The Double is a term in football, meaning to win a country's top division and its cup competition in the same season.
In an English context, it means winning the English top division (now the FA Premier League, the old First Division prior to the inception of the Premiership) and the F.A. Cup in the same season. It was last achieved by Arsenal in 2002.
A complete list of seasons with The Double winning teams in England:
Arsenal and Manchester United share the record of 3 double wins each. Arsenal are the only club to win a double in more than one decade (1970s, 1990s and 2000s), and United's three 1990s double illustrate their near domination of English football at that time.
The term is used outside England as well. Some double-winning teams of note in 2004 were Celtic in Scotland and Werder Bremen in Germany.
The all-time leaders for domestic doubles are two other teams from the United Kingdom—Rangers in Scotland and Linfield in Northern Ireland, with 17 each as of 2004.
The term is also used in football to denote a team beating the same team twice in a season, home and away.
In auto racing, The Double is a term used for a driver on Memorial Day weekend attempting to race in two prestigious races on the same day, the Indianapolis 500 during the day and the Coca-Cola 600 during the night. Pulling "the Double" has only been possible since 1992, when the 600 began being held under the lights. Such an accomplishment can be very draining, with one driving up to 7 hours on a race track and also having to travel 430 miles from Indianapolis to Charlotte, where the 600 is held.
One-time Indy racer John Andretti first attempted the feat in 1994 and it has been done successfully by two other drivers since, Tony Stewart in 1999 and 2001, and Robby Gordon in 2002 and 2003. Stewart's double in 2001 is the only attempt which has encompassed all 1,100 possible miles. Gordon has also tried the double in 1997 and 2000, but rain plagued both attempts. The '97 Indy 500 was postponed by rain until the following Monday (eliminating a true "double") while the 2000 Indy 500 was rain delayed for 3 hours and prevented Gordon from officially starting the 600.
Also a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Double
Last updated: 07-30-2005 20:01:51
