“Has any player been shown a second yellow card while being substituted for not leaving the pitch correctly?” wonders Ken Foster.
They have indeed, Ken. Let Robin Horton take you back to a bitter January in 1980, when Stoke City were the visitors to Burnley in the FA Cup third round. “Stoke’s Denis Smith, already on a yellow card, limped towards the touchline with an injured ankle, only to linger on the touchline as substitute Paul Johnson was not properly warmed up,” Robin recalls. “Referee Kevin McNally therefore sent Smith off for time-wasting. McNally was not in Stoke’s good books; Burnley won the tie via a penalty, and Stoke’s Ray Evans also got his marching orders, for what manager Alan Durban described as ‘heavy sarcasm’.” That’s as good a reason for a dismissal as we can remember.
Martin Mitchell has a more recent example. “Jermaine Johnson was playing for Sheffield Wednesday at Bramall Lane in the Steel City derby of October 2008,” recalls Martin. “He kicked a water bottle into the home support after being subbed. Johnson then went down the tunnel and had a shower. It was only after he returned that he was ‘sent off’ by the referee. He’d been booked earlier in the game for a foul and received another yellow for the water bottle incident.”
On the international front, Diego Feduchi has us covered. “Rui Costa was famously sent off for time-wasting while leaving the pitch in Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Germany in 1997,” he notes. “Portugal needed to win, and were leading 1-0. Costa was sent off before he left the pitch, so the sub could not come on. Germany equalised and qualified for the 1998 World Cup, with Portugal missing out.” Ouch.
Last, but very much not least is another entertaining instance, via Russell Connor. “Clarence Seedorf did this in a pretty unique way,” explains Russell. “On being subbed for Botafogo in 2013, he wanted to traverse the whole pitch to come off, but the referee insisted he leave via the nearest exit. Seedorf ignored him and was booked. Seedorf, assuming he had taken his punishment, starting trotting off the long way anyway, prompting the referee to book him for a second time.”
The 1950 World Cup qualifying mess
“Perusing Scotland’s World Cup Wikipedia page, I see that in 1950 they declined to go to the finals because they finished second in the Home Championship (which doubled as World Cup qualifying), having said they would only show up if they won it,” writes Roger Kirkby. “Is this the only time a country has refused to go to the World Cup because of where they finished in qualifying?”
We’ll let Pete Tomlin take the floor, pulling together the threads from that 1950 campaign. “Turkey and Syria were drawn together and were due to play each other twice,” begins Pete. “However, after Turkey won the first match 7-0, Syria withdrew leaving Turkey to advance to a playoff against Austria, who also pulled out. As a result, Turkey had qualified for the World Cup having played just one game – but then withdrew themselves, citing financial issues.
“With all of the withdrawals, Fifa offered a place in the finals to Portugal who had lost out to Spain in their qualifying group, but they declined the offer because they had not qualified on merit. France and Ireland were also offered places despite not winning their qualifying groups. France declined because the travel distance between their two first-round matches was too great. Ireland also declined, having originally accepted, when they realised how much the trip to Brazil would cost.
“Finally, India qualified without playing a game because Burma, Indonesia and the Philippines all withdrew – but then declined because the Indian FA decided to prioritise the Olympics. There was a theory that they withdrew because Fifa would not allow players to play barefoot, but that appears to be apocryphal.” In the end, only 13 teams took part in the final tournament.
There were similar issues eight years later. “Israel came through qualifying for the 1958 finals without playing a game after their potential opponents – Turkey, Sudan, Egypt and Indonesia – all withdrew for political reasons. Rather than allow Israel to qualify without playing a game, Fifa created a playoff with one of the runners-up from Uefa’s qualifying group.
“Belgium were drawn as the team to face Israel but they felt that the offer was below them having failed to qualify directly. Wales took Belgium’s place and qualified for the World Cup after beating Israel 2-0 in both legs, going on to reach the quarter-finals.”
Brawling teammates (continued)
Last week, we took a fresh look at fighting teammates – and plenty more of you have squared up to us with other examples, including Alex Jackson from the National Football Museum. “I’ve had a quick look through the British Newspaper Archive (BNA) for examples,” begins Alex. Settle in, everyone …
Tony Rees and Tommy Watson, Grimsby v Darlington, 1990-91
“The Daily Express reported that Rees and Watson were sent off after clashing 34 minutes into their Leyland DAF Cup group game at Darlington – and allegedly had to be separated in the tunnel afterwards!” More on that memorable encounter, sparked by an errant throw-in, via the Quakers’ official website.
Steve McManaman and Bruce Grobbelaar, Liverpool v Everton 1993-94
Alex also points out that the Liverpool duo both dodged red cards for this memorable skirmish after Everton scored from a corner in the Merseyside derby.
Steve Knight and Phil Hammond, Peterborough City FC, 1992
Alex also brings us this tale from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph in October 1992. “In a Peterborough City (not United) reserves game, Knight (the assistant manager and captain) and Hammond were both sent off in a cup tie after Knight conceded a penalty. The spot-kick was saved, Peterborough City won 4-2 and after the game, both players went down the pub together.” All’s well that ends well.
Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner, Arsenal v Spurs, 2008-09
But wait! There’s more! “This punch-up between two Gunners in a League Cup semi-final at White Hart Lane was a rare moment of pure joy for Spurs fans,” notes David Shipley. Tottenham won 5-1 on the night and 6-2 on aggregate – then won the final against Chelsea.
Andy Myers and Stuart McCall, Bradford v Leeds, 2000-01
James Mackenzie chips in with one of many rough moments from Bradford City’s second season in the Premier League. During a 6-1 demolition at Elland Road, Myers – he of expensive transfer from Chelsea – took a swipe at club legend McCall and drew blood. Stu retaliated with a (missed) headbutt, but remarkably both incidents were missed by the officials and so both players escaped any disciplinary action.”
Ashley Grimes and Rob Johnson, Luton v Norwich, 1986-87
“Grimes was sent off for Luton after spitting at teammate Johnson. See here. All the best,” writes Simon Alcock in brilliantly succinct fashion. The Division One game at Carrow Road ended 0-0.
Bradley Orr and Louis Carey, Bristol City, 2006-07
“Orr headbutted City’s record appearance holder Louis Carey against Northampton and was sent off,” reports Dean Weston. “City had just equalised to make the score 1-1 and despite Orr seeing red, they won 3-1 and went on a great run afterwards, ending in promotion to the Championship.”
Gordon McQueen and David Harvey, Leeds v Manchester City, 1978-79
Finally Richard Day nominates McQueen for slinging a haymaker at his own keeper after Harvey had pushed him out of the way. “Perhaps it was less common for goalies to manhandle their defenders back then,” Richard wonders. McQueen’s punishment for punching his teammate was a stern talking-to from the referee, during an FA Cup tie that would become known as “the battle of Elland Road”.
Knowledge archive
“Last month in MLS a New York Red Bulls player, Carlos Johnson, was sent off and upon his return after suspension got sent off in the second minute of the game,” wrote Brian Scorben back in 2009. “Is this the shortest amount of on-pitch time anyone has played between two red cards?”
Continuing this week’s red-card heavy edition, Johnson’s effort was an impressive one but he can’t hold a torch to Nigel Pepper. “In 1998 Aberdeen’s English midfielder Nigel Pepper, signed for £200,000 from Bradford, was sent off 17 seconds into a substitute appearance,” wrote John Sinclair. “It was his first display since serving a suspension following a red card six minutes into an earlier substitute appearance.”
Can you help?
“I was watching a documentary series about the Franco era on PBS. They started interviewing this bloke who I thought looked familiar,” begins Peter Losty. “It turned out to be former West Germany full-back, Paul Breitner who, of course, played for Real Madrid in the 1970s. Any other examples of random footballers showing up in non-football documentaries?”
“While scanning the Champions League fixtures, I noticed that Pafos FC of Cyprus have a person’s face on their badge (Cypriot freedom fighter Evagoras Pallikarides),” writes Paul Savage. “Other than faces of legendary characters (Ajax), do any other badges have people on them?”
“How many players have scored their first ever senior goal from a penalty, as Sydie Peck did for Sheffield United last week?” asks Joe Caldwell.
“Last week, three ex-Everton managers won their Premier League matches (Sean Dyche, Marco Silva and, er … David Moyes),” writes Gary Naylor. “Has this happened with any club’s alumni before? Frank Lampard won in the Championship too for good measure.”
“Lewis Ferguson currently lines up for Bologna alongside Torbjorn Heggem,” notes Tom Pinder. “Their respective uncles, Barry and Vegard, turned out for Blackburn and Liverpool during their respective careers. Are Lewis and Torbjorn the first Premier League nephews to play in the same team?”
Mail us with your questions and answers, and also any of a festive theme for our upcoming Christmas special
