Hat Trickster/Origin



A hat-trick or hat trick in sports is the achievement of a positive feat three times or more during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets with three consecutive deliveries. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he was presented with a hat bought with the proceeds. The term was used in print for the first time in 1878. The term was eventually adopted by many other sports including football (soccer), water polo, and team handball, but did not become popular in North America until the mid-1940s in the National Hockey League.

Football
A hat-trick occurs in association football when a player scores three goals in a single game. In common with other official record-keeping rules, goals in a penalty shootout are excluded from the tally. The extra time in a league tournament match may also be calculated towards a player's potential hat-trick. Players achieving hat-tricks are usually rewarded by being given the match ball to keep. The fastest time to score a hat-trick is 70 seconds, a record set by Alex Torr in a Sunday league game in 2013. The previous record was held by Tommy Ross playing for Ross County against Nairn County on 28 November 1964.



In the FIFA World Cup the first recorded hat-trick was performed by American player Bert Patenaude against Paraguay, coincidentally in the first ever edition. Only one hat-trick has been scored in a final: by Geoff Hurst for England in the 1966 final, after extra time against West Germany. Football has also extended the term to include the phrase perfect hat-trick, achieved when a player scores one right footed goal, one left footed goal and one headed goal within one match.