“While randomly scouring the internet I stumbled across a Wikipedia entry suggesting that scouse Brit-pop four-piece Cast once played a gig at La Bombonera, Boca Juniors’ atmospheric home ground in Buenos Aires,” begins George Jones. “It seems an unlikely happening. Can any readers tell me if this is true? And, if so, which other bands have played unlikely gigs at grounds? I don’t suppose the Bluetones have played the Maracanã. Have they?”
Um, no they haven’t George. And the Knowledge did try to contact Cast frontman John Power for confirmation of the Bombonera gig but at the time of publication he’s yet to get back to us. We have been able to dig out some evidence of a band from around that era, Toploader, playing Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium (as it was known in 2000), which seems a pretty big space to fill with one hit song. But staying in the Potteries, Paul Beard points us towards Vale Park, which hosted the Heavy Metal Holocaust on 1 August 1981, where leather and long hair dominated a stage headlined by Motörhead with Ozzy Osbourne and Mahogany Rush among the support acts.
What is unlikely about this gig is not that those bands filled out a stadium in the Midlands, an area well-known for once producing headbangers in the way Catalonia would go on to churn out multiple tippy-tappy footballers. It’s unlikely because the festival (supposed to be headlined by Black Sabbath, who pulled out) caused so much dread among local residents – perhaps fearful that Osbourne and Lemmy would eat their pets – that it looked destined to be banned. To save the day all it took was the promise of some sun, sea and deck chairs. “In response all the concerned elderly residents were shipped off to Blackpool for a day out, paid for by the promoter,” writes Paul. “Lemmy was born locally and there was a plaque put on the stadium to remember him and the gig. Since he died Port Vale have been crappier than normal. Coincidence? And yes, we run out to Ace of Spades.”
Readers of a certain age may (just about) remember the second summer of love and a time when baggy jeans, fluorescent T-shirts and trainers replete with Grolsch bottle tops were de rigueur. No one represented the ethos of baggy-era music better than the Happy Mondays, who weren’t the most polished band around but carried the vibe effortlessly. So steeped were they in the Madchester scene of the late 80s/early 90s that surely their epochal gig would have been in their home city? Not so.
On 1 June 1991, Shaun Ryder stepped out on stage at Elland Road, Leeds and asked: “Are you Man U, you?” of the 30,000-plus crowd who had packed out a stadium where that utterance would usually have been loaded with menace from moody home fans. This was enemy ground for a Manchester band, not that those in attendance caused any bother. When it came to music even the leftover football casuals of the day were lovers not fighters. The gig was imaginatively called Match of the Day and featured The Farm, The La’s and Northside as support acts. It was a cracker by all accounts – and deemed by many to be the apex of the baggy scene. Tony Wilson and Factory Records never missed a trick; they quickly released the Mondays’ set as an album when they heard bootleggers – including Ryder himself – were making a packet off illegal copies.
And finally, here’s an offering from Steven Turvey, who takes us to Johannesburg. “If you’re looking for unlikely bands/football ground combinations, may I point you in the direction of the Kaiser Chiefs, who once supported the Foo Fighters on tour in 2014,” he begins. “One of the gigs they played was at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (or more precisely, Soweto). FNB Stadium, more recognisably known as Soccer City (host of the 2010 World Cup final and that Nigel de Jong challenge) is also a frequent home ground to the Kaizer Chiefs football team, after whom the band were named. Has that ever happened before, or since …?” We’re guessing not. Readers?
The league’s dustiest chequebooks
“After seeing this week that Newcastle’s record signing is still, incredibly, Michael Owen, £16m from Real Madrid in 2005, what is the oldest record signing in football? My lot, Millwall, are still stinging from wasting £800,000 on Paul Goddard way back in 1989,” winces Joe McDonagh.
Peter Tomlin informs us there are only two Football League sides with older record signings – Luton Town, who paid £850,000 for Danish international Lars Elstrup in 1989, and Newport County, who have somehow never surpassed the £80,000 fee for Alan Waddle, way back in December 1980. Newport picked up the baton this summer after Exeter City broke their 37-year transfer record on deadline day to sign Aberdeen’s Jayden Stockley.
“I also discovered that my local club Stevenage have the lowest record transfer –£20,000 paid for Richard Leadbetter in February 1999,” Peter adds, warming to his theme. That edges out newcomers Forest Green Rovers, who paid £25,000 for Bury’s Adrian Randall – also in 1999.
Starting the season in style
“Arsenal have begun their first three league games of the 2017-18 season by sporting three different kits (red at home v Leicester, black away v Stoke City, aqua blue v Liverpool). Is this the first time this feat has occurred?” ponders Calum Brereton.
“I believe in 2011-12 AFC Wimbledon wore four different kits in their first four games of the season,” notes Andrew Rockall. The Dons pulled off this achievement by wearing a special white kit to commemorate their Football League debut/return in their opening match against Bristol Rovers – MBMed by Scott Murray. Wimbledon’s next two fixtures were away to Dagenham & Redbridge and Plymouth Argyle – we’ll take Andrew’s word for it that the yellow away and maroon third kits got an airing. Finally, the club’s blue home kit was worn for the first time in the 1-1 draw with Hereford United at Kingsmeadow.
We can’t match that, but Fiorentina could be the team to watch this season – the Serie A side have four different change kits, inspired by the city’s historic Calcio Storico contests. La Viola began the season in three different outfits – white at Inter, their traditional purple at home to Sampdoria and red at Verona. The run was broken by the home match with Bologna, but with all-blue and all-green versions yet to be worn, Fiorentina could conceivably wear five different kits consecutively later in the season.
Knowledge archive
“My wedding is booked at the London Wetland Centre at the end of May (a week after the season finishes, naturally), and all four of the Craven Cottage floodlights are clearly visible from the main ornithology viewing observatory, which is also the room where the ceremony will take place,” wrote Mark Haines in 2011. “In fact, that was a significant reason for choosing this location. Where else, other than in the stadium itself, is it possible to exchange wedding vows in full view of a ground?”
“I’d like to propose a church in Belgrade where my cousin was married several years ago,” writes Ivan Grujin. “Though it doesn’t quite fulfil Mr Haines’s criteria of an unobstructed line of sight (mostly because of the Serbian Orthodox church’s obstinate stance on transparent walls), it is located across the street from Partizan Stadium. I think it merits consideration since the wedding party and all the guests parked in the stadium parking lot, and since the north stand is the first thing you see upon exiting the church.” It’s the blue-green building you can see close to the stadium here.
But the place to get married if the key aspect of your nuptials is not the correct shade of red for your napkins but the ability to see as many football grounds as possible, seems to be the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster. “I was married at the Ashton Memorial,” begins Alan Lamb. “From there you can see Lancaster City’s Giant Axe. I’ve not been up to check, but I reckon you would also be able to see Morecambe’s Globe Arena and Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road. There’s also a fair chance of seeing the floodlights at Barrow’s Holker Street and Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium. With sufficiently powerful binoculars.”
Can you help?
“Plymouth Argyle have endured a rough run of four consecutive home defeats in which they’ve ended each game with 10 men,” sighs James Dart. “Have any teams gone on longer red-card home runs? Or just longer consecutive red-card runs?”
“I’m sure I remember a Panini (or such-like) sticker, back in the early 70s, with a Division One player crouched down over the ball with a cigarette clearly in his hand. Any Panini obsessives out there, ready to pan through their archives?” asks Graeme Westwood.
“I noted earlier this year that a team played with four left-footers in their back four. Has there ever been a successful team with 11 left-footers?” wonders Rupert Ward.
“In their Carabao Cup tie last week, Sunderland’s team had more combined appearances for Everton (238) than their opponents – Everton (230),” says Niall McVeigh. “Are there any other teams who have managed this?”
“In League Two, Lincoln City have drawn three, won three and lost three of their first nine matches, scoring 11 and conceding 11. Have any teams finished a season with stats as balanced as theirs?” wonders Jack Aherne.
@TheKnowledge_GU Stefan Kuntz's 25 caps for Germany never ended in defeat (20 wins, 5 draws). Is this an international record?
— Liquid (@GTPLiquid) September 26, 2017
Send questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU
