duffy could feature in the first league meeting between these sides since Stockdale’s nightmare day – having once scored three own goals in a week during the start of the 2016-17 season for Blackburn Rovers.
Could it happen again?
With Norwich desperate for three points, the chances of such a freakish afternoon happening again are unlikely.
Burnley’s 2-1 win over Fulham in January was the first time since August 2003 that a team has scored two goals in the Premier League without a shot on target, becoming the fifth team to win a match in the competition without registering a single shot heading towards goal.
Although Brighton’s Adam Webster did score an own goal last weekend…