Wooden spoon (award)

The wooden spoon was presented originally at the University of Cambridge as a booby prize awarded by the students to the person who achieved the lowest exam marks but still earned a third-class degree (a junior optime) in the Mathematical Tripos. The term "wooden spoon" or simply "the spoon" was also applied to the recipient, and the prize became quite notorious: The spoons themselves, actually made of wood, grew larger, and in latter years measured up to five feet long. By tradition, they were dangled in a teasing way from the upstairs balcony in the Senate House, in front of the recipient as he came before the Vice-Chancellor to receive his degree, at least until 1875 when the practice was specifically banned by the university. The lowest placed students earning a second-class (senior optime) or first-class degree (wrangler) were sometimes known as the "silver spoon" and "golden spoon" respectively. The custom dates back at least to the late 18th century, being recorded in 1803, From 1910 onwards the results have been given in alphabetical rather than score order, and so it is now impossible to tell who has come last, unless there is only one person in the lowest class. There are five known wooden spoons in private hands. == In sport ==

Rugby union In rugby union's Six Nations Championship, the wooden spoon is a metaphorical award won by the team finishing in last place. In addition, if a team loses all its matches it is also said to have been "whitewashed". In 1892, Rugby Football, by Rev. F. Marshall explains, "all three matches being lost, Wales thus earned the “wooden spoon” of International football for this season". In 1894, the South Wales Daily Post remarked that within the Home Nations Championships the Ireland-Wales match has been to decide which team should be recipient of the ignominious Wooden Spoon. Australian and New Zealand sports The term is commonly used in Australian and New Zealand sporting competitions, most notably in the major Australian rules, soccer, rugby league and rugby union leagues (such as the AFL, the A-League, NRL, Super Rugby and ITM Cup) and refers to the club positioned last on the league table at the end of the season. Games between teams 'competing' for the wooden spoon have recently become referred to as 'Spoon Bowls', a play on the NFL's Super Bowl. VFL/AFL wooden spoons National Rugby League Big Bash League (cricket) Suncorp Super Netball In the 2017 and 2018 Suncorp Super Netball seasons, the Adelaide Thunderbirds claimed the wooden spoon. In the latter year, they lost all fourteen of their regular season matches, resulting in Dan Ryan being sacked as the club's coach. The Queensland Firebirds, Collingwood Magpies and Melbourne Vixens have won the past three wooden spoons, with the Vixens the most recent recipient of the award. Major League Soccer In Canada and the United States' men's Major League Soccer, the last-place team in the overall standings is generally considered as the "wooden spoon champion". However, unlike other Wooden Spoon awards, there is a physical "trophy" for the award. Before the start of the 2016 MLS season, the Independent Supporters Council created an actual "trophy" for the lowest-place team in the league, as a complement to the Supporters' Shield the ISC also manages. The trophy is passed to the "winning" team at the annual ISC general meeting, and the holders of the Spoon must possess the spoon for the entire following season. At the end of the year, every group awarded the Wooden Spoon are allowed to do what they will with the trophy, including refusing to display it. The current spoon holders are D.C. United (2025). Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League has an unofficial trophy, awarded to the team that finishes with the fewest points at the end of the regular season. The most recent recipient are Vancouver FC as of the 2025 season.{{cite web|url=https://www.canpl.ca/standings|title=Canadian Premier League|website=www.canpl.ca/standings Oxford and Cambridge rowing In the Cambridge and Oxford bumps races, a crew who get bumped each day (thus moving down four places) are awarded spoons. This is probably related to the use of wooden spoons as a booby prize in the University of Cambridge Mathematical Tripos. Tennis A wooden spoon, also known as the "anti-slam", is sometimes spoken about in tennis. It is described as the worst possible outcome in a tournament, won by the player who is defeated in the first round by a player who is defeated in the second round, by a player who is defeated in the third round and so forth, until the final of the tournament. Greg Rusedski (1994 and 1995 US Open, 2006 Wimbledon Championships), Nicolás Lapentti (1996 French Open, 1997 and 2009 Wimbledon Championships) and Julien Benneteau (2014 and 2016 US Open, 2016 French Open) have claimed three wooden spoons throughout their career. == See also ==