“After the sacking of Glenn Hoddle and the current predicament of Peter Reid and Bobby Robson, plus Bryan Robson, John Barnes and the like being sacked at one time or another,” wrote Tai Wai Cheung back in October 2003, “has the 1986 England World Cup squad got the worst managerial record ever?”
In a word Tai, yes. The 1986 squad has got about as much managerial savvy as a chicken balti pie.
Of the 22-man squad, 14 went on to ‘enjoy’ managerial careers of varying, though consistently short, length.
Peter Shilton, goalkeeper extraordinaire, manager non-descript, lasted just three years at Plymouth Argyle, in which time he all-but-ruined the club and left a very bitter taste in the mouths of supporters.
And he was one of the stayers, with most of this duff lot lasting around the year mark.
Kenny Sansom was pretty feeble as Glenn Roeder’s assistant at Watford; Mark Hateley took just over one season to push Hull City to the brink of non-league football before he was given his marching orders; and Chris Waddle’s season at Burnley also ended with the Clarets touching relegation cloth.
Ray Wilkins was pleased to get the nod from Fulham when he was sacked by QPR after a year - but lightning really can strike in the same place twice and he was out on his ear after another 12 month-flailing.
And there are managers from this shabby group who were given the boot before they’d even paid the removal men and unpacked the winter wardrobe.
Take a bow, John Barnes, who lasted eight months at Celtic before a 3-1 Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of Caledonian Thistle put the rubber stamp on his P45.
Meanwhile Terry Butcher, having put in a year at Coventry, was sacked just three months into the season at Sunderland, by which time he had managed to settle them nicely into 22nd. He went off to run a hotel called Obscurity in Scotland before resurfacing as manager of Motherwell and now Newport County.
But hats off to Terry Fenwick, who slogged for 12 whole games at Northampton Town before someone worked up the courage to tell him he was rubbish, and he’s not been seen anywhere near management since.
And then there’s 1986 mis-managers Glenn “my or no way” Hoddle and Peter “first Sunderland, now Leeds” Reid. Is there no end to the curse of the hand of God?
Should Arsenal beware the Community Shield curse?
“As an Arsenal fan, I’ve noticed that whenever we win the Charity Shield, we inevitably go on not to win the league,” wrote Matt Tread back in 2005. “Is there a curse?”
It certainly looks that way. Going back to the start of the Charity Shield – in 1908 – only 14 teams went on the win the league after winning the season’s curtain raiser.
That trend has been even more pronounced in recent times: no side has won the Charity Shield and gone on to win the league since Man Utd trounced Newcastle 4-0 in 1996.
Arsenal have won the league 13 times, but only three of those were preceded by a Charity Shield victory: in 1930, 1933 and in 1934. The Gunners opened the season with Charity Shield victories in 1998, 1999 and 2002 - only for United to win the title on each occasion.
Update: Things look a little more optimistic for Charity/Community Shield winners since this was first published, although it’s still been five years since it last happened. In 2005-06, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 the winners also lifted the Premier League trophy. Only Chelsea, in 2005, and Manchester United, in 2010, won the match in 90 minutes though. The other occasions were settled on penalties. It’s not common for the previous year’s FA Cup winners to win the Community Shield then go on to win the league. The only team to do that in recent history is Chelsea, in 2009.
Most penalties in a shootout
“In this week’s Arsenal v Rotherham match (which Arsenal won 9-8 on penalties), there were 24 penalties in total,” points out Kevin Sykes in October 2003. “Is this a record for most penalties, I don’t ever recall a game in the UK with this many?”
We’re not sure about the British record, Kevin (although since this was first published Liverpool’s epic 14-13 penalty-win over Middlesbrough must be up there). But it doesn’t come close to the longest European or world penalty shoot-out record.
The European record? Well, that occurred in a match between Genclerbirligi and Galatasaray on 28 November 1996 in the Turkish FA Cup.
As Seamus McCann explains, “The match finished 1-1 after extra time and Genclerbirligi eventually won the shoot-out 17-16,” he adds. “Of the 34 penalties taken, only one was missed. Spare a thought for the poor Galatasaray keeper, Hayrettin, who saw all 17 penalties go past him.”
The world record, meanwhile, occurred in the 1988-89 Argentine Championship, where penalties were taken after drawn matches for an extra point.
As Seamus explains. “In the match on November 20 1988 between Argentinos Juniors and Racing Club, which had finished 2-2, 44 penalties were taken before Argentinos emerged as 20-19 victors.”
- Send your questions to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet@TheKnowledge_GU
