“Since 1981, Plymouth Argyle have travelled to Gillingham 16 times, losing 14 and drawing just twice,” sighs Paul Roberts. “Can any other club beat that pathetic run of bogey-team away results?”
“Paul should count himself thrilled he isn’t a travelling Luton fan,” writes James (no surname, unfortunately). “We’ve had loads of duff streaks away but four of them beat Plymouth’s pretty fine record at Gillingham, and a fifth could match it very soon. Coventry: our worst run was 19 games without a win from 1931 till finally winning in 1987 (14 defeats, five draws). Liverpool: never won in 18 attempts but have eight draws. Manchester United: we won our first game at theirs when they were Newton Heath in 1897. Since then, 17 straight defeats. Sunderland: we’ve an active streak of 17 matches up there without a win, going back to 1975. Includes 14 defeats and three draws. QPR: if we don’t win at Loftus Road next season that streak will match 16 away games without a win – going back to 1986; having had a previous 14 visits on the trot with 13 defeats and one draw between 1925 and 1948.”
We covered Everton’s 22-year barren streak at Anfield recently. That might sound trifling compared to Luton’s fruitless 124-year streak at Old Trafford but the run of winless games (23, comprising 13 defeats and 10 draws) was actually greater than any of the Hatters’ miserable runs above.
“May I put forward Fulham’s record at Turf Moor?” beams Burnley fan Chris Rawson. “On 21 April 1951, Clement Attlee was prime minister, New Brighton were enduring their final season in the Football League and Fulham won 2-0 at Burnley, in the First Division. Since then, the Cottagers have travelled north to play at Turf Moor 31 times, 28 league visits and three in the cups. Their record is: W0 D6 L25 … F22 A74. Not a happy hunting ground.”
Meanwhile, Richard Askham pops up to cheer that “Huddersfield Town fans are delighted that Derby stayed up. Next season we might try to improve on our record there. Since Denis Law scored twice in a 4-2 win at the Baseball Ground in 1957-58, Town have drawn four and lost 21 in league and cup games. Although QPR finally won at Forest in the last couple of years, their record there before that was, I believe, far worse than even ours at Derby.” It was, Richard. Between 13 January 1934, when the clubs first met, and 22 December 2018, when Toni Leistner gave QPR a 1-0 Championship win, the Hoops went 34 games without a win (20 losses, 14 draws). It’s a longer barren streak than Fulham’s at Turf Moor, though the Cottagers’ number of defeats arguably makes it the most diabolical away-day against a comparable team.
Same-city relegations in the same season
“Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday have both been relegated this season,” begins Tom Derbyshire. “When was the last time both clubs from a two-club city were relegated in the same season? Professional clubs only.”
Kirk Burton takes us to Edinburgh for a tale of double woe in the not so distant past. “Hearts and Hibs were both relegated from the Scottish Premiership in the 2013-14 season, meaning three of Scotland’s biggest clubs were in the second tier for 2014-15 (they were joined by Rangers who finished third behind them both).”
The Robins and the Gas both dropped out of the same division in the same season – and it was particularly painful for Ted Keene. “On 29 August 1980 I took my 10-year-old son to his first ever match – a riveting 0-0 derby draw between Bristol City and Bristol Rovers at Ashton Gate. The reverse fixture was 0-0 as well and both got relegated to Division Three in May 1981. Naturally, my son became an Aston Villa fan that year. In September 1989, the Ashton Gate derby was another wonderful 0-0 draw. This time both teams got promoted back to Division Two.”
Fans in Ankara have also experienced the low of a double-drop this season. “Ankaragücü and Gençlerbirliği both got relegated from the Turkish Super League this weekend,” reports Önder Susam. Gençlerbirliği needed to win their final game to survive, but a Benik Afobe winner in the 87th minute winner for Trabzonspor confirmed their relegation.
Stadiums named after women (2)
We’ve got a few more grounds to add to last week’s list …
“Does Southampton playing at St Mary’s count?” asks Patrick Cleary. And Nicholas Hamilton would like to add a 16th century queen who met a gruesome end to the mix. “I’d have thought the no-longer-used Boleyn Ground at Upton Park might have got a mention,” he writes. “Rayo Vallecano’s ground was named the Estadio Teresa Rivero between 2004 and 2011 after the wife of previous owner Jose María Ruiz Mateos,” adds Don Lorenzo.
“You also missed Estadio Verónica Boquete de San Lázaro in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, renamed in 2018 in honour of the captain of the Spanish women’s national team,” tweets Ben Janeson. “The stadium is home to SD Compostela, currently in the third tier (most recently of La Liga in 1997-98). To the best of my knowledge, it’s the only stadium named after a female football player, as opposed to a royal/political figure or a random noteworthy person.”
There’s also the Ester Roa Rebolledo municipal stadium in the city of Concepción, Chile. She was a former city mayor. pic.twitter.com/QamSUId5dC
— Cecilia Lagos (@CeciliaLagos) May 12, 2021
And Johan van Slooten adds: “The Dutch Eerste Divisie team Almere City FC’s home ground is part of the Fanny Blankers Koen park in the city of Almere. The city is relatively new (with its first houses built in the mid-1970s), long after Koen’s 1948 Olympic successes.”
Knowledge archive
“Did Rangers ever beat Borussia Dortmund 8-0?” wondered Aeneas9 in August 2005.
Close, but it was in fact Borussia Mönchengladbach who suffered that particular ignominy in the Cup Winners’ Cup of 1961, the inaugural year of the competition. Ralph Brand scored a hat-trick. Rangers bagged three more in the second leg to win 11-0 on aggregate. They reached the final that year, becoming the first Scottish club to reach that stage of a European competition. Sadly, it wasn’t to be a happy ending for the Gers, beaten 4-1 by Fiorentina over two legs.
Can you help?
“Arsenal have managed to finish a top-flight men’s season in every position except 15th. Are there any teams in the world who have finished in every place of the same division?” asks Graham Clayton.
Jimmy Glass and Alisson are two goalies who scored a goal when their team was drawing a league game. Any other goalies do similar when also drawing a league game?
— Derek Brosnan (@DerekBrosnan) May 18, 2021
“Has a team ever forfeited a match by refusing to restart the game with a kick-off,” wonders Kári Tulinius.
“Giorgos Giakoumakis is set to finish as the Eredivisie’s top scorer (by some margin) yet his team, VVV-Venlo, have sealed relegation with a game to play,” writes Willem Cleven. “Has any Golden Boot winner suffered such an ignominious fate before?”
Until they ruined it on the final day of the season, Oldham had both scored and conceded the most in League Two (72-81, Cambridge hit 73). When was the last time this happened in a major/EFL league? @TheKnowledge_GU
— Chris Bickley (@ChrisBickley1) May 12, 2021
“Aymeric Laporte has decided to switch international alliances from France to Spain as he has never been capped at senior level by the former. However he has a total of 51 caps for France at various age group levels. Is this the highest number of junior appearances for someone who has never been capped at senior level?” muses Chai from Atlanta.
Email your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU.
