‘Wins like this are rare’: The best EFL comeback victories

For all its highs, playing football can also be pretty unenjoyable at times. For example, if you are losing 5-1 and a man down with 27 minutes remaining, you could be forgiven for somewhat throwing in the towel.

That was the situation Charlton Athletic were faced with against a Huddersfield Town side led by Bill Shankly at The Valley in the Second Division (now the Championship) four days before Christmas in 1957.

Addicks captain Derek Ufton had been forced off with a dislocated shoulder in the opening stages with the score at 0-0 and taken to hospital for surgery.

With no substitutes in those days, Charlton played on with 10 men and were on track for a hiding as they trailed by four goals.

Some of the 12,535 crowd had already made an early exit. What happened next borders on inconceivable.

John Ryan and Johnny Summers scored in quick succession for the hosts to reduce the deficit to 5-3 by the 64th minute.

Summers then completed his hat-trick in the 73rd minute for 5-4 before netting his fourth to bring the scores level at 5-5 five minutes later.

With 12 minutes still to play, the drama was not over. Summers scored his fifth and Charlton’s sixth to lead 6-5 in the 81st minute.

Done and dusted? Think again. The Terriers equalised through Stan Howard with four minutes on the clock – 6-6.

But in the 89th minute, Ryan sent a Summers cross past goalkeeper Sandy Kennon to seal a mind-blowing 7-6 win.

“The next day, the photographers all came around to my house with a couple of sports writers to get my story,” Ufton told Valley Review., external

“Poor old Johnny Summers was the hero and had scored five goals in the game and there I was on Monday morning with my photograph in the paper having missed the match.”