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The Gaffer's Football Trivia Archive
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Sunday November 1
Tommy, Kent via Hull: Hi Gaffer. Do pardon my articulation, I'm a tad tired and emotional! Which team went the longest between league titles? For example the 40-odd years between Chelsea's first and second wins. Thanks.
The Gaffer says: Great question - and written better than most, I might add! The answer is Blackburn, who won their second title in 1913-14 and their third under Kenny Dalglish in 1994-95 - a gap of 81 years. Aston Villa are next. They had to wait 71 years - from 1910 until 1981 - for their seventh title.
Paul, Leicester: Did Malcolm Macdonald get five goals on his England debut? What are his England career stats? Cheers.
The Gaffer says: Not quite Paul. 'Supermac' did score all five goals in England's thrashing of Cyprus on 16 April 1975, which is still the England record for most goals in a European Championship qualifier. However the first of his 14 caps came three years prior to that, against Wales. Wearing the three lions he won seven games and lost three, scoring six goals.
Dug da Owl: How many diferent clubs have qualified for Europe since the Premier League started?
The Gaffer says: Aston Villa, Arsenal, Blackburn, Bolton, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Millwall (thanks Carl and Mark) Boro, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottm Forest, Portsmouth, Sheff Wed, Southampton, Tottenham and West Ham.
Scotty, MK: Great page Gaff. What was the playing career of Hull City manager Phil Brown?
The Gaffer says: His career spanned 18 years and encompassed spells at Hartlepool, Halifax, Bolton and Blackpool. He made 654 league appearances and 788 in total, scoring 53 goals.
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Saturday October 31
Warren, Dartford: Other than the legendary Clive Mendonca and of course Geoff Hurst, could you tell me any other players who have scored a hattrick at Wembley?
The Gaffer says: The one and only time that Mendonca and Hurst are linked in the same sentence! There are, of course, many who have scored trebles for England at Wembley. Here is a list of post-war treble scorers: Alan Shearer, Paul Scholes, David Platt, Gary Lineker (2), Luther Blissett, Malcolm MacDonald, Geoff Hurst (2), Terry Paine, Jimmy Greaves (2), Bobby Charlton, Johnny Haynes, Tommy Taylor, Dennis Wilshaw, Roy Bentley. Stan Mortensen got one in the 1953 FA Cup final.
Antacc: What's the record for the number of consecutive games played by any one player?
The Gaffer says: The best is 459 (in all competitions) set by Tranmere defender Harold Bell between 1946-55. He didn't miss a game in nine seasons. Remarkable.
Jonathan Godfrey, Belfast: Are Bogdanovic of Barnsley and the tennis player related? It's not that common a surname.
The Gaffer says: No, they are not related. I imagine Daniel is better than Alex at tennis as well as football.
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Friday October 30
Waz: Is it true that Gary Neville is the most capped outfield player never to score in an international match?
The Gaffer says: Neville's record of no goals in 85 games is an English record but former Singapore defender Aide Iskandar failed to score in 121 appearances for his national team (thanks Gavin).
Simon, Bedford: Gaffer, how many of the 91 other Football League and 40-odd Scottish League managers have played under Alex Ferguson?
The Gaffer says: Alex McLeish, Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce, Mark Robins, Paul Sturrock, Roy Keane, Gordon Strachan, Darren Ferguson, Paul Ince, Mark McGhee, David Robertson and Neale Cooper of Peterhead who played under Fergie at Aberdeen (thanks to Andrew Taylor for adding this last one!)
Iain, Ashgill: How many players have played in a Manchester derby, a Merseyside derby and a Glasgow derby? And who are they?
The Gaffer says: Andrei Kanchelskis, Craig Bellamy and Michael Ball.
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Thursday October 29
Dan, Wolves: Who in the Premier League has scored the most goals against one team? I'm led to believe it's Fowler against Villa.
The Gaffer says: Not so. Fowler 'only' scored 12 against Villa in the Premier League. It's Alan Shearer (surprise, surprise) who clearly had a vendetta against Leeds, scoring 20 Prem goals against them in 19 games while with Blackburn and Newcastle.
Flemsy, Grimsby: How many players have scored 100-plus goals in the Premier League, and can you name them?
The Gaffer says: Alan Shearer 260, Andrew Cole 187, Thierry Henry 174, Robbie Fowler 163, Les Ferdinand 149, Teddy Sheringham 147, Michael Owen 146, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 127, Dwight Yorke 123, Robbie Keane 120, Ian Wright 113, Dion Dublin 111, Frank Lampard 110, Nicolas Anelka 108, Emile Heskey 103 and Matt Le Tissier 101.
Steve, Bristol: Gaff, who was the first black player to score a Premier League hat-trick?
The Gaffer says: Brian Deane, in Sheffield Utd's 3-0 win over Ipswich on 16 January 1993. He was, of course, also the first player to score in the Premier League, for the Blades against Man Utd.
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Wednesday October 28
Dan, Cambridge: Since the formation of the Premier League, who are the top scorers in the Football League in the divisions BENEATH the Premiership?
The Gaffer says: A great question, Dan - one which took a lot of investigation. I believe the top three Football League scorers are Jamie Cureton (182 league goals for Norwich, Bristol Rovers, Reading, QPR, Swindon, Colchester and Barnsley), Lee Hughes (181 goals for Kidderminster, WBA, Coventry, Oldham, Blackpool and Notts County) and Nicky Forster (170 goals for Gillingham, Brentford, Birmingham, Reading, Ipswich, Hull and Brighton).
Goica: Can you name the players that have left Newcastle and gone on to win the European Cup?
The Gaffer says: Ronnie Simpson (Celtic 67), Frank Clark (Forest 79 & 80), Terry McDermott (Liverpool 77, 78 & 81), Peter Withe (Villa 82), Alan Kennedy (Liverpool 81 & 84), Andy Cole (Man Utd 99), Jon-Dahl Tomasson (AC Milan 03), Dietmar Hamann (Liverpool 05), Louis Saha (Man Utd 08).
Meurig Price: A player-manager sits in the subs bench as substitute during the game and has an altercation with the referee, who red cards him and sends him to the stand. As the game progresses a substitution is made and the player-manager wants to come on to the pitch, arguing that he was sent off as a manager not a player. The referee does not allow this - was he correct?
The Gaffer says: If the player-manager has entered his name as part of the matchday playing squad, he would therefore, I believe, be treated as player. Therefore, the referee was right to send him off and not allow him back on.
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Tuesday October 27
Shaun, Glasgow: Apart from the the sizes, Strachan could just use Gareth Southgate's training gear as they share the same initials. Has this happened on any other occasions?
The Gaffer says: Great question! I've found a fair few examples of successive managers sharing initials just from searching through the managerial histories of Premier League clubs. It happened at Blackburn back in 1949 when Jackie Bestall took over from Jack Bruton and it nearly happened at the same club years later with Ray Harford and Roy Hodgson, if it weren't for pesky Tony Parkes having a short spell in-between them. Elsewhere, Graham Turner handed over to Graham Taylor at Wolves in 1984, Jimmy McIlroy to Jimmy Meadows in 1970, John Bond to John Benson at Burnley in 1984 and Ted Drake to Tommy Docherty at Chelsea in 1961.
Cambridge Villan: Is Villa's 8-3 hammering to Wycombe the biggest half time pull back to a big win?
The Gaffer says: Nope. On Boxing Day 1927, Northampton found themselves 5-1 down at the break at home to Luton. They ended up winning 6-5. Luton striker Jimmy Reid had scored four but would have been pretty devastated to end up on the losing side.
Gary Milton: Name the seven players who have played for two of the big four (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd) and also in Spain.
The Gaffer says: Michael Owen, Jermaine Pennant, Lassana Diarra, Bolo Zenden, Nicolas Anelka, Mark Hughes, Emmanuel Petit.
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Monday October 26
Jack, Macclesfield: Is Nemanja Vidic the first player to be sent off in the same fixture three times in a row?
The Gaffer says: As you are all well aware, records are much more sketchy since before the Premier League so it's hard to prove whether Vidic's record is unique. However, no other player in Premier League history has been sent off against the same team more than twice (more than a dozen have 'achieved' that particular feat). I would say Vidic is almost certainly the one and only.
Stephen, Liverpool: When was the last time Liverpool won three games in a row against Manchester United?
The Gaffer says: The Reds actually beat Manchester United five times on the trot from 2000-01 to 2001-02 in all competitions. They completed the double over them in both seasons and then beat them in the Community Shield.
Martin: Of David Beckham's 115 caps for England, how many different goalkeepers has he played with?
The Gaffer says: Ten in total: David Seaman, Nigel Martyn, Tim Flowers, Ian Walker, David James, Richard Wright, Paul Robinson, Rob Green, Ben Foster and Scott Carson. Those of you thinking Chris Kirkland should be added to the list are wrong. He made just one appearance (against Greece) when Beckham was being cold-shouldered by Steve McClaren.
Lewi, Telford: Has there ever been a whole team booked in one game? If not, what's the highest ever number?
The Gaffer says: The English record is 10, set by Mansfield against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round in 1963.
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