The Knowledge: your football questions answered – as it happened!

The south-coast team with six England captain and the team that finished second six years in a row and more featured in our first live edition of the Knowledge

2.51pm BST

There’s only so much Knowledge a man can take in a single day, so we’re going to wrap up the blog now. Thanks for your questions and answers throughout, and if you need another fix, there’s a 15-year Knowledge Archive that you can peruse here.

The Knowledge returns to the usual format a week today. It includes the story of the Northwich fan who had two pints and a pie before a match - and ended up playing in an emergency.

2.41pm BST

“What’s been the biggest increase in a club’s average attendance over the course of consecutive football seasons?” asked Ronan Brennan. “Or the biggest decrease?

Castleton Gabriels, now renamed Rochdale Town, finished bottom of the North West Counties League for three consecutive seasons between 2004 and 2007,” says Chris Goodall. “Their average crowds for the three seasons were 37, 175(!) and 37. That second season was actually the worst performance-wise, with only two wins. So why the amazing 473% spike in their average crowds? Because of a single match on September 17th 2005: Castleton Gabriels vs. FC United of Manchester, attendance 2,473. The moral of the story - when you hear someone talking about the “average” of a set of numbers, check carefully for outliers.”

2.38pm BST

“RE: Longest throw-ins, I believe this technically belongs to a teacher, Danny Brooks,” writes

Danny Brooks
ollib. “He hasn’t done it in a professional game, of course, but his technique (front-flipping before releasing the ball) is entirely ‘legal’ within the definitions of the game as the ball never touches the ground and comes from behind his head.”

2.35pm BST

“There were seven England captains in that Southampton team,” says Basile Bailey. “You missed Mark Wright.”

Ah, but Wright wasn’t an England captain at the time, whereas the other six were. From memory, Wright didn’t captain England until the 3-1 win over the Soviet Union on 21 May 1991

2.33pm BST

“You asked about lower-league internationals,” says Paul Clark. “Nathanial Jarvis plays for Hungerford Town in the National League South and Antigua and Barbuda. He helped them get promotion from the Southern League last season, so was playing 7th-tier football.”

2.29pm BST

“With Jake Livermore, Tom Huddlestone and Ryan Mason all in Hull City’s current starting XI (and Michael Dawson when he’s back from injury), the Tigers could field four former Spurs players when they play each other this season. Has any side had four (or more) players playing against a former club?” asks Ollie Davis.

“You have raised the issue of derby games being moved for TV/police,” writes Graham Nine. “The last time Norwich hosted Ipswich at 3pm on a Saturday was 19 February 1983, an FA Cup fifth-round tie (all hail Keith Bertschin!). The following 21 derby games at Norwich have been played ‘out-of-hours’, so to speak. Can anyone beat this?”

@TheKnowledge_GU Have any records been kept regarding the length of throw-ins? Can anyone tell me who took the longest ever legal throw-in?

2.26pm BST

“Has a non-British referee ever officiated a league 1/premier league game?” asks @languagecaster.

2.18pm BST

“What’s been the biggest increase in a club’s average attendance over the course of consecutive football seasons?” asked Ronan Brennan. “Or the biggest decrease?

“Surely RB Leipzig have to be close to getting this honour,” writes Carl O’Reilly. “Just looking at their Wiki page you can see the dramatic increase, from 2,150 in 2009-10 to 29,441 last season.”

2.15pm BST

This question is from Turlough Kelly. “Is Graham Gartland of Drogheda United the only player ever to miss twice in the same penalty shoot-out? (Drogheda Utd vs. IK Start, Uefa Cup 2006).”

He might be the only professional player to do so - can anyone help, etc - but it has certainly happened at a lower level. This comes from the Knowledge in 2008: The world record for the worst-ever penalty shoot-out, however, is quite predictably held by a pair of English sides. In January 1998 Under-10 sides Mickleover Lightning Blue Sox and Chellaston Boys faced off in the Derby Community Cup. The game finished 1-1 and the Blue Sox won 2-1 on penalties, though not until a remarkable 66 penalties had been taken. Thanks to Paul Haynes for that one.

2.08pm BST

1 - Last Saturday, Sevilla fielded a starting XI without any Spanish players for the first time for any team in La Liga history. When was the first time the equivalent was done in England, Italy and Germany? (And when was the first time not a single local player played for the duration of the game, even as a sub?)

(Chelsea were the first English team to field an XI without any British players, at Southampton on Boxing Day 1999. Not sure if there was an Englishman-free team before that.)

2.04pm BST

“This one’s been nagging me for a while, and I’m finally getting round to sending it in,”wrote David Christie. “Barry Robson and Willo Flood dished out uncompromising tackles together at Aberdeen from 2013-16, but had previously played together at Middlesbrough (2010-11), Celtic (2009-10) and Dundee United (2007-08: Willo was there on loan). How unusual is it for a pair of players to find themselves teammates at four (or more) different clubs?”

“Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Maxwell played together at Ajax, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain,” says Stephan Wijnan. “So that’s four clubs, and they won the league at each. Maybe Man Utd should buy Maxwell this winter.”

2.03pm BST

“I already know the answer to this, but wanted to test the knowledge of the readers/the researchers,” says Dan Seppings. “Which player has scored the most top-flight goals in England without scoring a top-flight hat trick? Prizes for getting the answer right include immense self-satisfaction and a virtual slap on the back from me.”

(Ryan Giggs?)

1.27pm BST

Thanks again for all your questions and answers; it’s time for a quick lunch break. I’ll leave you with some classic Knowledge from the archive, and a few more questions. See you soon!

Related: The Knowledge | Footballers playing under the influence | Barry Glendenning and John Ashdown

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Related: Has a referee ever changed his mind about a red card (redux)? | The Knowledge

Related: How did Alan Hansen get that scar?

1.26pm BST

“I recall being a wee whippersnapper, sometime in the early 2000s and watching BBC Final Score,” says Andy Sanders. “The presenter was talking about a striker north of the border in the Scottish second or third division, and he asked Mark Lawrenson

“Do you you know what incredible milestone he will reach if he scores today?”

1.05pm BST

“Has a goalkeeper ever scored at the finals of an international tournament?” asked Ronan Brennan.

“Didn’t a Portuguese goalkeeper score one recently..” says h1NTERland. “Err.. by recently I mean in the past 10 years or so? Can’t remember his name either! Think it was a penalty.”

1.00pm BST

“In 1982, a First Division side had six past and future England captains in the same team. Which team was this?”asked one knowledge-hungry reader whose name we’d inexplicably lost under a mountain of Knowledge emails, back in February 2003.

This one’s a doddle. Mick Channon, Dave Watson, Peter Shilton, Kevin Keegan, Mick Mills and Alan Ball all played for Southampton during the calendar year of 1982.

12.53pm BST

“This question has been bugging me for years,” scratches Alex Russell. “Who was the first player to ever get booked or sent off for diving? I’ve been told from an unreliable source that it is Colin Hendry, is this true?”

(I know Roy Keane was given a second yellow by his old mate David Elleray for supposedly diving over Colin Hendry at Blackburn in August 1995, but I’ve no idea about whether Hendry did the same, or whether he was the first. Great question though. Can anyone help? Was Franny Lee ever punished for his gravity issues? I assume it wasn’t a bookable offence then because, as my colleague Tom Davies says, foreigners hadn’t been invented then so diving wasn’t an issue.)

12.49pm BST

Tonight, ITV1, 10.40pm

This looks triffic.

12.47pm BST

@TheKnowledge_GU Arsenal started with three players with double-barrelled surnames last night against Forest. This a record?

Bloody gentrification.

12.44pm BST

“Is it true that Matthew Le Tissier only won the Southampton Player of the Season award on three occasions?” asks Paul Blades. “I’d have expected him to win it 15 years in a row!”

(It is indeed. He won it in 1989-90, when he was also the PFA Young Player of the Year, and then in consecutive seasons from 1993-95 during his imperial phase under Alan Ball.)

12.38pm BST

“What’s been the biggest increase in a club’s average attendance over the course of consecutive football seasons?” asked Ronan Brennan. “Or the biggest decrease?

“I would imagine that Chorley have a good shout for the highest percentage change,” says Gary Fairclough. “At the end of (yet) another disappointing Northern Premier League First Division North campaign in 2009/10 they had averaged a paltry 271 fans per game. That summer everything changed, the appointment of ex-Blackburn favourite Garry Flitcroft brought in a sudden boost of interest (including more fans being at a meet-the-manager event than had been at most games the season before). At the end of the following season with promotion in the bag Chorley had averaged 756, an increase of almost 280%. This may have been helped by the Blackburn/Venkys fallout causing a few Rovers fans to look elsewhere for football entertainment!”

12.31pm BST

“Which manager has had the most individual spells at the same club,” asked Elliot Leaver.

“Since I am not satisfied with the answer given, I bring to you a more precise one,” sys Bách Hoàng. “Lê Thụy Hải, one of the greatest managers in the history of Vietnam football, has had a total of six stints in the capacity of manager in Bình Dương Football Club and won three national championships with the team. Interestingly, in the last two stints he acted as Technical Director because he has not fulfilled coaching requirements (doesn’t even bother to take part in licensing course), which are newly adopted by AFC since 2011. Bình Dương appointed another man as manager but Lê Thụy Hải is still de facto manager.”

12.28pm BST

“How many players have broken their leg taking a penalty” asks Adeshr. “I seem to recall this happening to Colin Cooper at Middlesbrough, but can’t confirm it anywhere on the web. Can anyone confirm this is true and if anyone else has ever broken their leg taking a penalty?”

No idea about that but Cesc Fabregas broke his leg just before he scored a penalty against Barcelona in 2010. And Tony Cascarino was fortunate that he didn’t break his entire body when he kicked the ground while taking his penalty against Romania at Italia 90.

12.27pm BST

“Back in 1986, Watford played Arsenal home and away on 31 March and 1 April and beat them twice,” says Simon Shannon.

Indeed, and if you include the previous weekend both teams played three league matches in four days. I suppose they all drank Carling Black Label back then though.

12.20pm BST

“Which game has been televised the most in the Premier league era and which fixture has the longest televised streak?” asks ID4812499.

(I’d imagine the first answer is Liverpool v Manchester United – I think all bar four have been televised, the most recent in 2004. The longest streak is possibly Man Utd v Arsenal. I think the last time that wasn’t televised, in the Premier League, was November 1996. Somebody should write a book about that rivalry.)

12.10pm BST

“I was chatting in work to a colleague about José Mourinho’s imminent return to Stamford Bridge this season and it got me thinking – which manager has had the most individual spells at the same club?” wrote Elliot Leaver.

“Two Croatian managers and rivals - Miroslav Blažević and late Tomislav Ivić - had four spells each at two biggest Croatian clubs and bitterest rivals Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split respectively,” says Admir Pajiæ. “Blažević was in charge at Dinamo Zagreb between 1980 and 1983, between 1986 and 1988, between 1992 and 1995 and, finally, in their successful 2002-03 campaign. What might sound even more impressive and present a new challenge for the Knowledge readers, Blažević has managed the same club under three different names (today’s GNK Dinamo Zagreb were known as “Dinamo Zagreb” in Blažević’s first, second and fourth spell while during the war in ex-Yugoslavia it had been renamed at first to “HAŠK Građanski” and then to “Croatia Zagreb” which coincided with Blažević’s third spell).

12.03pm BST

“So Liverpool recently signed Alex Manninger, 14 years after he left Arsenal,” noted Michael Britton. “Is this the longest break a player has had in between Premier League stints?”

“Yes. Alex Manninger’s 14-year break – 15 if you count his loan spell at Fiorentina – is comfortably the longest in Premier League history,” says Chris Goodall. “But Manninger is yet to don the gloves for Liverpool and looks a long shot to do so this season, so the award for the longest break between Premier League appearances is still up for grabs. Glen Little can claim 11 years between bursting onto the scene with Crystal Palace and shuffling back onto the scene with Reading, but he ruined it with a four-game loan spell at Bolton in the middle.

11.59am BST

“Which player has won the European Cup with the most teams?”

(This is Clarence Seedorf I think - Ajax, Madrid and Milan)

11.55am BST

“Plymouth finished second in Division Three South in 1921-22,” writes Sean DeLoughry. “With only one team promoted they stayed put. They repeated the achievement in 1922-23. And 23-4. And 24-5, 25-6 and 26-7. Six times runners-up, six times missed out on promotion.”

11.52am BST

“Close-but-no-cigar award surely goes to Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final,” says Kevin Dennehy. “He conceded the penalty that Zidane scored, then scored Italy’s goal 10 minutes later. He was then instrumental in having Zizou sent off before scoring a goal in the penalty shoot out. The occasion itself, the World Cup final, the biggest game in any player’s career makes it worthy of a mention.”

It’s all about you, isn’t it Marco?

11.50am BST

“Not quite meeting the full criteria of the question, but worth mentioning anyway, is Jonathan Walters’ triple-fail for Stoke verus Chelsea in 2013,” says Nathan Eaton. “He scored two own-goals and missed a penalty. The only example of a player scoring a hat-trick of own goals that I’m aware of is Stan van den Buys who put three past his own keeper while playing for Germinal Ekeren (now Germinal Beerschott) vs Anderlecht in 1995.”

So what do we call the Chris Nicholl?

11.47am BST

Thanks for all your questions and answers. Opta stats confirm there is a 0.00 per cent chance we’ll be able to answer them all, but we’ll do as many as we can before the nervous breakdown begins.

11.46am BST

“You previously asked about teams having to wear other teams’ shirts,” recalls Peter Newbitt. “A few weeks ago I went to see Clapton FC host Eton Manor FC at the magnificently named Old Spotted Dog Ground. When Eton Manor ran out on to the pitch, to my surprise I noticed they appeared to be sponsored by Air Asia; quite a coup for a team in the Essex Senior League. On closer inspection it became apparent they were in fact playing in QPR’s third shirt from the 2012-13 season. Anyone know why?”

11.36am BST

“Has a goalkeeper ever scored at the finals of an international tournament?” asked Ronan Brennan.

“Obvious choice,” says Arraiga2. “Jose Luis Chilavert hit the bar in 2002 for Paraguay, and scored a penalty at the 1997 Copa America.” He hit the bar at the World Cup?

11.33am BST

“Very pointless question that I thought to myself the other day, that may be unanswerable/pointless…” says Steve Kellett. “What’s the most amount of consecutive games played by an outfield player without taking a throw in? Would be interesting to know if anyone has a clue!”

Would it, though? Would it really be interesting? I consider myself a tolerant person but this is deviancy on a sickening scale.

11.31am BST

“Don’t know if you ever answered this one, but has anyone the ‘anti-hat trick’ (an own goal, conceding a penalty and getting sent off in the same match)?” asks dfic1999.

In the absence of answers, I’m going to do the politician’s trick of answering a completely different question. Manchester City’s Michael Ball produced an ignoble hat-trick in the derby of 2006-07: he stamped on Cristiano Ronaldo’s chest (later receiving a three-match ban), conceded the matchwinning penalty, and then dived for a penalty that Darius Vassell missed.

11.28am BST

“Has a goalkeeper ever scored at the finals of an international tournament?” asks Ronan Brennan.

“What’s been the biggest increase in a club’s season average attendance over the course of consecutive football seasons?” asks Ronan Brennan (the same). Or the biggest decrease? Could it be Coventry - whose average attendance dropped from 11k in 2012/13 to 2.3k in 2013/14 representing an 80% decrease season-on-season (according to this link)?

11.19am BST

“Who were the last British football club to play a friendly in South America?” asked Sameoldcabbage.

“Surely,” says ID643432, “the last British club to play a friendly in South America would have been Exeter, when they played a Fluminense XI in July 2014?”

11.17am BST

We have our first digital fistfight of the day. Does Middlesbrough’s team against Fulham in 2006, which included England-born future Scotland international James Morrison, count as an all-English XI? “I set the question,” says Kontiki, “and I’m declaring that still valid.”

Dan Lucas, who suggested an alternative answer, might disagree. I can tell you, I wouldn’t want to be around when this all kicks off!

11.13am BST

“I seem to remember reading about a match in the 1980s in the Conference where one side (I believe it may have been Northwich Victoria) turned up with only 8 fit players and appealed to their spectators if anyone wished to have a gam,” says Warwick Bassett. “Apparently they didn’t do badly, managing a 1-1 draw.Are there any more details about this and have any other clubs called on the services on their fans to bolster the playing numbers?”

Does anyone know anything about this story? Anyone? Anyone? In the meantime, here’s the old one about Harry Redknapp playing a West Ham fan in a pre-season friendly.

11.13am BST

“Is it my imagination,” begins Elliot Jacobs, “or did Man Utd’s home kit shorts used to be black, as standard?”

They certainly wore black shorts with the red shirt quite a bit in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, but I think that was away from home against teams with white shorts - like when they lost 6-0 at Ipswich and Gary Bailey saved three penalties. I might be wrong but I think the home shorts were always white.

11.06am BST

“Good morning from beautiful and sunny Spain!” writes David. “My question is as follows: In our local team (Atlético de Monzón), currently playing at Regional Preferente (5th level, although it can be compared to Northern League in England), appears an Andorran international; Marcio Vieira. Do you know of any other player who is currently playing at an International level which is in such a low division?”

We have (sort of) covered this in previous, non-live editions of The Knowledge. Click here and also to receive relevant information. But do let us know if you can think of an international playing at a lower level.

11.03am BST

Adeshr has seen Dan Lucas’s answer (10.49am) and raised it. “Last top flight club to start with an all-English XI: Fulham 1-0 Middlesbrough - 7 May 2006. Steve McClaren’s farewell before he became England managers. “All 16 of Boro’s player including subs were English. In fact 15 of the 16 were born within 30 miles of the Riverside ground. Also the Boro Man of the Match was awarded to ‘the whole team’.”

Ah, innocent times. How could we have known that the nucleus of that young team would go on to win the 2010 World Cup for Sir Steve, with Sir David Wheather belting the winner in the final for 10-man England after Sir Lee Cattermole was sent off for eating Xavi.

10.58am BST

“Does a bite count as a fight?” says Liam Ferry. It’ll do. “If so, Luis Suarez scored a goal, assisted a goal and fought/bit Branislav Ivanović (AND conceded a penalty through handball) in that famous match.”

10.57am BST

“Geremi (once of Chelsea and Real Madrid) has more appearances for his national team, Cameroon, than any club he played for,” says tommy87. “Is this unique?”

Didn’t Rigobert Song do it as well, or was that just league games?

10.55am BST

“Why does nobody understand Stephan Wijnen’s question?” says promisinglight. “It clearly states ‘championship match’, i.e. the fixture in which one of the teams was crowned champions?”

Oh, erm. Oh. Somebody’s getting a P45 for that, probably me. And the question’s still open in that case.

10.52am BST

“The suggestion that Wayne Rooney can convert from being a top-class striker to a top-class midfielder good enough to play for Man Utd and England seems unlikely to me,” says Jez Norgan, “so can anybody think of past examples of a striker doing this that show it is actually possible?”

There have been a few just at United, like Paul Scholes and Brian McClair, but they did it in their 20s. Generally those who have done it in their thirties, certainly in England, have been wingers like John Barnes and Ryan Giggs. Mark Hughes and Michael Owen both played central midfield later in their career, though probably not to England-captain standard.

10.49am BST

“Who were the last top flight club to start with an all-English XI?” asked Kontiki. “I know Burnley got 10 out of 11 a couple of years ago (goddamn you Scott Arfield).”

“You have to go right back to 27 February 1999 for this one I think,” says our own Dan Lucas. “Aston Villa’s line-up against Coventry: Michael Oakes, Alan Wright, Gareth Southgate, Steve Watson, Riccardo Scimeca, Ian Taylor, Paul Merson, Simon Grayson, Lee Hendrie, Dion Dublin, Julian Joachim. John Gregory’s Brave Lads got stuffed 4-1 at home.”

10.46am BST

“In round 3 of the Dutch Eredivisie, PEC Zwolle vs. PSV was played,” asked Stephan Wijnen. “This fixture was also played in the last (34th) round of last season, in which match PSV became the Dutch champions. So there were only two rounds inbetween these matches. Is this a record for a championship match to be played again in the next season in the same stadium (supercup matches, friendlies, etc. excluded, so only league matches)?”

“One very recent example is Stoke v Liverpool,” says Blaynos. “Stoke won 6-1 at the Britannia on the final day of the 2014/15 season, and then Liverpool beat them 1-0 away to kick off the following campaign.”

10.45am BST

“I’ve tried to get an answer to this a few times but with no luck,” says Jezzan. “Why was the 1966 World Cup played so late in the summer? Seems to be a complete outlier to all the other finals.”

“Oxford recently beat Swindon Town in League 1 to make it six wins in a row against their nearest and fiercest rivals,” says Pianni. “I was wondering which team had the best record against their local rivals, both in total and in terms of the largest winning streak?”

10.40am BST

“When was the last time the Manchester derby was played at 3pm on a Saturday?” wonders Chris Sloley.

Our own Niall McVeigh answered this one. “The last one to kick-off at that time on a Saturday was more recent than you might expect – it took place on 10 September 2005. As you will all be aware, this was also the last day the Guardian appeared in full broadsheet glory, before the size was changed. The game finished 1-1, man of the match Joey Barton cancelling out Ruud van Nistelrooy’s opener. With United facing a Champions League trip to Villarreal on the following Wednesday, that weekend saw a different north-west derby televised – Bolton’s 0-0 draw with Blackburn.

10.38am BST

“In round 3 of the Dutch Eredivisie, PEC Zwolle vs. PSV was played,” says Stephan Wijnen. “This fixture was also played in the last (34th) round of last season, in which match PSV became the Dutch champions. So there were only two rounds inbetween these matches. Is this a record for a championship match to be played again in the next season in the same stadium (supercup matches, friendlies, etc. excluded, so only league matches)?”

I can do this one. Me sir! It’s not a record. I’m sure there are other examples but – as detailed in a previous knowledge – a number of teams in the English top-flight played back-to-back fixtures over the Christmas period of 1963. There were some pretty interesting results, too.

10.37am BST

If you have answers to any of these, please knowledge@theguardian.com or rob.smyth@theguardian.com, tweet @TheKnowledge_GU or post BTL

“Morning Rob,” says Kontiki. “Who were the last top flight club to start with an all-English XI? I know Burnley got 10 out of 11 a couple of years ago (goddamn you Scott Arfield).”

10.32am BST

We’ll answer as many of your questions as we can, though I suspect we won’t get through all of them. Brexit has hit resources everywhere, even at The Knowledge. We’re down to our last 84 researchers for heaven’s sake!

10.27am BST

“The 2016 DFL-Supercup win puts the number of countries that Carlo Ancelotti has won a domestic trophy to five (Italy, England, France, Spain, Germany). Not counting continental or intercontinental club competitions, has any coach won a domestic trophy in more countries” asks Chai.

“By my reckoning, the late Croatian master of strategy Tomislav Ivic won domestic trophies in seven different countries,” begins Darren Beach. “He won national championships in Yugoslavia with Hajduk Split (1973-74, 74-75, and 78-79), in the Netherlands with Ajax (1976-77), in Belgium with Anderlecht (1980-81), in Greece with Panathinaikos (1985-86) and in Portugal with Porto (1987-88). He also played a significant part in Marseille’s French title in 1991-92, managing them until October of that season. Oh, and he also won domestic cups in Yugoslavia and in Portugal for good measure. In addition, he also won Spain’s Copa del Rey in 1990-91 with Atlético Madrid - in spite of Jesús Gil’s revolving door approach to hiring coaches - and in his twilight years he led Al-Ittihad to a Saudi Crown Prince Cup triumph in 2003-04 to round off a pretty decent career in coaching.”

10.57am BST

Hello and welcome to our first live edition of The Knowledge. Remember the date: 21 September 2016. This is the day the world changed. We’ll be doing our bit to help you through a working Wednesday, and to reduce the national productivity, by answering as many of your football questions as we can. Or just cutting and pasting the answers from your emails.

What have you – yes, you; I’m talking to you – wanted to know about football? We have a team of flunkies waiting to do the necessary researc, and readers can also help out by sharing the gift of Knowledge.

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