Peter Shilton Mistake against Poland What was the mistake against poland? Shilton needed to deal with the shot but dived late, leaving the shot too close to his body, and Poland scored. What was the outcome of the match? Poland scored. Did England lose the match? England failed to qualify for the World Cup. Poland would go on to finish third in the competition. Did the poland mistake affect Shilton's career? Leicester reached the FA Cup semi-finals where Shilton was beaten --
What else came out of the mistake?
Besides Shilton beign beaten, what else came out of the mistake?
Shilton was selected by Ramsey for the match, walking out behind captain Martin Peters to earn his 15th cap. Aside from one incident, Shilton spent most of the game watching the opposing goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski as he kept shot after shot out of Poland's net.  When the ball finally did get into the net it was at Shilton's end. Midway through the second half, Norman Hunter trod on the ball near the touchline and Poland broke away, with Grzegorz Lato feeding the ball across to the onrushing Jan Domarski.  As Domarski moved to hit the ball first time, Shilton got into position to attempt to block the shot. Domarski's drive, struck beyond defender Emlyn Hughes' challenge, was low and not well hit but was aimed inside the near goalpost and very close to Shilton. Shilton needed to deal with the shot but dived late, leaving the shot too close to his body, and Poland scored. Shilton later said he was trying to make "the perfect save" and forgot that his first priority was to keep the ball out of the net rather than make sure he held on to it. Shilton also claimed in his autobiography that this was the only mistake he made in his 125 caps for England.  England equalised swiftly through a penalty from Allan Clarke, with Shilton turning his back on the ball at the opposite end because he could not bear to look, but Tomaszewski's continued heroics kept England out to the final whistle, and England failed to qualify for the World Cup. Poland would go on to finish third in the competition.  As the season came to an end, Leicester reached the FA Cup semi-finals where Shilton was beaten -- in a replay after the initial game ended goalless -- by a lobbed volley from Liverpool's Kevin Keegan. CANNOTANSWER
in a replay after the initial game ended goalless -- by a lobbed volley from Liverpool's Kevin Keegan.
Peter Leslie Shilton  (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in excess of 100 for each of five different clubs. During his time at Nottingham Forest, Shilton won many honours, including two European Cups, a UEFA Super Cup, the First Division championship, and the Football League Cup.

Shilton represented England at the FIFA World Cup in 1982, 1986 (where Diego Maradona scored two famous goals against him) and 1990, and the UEFA European Championship in 1980 and 1988. Despite not making his World Cup finals debut until the age of 32, Shilton has played in 17 finals matches, and shares the record of 10 clean sheets in World Cup finals matches with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.

He holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football – 1,390. With 125 caps, Shilton is also the England national team's most-capped player. The IFFHS ranked Shilton among the top ten goalkeepers of the 20th century in 2000.

Club career

Leicester City
Shilton was a 13-year-old pupil at King Richard III Boys School in Leicester, when he started training at schoolboy level with his local club Leicester City in 1963. He caught the eye of first-team goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who commented to the coach about how promising he was.

In May 1966, a 16-year-old Shilton made his debut for Leicester against Everton and his potential was quickly spotted to the extent that the Leicester City management sided with their teenage prodigy and soon sold World Cup winner Banks to Stoke City. Shilton settled into first team life thereafter, even managing to score a goal at The Dell against Southampton in October 1967 direct from a clearance at the opposite end of the pitch; the Southampton goalkeeper Campbell Forsyth misjudged Shilton's long punt upfield, which instead of splashing harmlessly in the mud spun off the pitch and flew over Forsyth's head into the goal. Leicester won the game 5–1.

The following season Leicester had a mixed season, suffering relegation from the First Division but reaching the FA Cup Final at Wembley; 19-year-old Shilton became one of the event's youngest-ever goalkeepers. It did not go his way, however, as a single goal from Manchester City's Neil Young early in the match was enough to win the game. Despite the many honours and accolades which were to come Shilton's way, he would not appear in an FA Cup Final again.

Stoke City
Shilton joined Stoke City in November 1974 for £325,000, a world record for a goalkeeper at that time. Shilton played in 26 matches for Stoke in 1974–75 as they narrowly missed out on the league title. He was an ever-present in 1975–76 playing in all of the club's 48 fixtures that season. However, in January 1976 a severe storm caused considerable damage to the Victoria Ground and to pay for the repair work Stoke had to sell off their playing staff. The summer of 1976 saw Manchester United lodge a bid for Shilton. Stoke agreed a fee of £275,000 for the goalkeeper, but they could not agree on Shilton's wage demands, which would have made him the highest paid player at the club. He remained with Stoke in 1976–77 and a young and inexperienced side suffered relegation to the Second Division. He was sold to Nottingham Forest in September 1977.

Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest made an offer of £250,000 and Shilton signed a month into the new season. Forest had just been promoted to the First Division and were riding high under the management of Brian Clough. They won the League Cup in a replay after initially drawing with Liverpool at Wembley, though Shilton missed that as he was cup-tied, and then won the League title in their first season back in the first division. Shilton made a save in the clinching 0–0 draw against Coventry City which critics regarded among his greatest ever – a vicious close range header from Mick Ferguson seemed destined for the net with Shilton slightly out of position, but he got across to palm it over the bar. During the season as a whole, Shilton conceded just 18 goals in 37 league appearances. Shilton subsequently won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, voted for by his fellow professionals.

Forest won the League Cup again in 1979 – this time Shilton played as they defeated Southampton 3–2 at Wembley – before reaching the European Cup final where a Trevor Francis goal was enough to beat Swedish side Malmö in Munich. Shilton had another eventful season with Forest, reaching a third consecutive League Cup final, with Wolverhampton Wanderers the opponents at Wembley. There was no third successive victory, however, a communication error between Shilton and defender David Needham resulted in a collision on the edge of the Forest penalty area, leaving Andy Gray free to tap the ball into the net for the game's only goal.

Forest then reached the European Cup final again in 1980 – as holders they were entitled to defend the trophy and faced SV Hamburg in Madrid. Like the 1979 final, the game was tight and one goal settled it from Forest winger John Robertson. Among the disappointed Hamburg players was Kevin Keegan, now Shilton's captain at international level.

Life began to decline for Shilton afterwards. Forest failed to continue their trophy-winning form while Shilton began what would be a long-standing gambling addiction which would cause considerable strain to his family. There were also stories of an extramarital affair and a conviction for drink-driving, with the player fined £350 for the offence. All of this contributed to Shilton's decision to leave Nottingham Forest in 1982 and start afresh.

Southampton
Shilton left Forest for Southampton, where his former international teammates Keegan and Alan Ball were both playing. Shilton suffered FA Cup semi final defeat again when he was beaten by a last minute Adrian Heath header which gave Everton a place in the final.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in March 1986 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at London's Waterloo Station

Derby County
Shilton helped the Derby side of Mark Wright, Dean Saunders and Ted McMinn finish fifth in the league, and they only missed out on competing in the UEFA Cup due to the ban on English clubs in European competition (which ran from 1985 to 1990) arising from the Heysel disaster. In 1991, Derby were relegated and Shilton started to consider his playing future. He was 42 years old and was ready to become a coach or manager. In early 1991, he had rejected an offer to replace Stan Ternent as Hull City manager for geographical reasons.

Later career
He finally left Derby in February 1992 on accepting an offer to become player-manager of Plymouth Argyle – a turbulent era that is documented in the 2009 book, Peter Shilton's Nearly Men. Plymouth were battling against relegation in the Football League Second Division but Shilton's efforts were unable to save Plymouth from the drop. His £300,000 record signing Peter Swan proved to be a disaster as the player had an awful relationship with both his teammates and the fans.

In 1994, he started to concentrate solely on management and Plymouth reached the Division Two play-offs, but lost in the semi finals to Burnley. In January 1994, he had been linked with Southampton for a possible return as manager following the departure of Ian Branfoot, but the job went to Alan Ball instead. The following February, with Plymouth heading for relegation, he left the club and announced his intention to start playing again. He was now 45 years old.

He joined Wimbledon in the Premier League for a short period, as injury cover for the first choice goalkeeper Hans Segers, but did not play a first team game for them. He subsequently signed for Bolton Wanderers, making a couple of appearances, including the Division One play-off semi final against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. Bolton lost 2–1, but eventually overcame Wolves in the second leg, Shilton however did not play in this game; Keith Branagan did instead. He then signed for Coventry City, where he failed to make a first-team appearance, before joining West Ham United, where again he never played a first-team game, although he was selected as a substitute on several occasions.

With 996 Football League matches to his name, Shilton was anxious to reach 1,000 and he did when he joined Leyton Orient in November 1996, in an exchange deal for 39-year-old Les Sealey. His thousandth League game came on 22 December 1996, against Brighton & Hove Albion, which was screened live on Sky Sports and was preceded by the presentation from the Football League of a special edition of the Guinness Book of Records to Shilton. He played five more matches before retiring on 1,005 league games at the age of 47 at the end of the 1996–97 season. By the time of his retirement, he was the fifth oldest player ever to have played in the Football League or Premier League. Shilton recovered from financial troubles caused by business decisions and gambling, and became a prolific after-dinner speaker.

International career

Early career
Despite playing at a lower level, he impressed England manager Alf Ramsey sufficiently to give him his debut against East Germany in November 1970. England won 3–1. Little more than six months later, Leicester were promoted back to the First Division. His second England cap came in a goalless draw against Wales at Wembley; and his first competitive match for his country was his third appearance as England drew 1–1 with Switzerland in a qualifying game for the 1972 European Championships. At this stage, Banks was still England's first choice keeper, but the remaining brace of back-ups from the 1970 World Cup, Peter Bonetti and Alex Stepney, had been cast aside by Ramsey so Shilton could begin to regard himself as his country's number two goalkeeper at the age of 22. His fourth and fifth England caps came towards the end of 1972, before a tragic incident suddenly saw Shilton propelled into the limelight as England's number one keeper. In October 1972, Gordon Banks was involved in a car crash which resulted in the loss of the sight in one eye and thus ended his career. Liverpool goalkeeper Ray Clemence was called up to make his debut a month later for England's opening qualifier for the 1974 World Cup, (a 1–0 win over Wales). Shilton ended up with over 100 caps compared to Clemence's 61.

In the summer of 1973, Shilton kept three clean sheets as England defeated Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Against Scotland, Shilton made a right handed save diving to his left from Kenny Dalglish's shot that Shilton considered among his best saves. While drawing with Czechoslovakia earned Shilton his tenth cap – as a warm-up to a crucial World Cup qualifier against Poland in Chorzów a week later. This went badly for England, with Shilton unable to stop both goals in a 2–0 defeat and therefore making victory in the final qualifier, against the same opposition at Wembley four months later, a necessity if England were to make the finals. By now he and Ray Clemence were battling to be regarded as England's top goalkeeper, and each was given their share of caps. In 1975, however, Clemence seemed to be getting the edge, winning eight of the nine caps available under Don Revie, though England failed to reach the 1976 European Championships during this period.

Ron Greenwood started to select Shilton as regularly as Clemence, eventually reaching the stage where he made a point of alternating them, seemingly unable to choose. This indecision attracted some adverse comment, with some commentators questioning Greenwood's ability to manage at the highest level. Shilton then featured heavily as England qualified for the 1980 European Championships in Italy – their first tournament for a decade. Shilton had won his 30th England cap in a 2–0 win over Spain in March 1980; his 31st would not come until the European Championships themselves. It was a 1–0 defeat to Italy, which proved crucial as England failed to get through to the knockout phase.

1982 FIFA World Cup
In the midst of Shilton's issues, he had the matter of the 1982 World Cup to consider. Shilton had played in half of the qualifying games – wins over Norway, and Switzerland, a goalless draw against Romania, and a vital 1–0 win over Hungary. The latter was the last game of the campaign, and England had to win to qualify for the finals in Spain, leading to a potential repeat of the events against Poland in 1973. The result went England's way this time and they qualified for their first World Cup for a dozen years, with Shilton appearing in the finals for the first time at the comparatively mature age of 32.

Clemence had played in the friendlies building up to the competition, but it was Shilton who was selected for the opening group game against France in Bilbao. England won 3–1 and Shilton stayed in goal for the two remaining group games. That was sufficient to advance to the second phase.

UEFA Euro 1984 and 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
With Bobby Robson now running the England team, Shilton's international career flourished, playing in Robson's first ten matches and even captaining the side in seven of them in the absence of Bryan Robson and Ray Wilkins. One game, a 2–0 win over Scotland, earned Shilton his 50th cap.

Clemence returned for a qualifier for the 1984 European Championships against Luxembourg, but this game, Clemence's 61st for his country, also proved to be his last.

England failed to qualify for the European Championships. However, he was now the established first pick goalkeeper for his country, and would remain so through to the end of his international career. Almost half his international caps (61 out of 125) were earned after his 35th birthday. It was 1985 before another goalkeeper was selected for an England game, when Robson could give a debut to the Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Bailey in a relatively unimportant friendly match. Shilton was still the keeper for the qualifying campaign for the 1986 World Cup, which thus far had seen three wins from three matches and no goals conceded.

A 70th cap came Shilton's way in a 1–0 defeat against Scotland at Hampden Park; he later saved a penalty from Andy Brehme as England beat West Germany 3–0 in a tour match in Mexico, a year before England were hoping to return there for the World Cup.

England accomplished going through the whole qualifying campaign undefeated. By the time they played Mexico in an acclimatisation match prior to the competition, Shilton was 80 games into his England career, having beaten Banks' record for a goalkeeper of 73 caps the previous year against Turkey.

1986 FIFA World Cup

At the World Cup itself, England started slowly, losing the opening group match to Portugal and then drawing against outsiders Morocco, during which time Robson was led off injured and Wilkins was sent off. In their absences, Shilton was handed the captaincy as England found their form to defeat Poland 3–0 in their final group game – Gary Lineker scored them all – and progress to the second round.

There they met Paraguay and though Shilton did have to make one fingertip save during the first half, England were rarely troubled. Lineker scored twice and Peter Beardsley once as England went through 3–0 and into a quarter final meeting with Argentina, a match which again would ultimately form part of the legend of Shilton's whole career.

Argentina captain Diego Maradona had been the man of the tournament thus far, but in a tight first half England managed to keep his creativity reasonably at bay. But early in the second half, Maradona changed the game, much to Shilton's anger.

Maradona began an attack which seemingly broke down on the edge of the England box as Steve Hodge got a foot to the ball. The ball was skewed back towards the penalty area and Maradona, continuing the run from his initial pass, went after it as Shilton came out to punch the ball clear. Maradona managed to punch the ball over Shilton and into the net. Shilton and his teammates signalled that Maradona had used his hand – a foul for any player except a goalkeeper – but the Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser allowed the goal. A photograph subsequently showed Maradona outjumping Shilton and his fist clearly making contact with the ball as Shilton was still midway through his own stretch, arm extended (having not anticipated Maradona's action). Maradona later said the goal was scored by the Hand of God. Nasser never refereed at such a high level again, having missed such a blatant infringement.

Shortly afterwards, Maradona scored a legitimate individual goal, taking on almost the whole England defence and Shilton before shooting into an empty net. In 2002, the goal was voted 'Goal of the Century' as part of the buildup to the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament on the FIFA website. Lineker pulled one back and nearly equalised in the closing seconds, but England were out.

In 1987, Grandslam Entertainment released a computer game with the unsubtle title of Peter Shilton's Handball Maradona!.

UEFA Euro 1988
However, he continued to play for England, featuring in a straightforward and successful qualification campaign for the 1988 European Championships, which were to be held in West Germany.

Shilton had won his 90th cap for England in a 2–0 win over Northern Ireland in a European Championship qualifier.

Shilton's 99th cap came in a 1–0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland with Shilton beaten by an early Ray Houghton header. Shilton's 100th was against the Netherlands. Marco van Basten eliminated England from the tournament with a second half hat-trick as England lost 3–1. Robson left Shilton out of the third and final group game as it was now meaningless, but England still lost it, also 3–1. Chris Woods, longtime understudy to Shilton (and his teenage understudy a decade earlier at Forest – he had played in the League Cup final when Shilton was cup-tied) was given a rare game.

1990 FIFA World Cup
Shilton played in all bar one of the England games over the next 18 months – the one he missed saw a debut for a future England goalkeeping first choice, David Seaman of Queens Park Rangers. In June 1989, Shilton broke his old England skipper Bobby Moore's record of 108 appearances for his country when he won his 109th cap in a friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen. Prior to the match he was handed a framed England goalkeeper's jersey with '109' on the front. He had, by this time, kept three clean sheets in three qualifying matches for the 1990 World Cup and would ultimately concede no goals at all as England qualified for the tournament, to be held in Italy.

His 119th appearance for his country saw England draw 1–1 with the Republic of Ireland in the opening group game; England got through the group, beat Belgium 1–0 in the second round match, and then edged past Cameroon 3–2 in the quarter finals, thanks to two Lineker penalties after England went 2–1 down. Then came the West Germans in the semi finals, Shilton's 124th England game.

It was goalless at half time, but shortly after the restart Shilton was beaten by Andreas Brehme's deflected free kick that looped off Paul Parker's shin and dropped into the net over Shilton's head, despite his back pedalling attempts to tip the ball over. Lineker's late equaliser salvaged a draw for England but Shilton could not get close enough to any of the penalties taken by the Germans in the deciding shoot out, while England missed two of theirs and went out of the tournament.

Shilton was the keeper for the third place play-off game, which ended in a 2–1 win for hosts Italy, Shilton suffering an embarrassing moment when he dithered over a back pass and was tackled by Roberto Baggio who scored as a result of Shilton's error. It was his 125th appearance for his country and, after the tournament ended, he announced it would be his last. His final appearance came just four months before the 20th anniversary of his international debut, making his full international career one of the longest on record. He was never booked or sent off at full international level.

Style of play
Considered by pundits to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world in his prime, as well as one of the best shot-stoppers of his generation, and as one of England's greatest players ever in his position, he is even being described by some in the media as one of the greatest keepers of all time. Shilton was an intelligent and efficient goalkeeper, who was regarded above all for his physical presence, handling, positional sense, composure and consistency, as well as his ability to communicate with his teammates, organise his defence, and inspire confidence in his back-line. He possessed significant physical strength, which made him an imposing presence in the area, despite not being the tallest of goalkeepers. Furthermore, he was known for his agility, and also possessed excellent reflexes, and good shot-stopping abilities. Known for his work-rate, mentality, discipline in training, and physical conditioning. He also stood out for his exceptional longevity throughout his career, which spanned four decades. He retired at the age of 47, having competed in over 1,000 professional matches. However, he also drew criticism in the English media at times for his increasing lack of pace and agility with age in his later career, which along with his timing and relatively modest stature for a goalkeeper, is thought to have limited him when facing penalties, most noticeably in England's penalty shoot-out defeat to eventual champions West Germany in the 1990 World Cup semi-final; indeed, throughout his international career, his penalty–saving record was not particularly impressive, with his only save coming against Andreas Brehme of West Germany in 1985.

Personal life

Shilton married Sue Flitcroft in September 1970, and the couple have two sons, Michael and Sam, who later became a professional footballer.

In December 2011, it was announced that Shilton had split from his wife after 40 years of marriage.

In March 2015, it was announced that Shilton was to marry his second wife, jazz singer Stephanie Hayward, the pair having got engaged in 2014. The couple were married at the Parish of St Peter and St Paul Church in West Mersea, on 10 December 2016.

Shilton was charged with drinking and driving in March 2013. He was banned for 20 months and ordered to pay £1,020 costs.

Shilton has expressed support of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.

In January 2020, Shilton revealed that he had overcome a 45-year gambling addiction with the help of his wife, Steph. Shilton was now working with the Government to raise awareness of associated issues including mental health problems.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours
Leicester City
Second Division: 1970–71
FA Charity Shield: 1971

Nottingham Forest
First Division: 1977–78
League Cup: 1978–79
FA Charity Shield: 1978
European Cup: 1978–79, 1979–80
European Super Cup: 1979

England
Rous Cup: 1986, 1988, 1989
FIFA World Cup Fourth Place: 1990

Individual
IOC European Footballer of the Season: 1979–80
PFA First Division Team of the Year: 1974–75, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86
PFA Team of the Century (1977–1996): 2007
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 1977–78
Nottingham Forest Player of the Season: 1981–82
Southampton Player of the Season: 1984–85, 1985–86
FWA Tribute Award: 1991
English Football Hall of Fame: Inducted 2002
Football League 100 Legends

See also
 List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
 List of men's footballers with the most official appearances

References

External links

 
 
 Profile at England Football Online 
 

1949 births
Living people
Footballers from Leicester
English footballers
Association football goalkeepers
Leicester City F.C. players
Stoke City F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Wimbledon F.C. players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
Coventry City F.C. players
West Ham United F.C. players
Leyton Orient F.C. players
English Football League players
UEFA Champions League winning players
English Football League representative players
England under-23 international footballers
England international footballers
UEFA Euro 1980 players
1982 FIFA World Cup players
1986 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1988 players
1990 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA Century Club
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
English football managers
Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers
English Football League managers
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
FA Cup Final players
"Be My Mistake" is a song by British indie rock band, The 1975. The track is the sixth song on their third studio album, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. Despite not being an official single from the album, it charted on the New Zealand and U.S. rock charts.

Meaning 
In an November 2018 interview with Pitchfork, lead singer Matty Healy described "Be My Mistake" as a song about guilt. Healy further explained "It’s about when you are a young person and you struggle sometimes to figure out what you really want. And sometimes, like a lot of things, it requires you to make a mistake before you actually understand what you have." Healy described Nick Drake as an influence for the song.

Critical reception 
Writing for PopBuzz, Katie Louise Smith called "Be My Mistake" "is almost like an even sadder sequel to 'Somebody Else' and it will one hundred percent destroy you emotionally".

Charting

References

External links 
 Official Acoustic Video

2018 songs
The 1975 songs
Songs written by Matthew Healy
English folk songs Smith v Hughes (1871) LR 6 QB 597 is an English contract law case. In it, Blackburn J set out his classic statement of the objective interpretation of people's conduct (acceptance by conduct) when entering into a contract. The case regarded a mistake made by Mr. Hughes, a horse trainer, who bought a quantity of oats that were the same as a sample he had been shown. However, Hughes had misidentified the kind of oats: his horse could not eat them, and refused to pay for them. Smith, the oat supplier, sued for Hughes to complete the sale as agreed. The court sided with Smith, as he provided the oats Hughes agreed to buy. That Hughes made a mistake was his own fault, as he had not been misled by Smith. Since Smith had made no fault, there was no mutual mistake, and the sale contract was still valid.

The case stands for the narrow proposition that in a commercial sale by sample (following sample) where the goods conform to the sample shown, the court will mindful of the principle of caveat emptor ("buyer beware") look more to objective than subjective consensus ad idem ("meeting of the minds"). Its wider proposition, not directly relevant to the facts of the case, and later substantially reduced, was that a consumer buying an item, such as "a horse", without a representation or warranty (any seller's statement or special term as to its condition) making his own assessment which "turns out unsound" cannot avoid, that is seek to obtain a refund on, the contract — see for example the largely consolidatory Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Facts
Mr. Hughes was a racehorse trainer. Mr. Smith, who was a farmer, brought him a sample of his oats, of which Hughes then ordered forty to fifty quarters at a fixed price. Sixteen quarters were sent to start with. But when they arrived, Hughes said they were not the oats he thought they would be. He had wanted old oats (which are the only ones racehorses can eat), and he was getting new oats (also known as green oats). In fact, Smith's sample was of green oats. Hughes refused to pay and Smith sued for damages for breach of contract, for the amount of oats delivered and still to be delivered. Later questions were put in this civil matter to jury (a procedure today largely abolished).

The jury convened locally at a County Court of Surrey, at Epsom. They initially found for Mr. Hughes that there was a mistake on his part. They were directed by the judge that if Mr. Hughes was under a mistake about the oats (thinking they were old when they were green oats) and Mr. Smith had known it, they should find in Mr. Hughes' favour. They therefore did so. Mr. Smith appealed.

Judgment
The Court of the Queen's Bench found that the jury had been misdirected and ordered a retrial. Leaning in Mr. Smith's favour, they held that the question was not merely whether the parties were at consensus ad idem (meeting of the minds), but what they had communicated by their conduct and words to one another. Mr. Smith was held to be under no duty to inform Mr. Hughes of his possible mistake about the kind of oats, reaffirming the old idea of caveat emptor (buyer beware). A unilateral mistake is therefore in principle no ground for rescission of a contract. Cockburn CJ gave the first judgment.

Then, Blackburn J, who came to be known as one of the great 19th century judges, agreeing, gave his decision on the issue.

Hannen J delivered a concurring judgment.

See also

Hotchkiss v National City Bank of New York, 200 F 287, 293 (SD NY 1911), per Judge Learned Hand, "A contract has, strictly speaking, nothing to do with the personal, or individual, intent of the parties. A contract is an obligation attached by the mere force of law to certain acts of the parties, usually words, which ordinarily accompany and represent a known intent. If, however, it were proved by twenty bishops that either party, when he used the words, intended something else than the usual meaning that the law imposes upon them, he would still be held, unless there were some mutual mistake or something else of the sort."
Hillas & Co Ltd v Arcos Ltd [1932] UKHL 2
Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3 All ER 566
Frederick E Rose (London) Ltd v William H Pim Junior & Co Ltd [1953] 2 QB 450

Notes and references
References

Notes

1871 in case law
English contract case law
Lord Blackburn cases
English agreement case law
English interpretation case law
1871 in British law
Oats
Court of King's Bench (England) cases