“After Tyrone Mings set up Danny Ings to score against Newcastle last weekend, have there been any other high-profile examples of players with rhyming names setting up goals for each other?” ponders Steve Maybury.
There’s only one place to start: Selhurst Park in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On and off the field, Mark Bright and Ian Wright were inseparable. They were also a commentator’s dream, especially when one of them set up the other to score. This happened on dozens of occasions, a list that includes Bright’s winning goal in a classic match against Millwall and the goal of the season for 1989-90, Wright’s memorable equaliser in the FA Cup final against Manchester United. Plenty more can be found in this video of their best bits, sent in by Paul Haynes.
Around the same time, in north London, two shaggy-haired gentlemen were combining for club, country and record label. “May I be the first of at least hundreds to suggest the brilliant Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle, who set up one another while at Spurs between 1985 and 1987,” writes Jeremy Simmonds. “We’ll draw a veil over Diamond Lights, shall we?”
Last and – no offence, lads – probably least, Martyn Levitt has a suggestion from the start of the last decade. “I don’t know for certain if this happened but it seems highly likely, surely Akos Buszaky assisted a goal scored by Jamie Mackie for QPR at some point,” writes Martin Levitt. “Must have done.”
Not necessarily. According to TransferMarkt, they played together 26 times without creating a goal for one another. They did at least score in the same game, a 3-0 win over Swansea in the Premier League nine years ago.
Transfer triangles
“When Tammy Abraham joined Roma, it completed a merry-go-round of strikers between Chelsea, Inter and Roma (with Romelu Lukaku joining Chelsea and Edin Dzeko leaving Roma for Inter). I know this happened a few years back with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi (though the latter moved on loan). Are there more instances of three teams completing a full triangle of transfers?” asks Rudy Roberts.
Property chains are a feature of the transfer market, but it’s rare for them to go round in circles, or even triangles. James Murton has another example, involving three goalkeepers who moved in the summer of 2013. “Derby signed Lee Grant from Burnley,” he says. “Burnley replaced Grant with Bristol City’s Tom Heaton, so Bristol City signed Derby’s Frank Fielding,” writes James. “A postscript is that Grant and Heaton are now teammates at Man Utd.”
Adam Harcus has a slight variation from Scotland, where Scott Allan, Scott Bain and Simon Murray completed a bizarre loan triangle on 31 January 2018. Murray went from Hibs to Dundee; Allan moved to Hibs on loan from Celtic, having been on loan at Dundee; and Bain moved to Celtic on loan from Dundee, having been on loan at Hibs. Confused? The same.
Never mind all those funky triangles: Callum has written in with an even rarer example – a transfer square. “In the summer of 2013, Arsenal sold Gervinho to Roma, who in turn allowed Erik Lamela sign for Spurs,” he writes. “They famously sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record fee, which meant Madrid could allow Mesut Özil to leave and join … Arsenal.”
Finalists reunited in qualifiers
“Benfica beat PSV Eindhoven in a Champions League play-off last week,” writes Richard. “In 1988 PSV won the European Cup by beating Benfica on penalties in the final. Is this the first European Cup/Champions League final to be repeated in a qualifying round?”
Yes, yes it is. But while we’d love to set a new record for the shortest ever Knowledge answer, we may as well add a little more detail. Although there has never been a repeat of a final until this year, two former winners have met in the qualifying rounds on a few occasions. Milan played Red Star Belgrade in 2006-07, when they went on to win the competition, and PSV in 2013-14, while PSV played Red Star in 2004-05. Another bloody triangle. Oh, and Celtic beat Ajax in the third qualifying round in 2001-02.
Knowledge archive
“Is it true that Chilean players drank vodka during the 1962 World Cup because they thought it would help their chances of beating the USSR?” pondered Steven Davison back in 2006.
Incredibly, Steven, it is. During the group stage, the hosts employed an interesting new tactic of pre-game stereotypical eating: before the opening 3-1 win over Switzerland, they ate cheese, followed by a preparatory meal of spaghetti before the 2-0 success against Italy.
Once in the quarter-finals, the Chileans prepared for their game with the mighty Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by downing a couple of Smirnoffs. The ploy actually worked and Chile went on to win 2-1. Coffee was the order of the day before the semi-final with Brazil but, although it perked them up no end in the morning, it couldn’t stop the Brazilians from winning 4-2 and going on to lift the trophy. Eduardo Galeano later wrote in Football in Sun and Shadow that Chile “gobbled down spaghetti, chocolate, and vodka, but choked on the coffee”.
Can you help?
“Is Mason Greenwood the fastest to have scored in home, away and third kits at the start of a new season?” asks Mark Birtles?
@TheKnowledge_GU so far this season, @AFCWimbledon have scored 10 goals in all competitions. Not in itself amazing, but we've had 10 different goalscorers. Or 10 joint top scorers, all on 1 goal. What's the highest number of joint single figure top scorers in league history?
— Pablo Bolco (@PabloBolco1) August 28, 2021
“Morgan Whittaker’s hat-trick against Plymouth in the Carabao Cup was the first for Swansea in a competitive game since Scott Sinclair scored three in the Championship play-off final against Reading in 2011. The 10-year drought includes our entire seven-year stay in the Premier League. Is any club in the 92 currently on a longer wait for a competitive hat-trick? How many other clubs have played in the Premier League without scoring a hat-trick?” asks Rhys Williams.
@TheKnowledge_GU Norwich won six nil last night following a five nil defeat at the weekend. Have any clubs lost and then won (or vice-versa) with higher scores?
— Daniel Towns (@DanielTowns2) August 25, 2021
(See also: West Brom 0-6 Arsenal, Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal – ed.)
“Last week, 42-year-old Kevin Ellison played against Theo Walcott in the EFL Cup game between Newport and Southampton. Sixteen years earlier, they both came on as substitutes when Hull drew 1-1 with Southampton. This made me wonder: what’s the record time in years for the first and last time two players played against one another?” wonders Ricardio Sentulio.
Email your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU.
