“This season Turkish Super Lig has had no matches that ended 0-0 until the ninth week when two games finished goalless. Can any league top that?” asks Onder Susam.
Turns out that they can Onder. Dirk Maas has been on the case and reckons he has found two other examples of 0-0 draw-dodging leagues in Europe this season. “The top flight in Croatia (first goalless draw occurred in round 10) and the top division of Moldova (first 0-0 of the season took place in the 11th round),” he writes, keeping it short and sweet.
But we’ve done a bit of digging around ourselves and found this passage from Tony Mason’s book, Passion of the People – Football in South America: “Between September 1936 and April 1938 there were no goalless draws in the Argentine First Division.” That’s quite some time – and after doing a little more research, the facts and figures we perused had that goalless draw-drought extending as far as 28 August 1938, when Tigre v Independiente was the first scoreless game in a staggering 538 matches. We’re guessing the parsimonious and hard-as-nails defenders that Argentina would go on to create were still to be developed in the 1930s.
Scoring all the goals (at both ends) in a single match
“Has there been any match ever, where the scoreline has been more than 1-1 but only one player scored at both ends (for his team as well as for the other team in form of own goals)?” asks Heramb Mayadeo.
Yes, Heramb - indeed they have. In March 1976, Aston Villa visited Leicester City, and on two separate occasions, Chris Nicholl, their defender, put the home side in front with own-goals, the second a belter of a diving header, only to twice haul them back into things with two actual goals. “I asked the referee if I could have the ball,” he told the Birmingham Post on the 30th anniversary of this memorable feat; “‘No,’ the ref said. ‘This is my last match and I am keeping the ball’. Just my luck, I suppose. My first hat-trick in a Villa shirt and I don’t even get the ball!”
Tangentially, on 25 October 1980, Kevin Bond’s own-goal gave Nottingham Forest the lead at Norwich before Kevin Bond’s actual goal earned the home side a draw; then, on 29 October 1980, Kevin Bond’s own-goal gave Crystal Palace the lead at Norwich, before Kevin Bond’s actual goal earned the home side a draw.
Finally, in March 1988, Tony Adams became the first and so far only England player to score at both ends as England drew 2-2 with Netherlands – a trick he repeated at club level in October 1989, arranging a 1-1 draw between Arsenal and Manchester United.
Back-to-back Invincibles
“After last week’s match in which Celtic beat second place team Aberdeen 3-0 at Pittodrie, the BT Sport pundits raised the possibility of a second invincible season. Has any team achieved back to back unbeaten domestic seasons anywhere before?” asks David Harris.
Celtic are certainly the only club ever to win a domestic treble unbeaten, though it’s tricky to unravel which unbeaten league sides have stayed so in Cups from this account here. But Egypt’s Al-Ahly were unbeaten in all their 46 matches in 2004-05, then repeated the feat in 2005-06, while Sparta Prague managed it in 1920, 1921, 1922 and 1925, winning all 51 games they played in the period.
Long fan songs (encore)
In last week’s Knowledge was found discussion of the longest football fan song, with Stockport County’s The Scarf My Father Wore touted as the market leader at a whopping 285 words. However, Manchester United’s I’m A Stretford Ender challenges its primacy, weighing in at a gargantuan 417 words if one counts the repeating chorus:
I’m a Stretford Ender,
I’m a Stretford Ender,
From Manchester way,
I spend all my money on watching them play,
I may be a wage slave on Monday,
But I watch United when they play
I’ve been down to Norwich,
And Bristol and Ipswich,
I’ve hitched to Southampton as well,
I’ve been stranded in Dingwall,
For United’s football,
And many more places I can tell,
My scarf it has oft been my pillow,
And a railway station my bed,
But sooner than part from United,
I think I would rather be dead
I’m a Stretford Ender,
I’m a Stretford Ender,
From Manchester way,
I spend all my money on watching them play,
I may be a wage slave on Monday,
But I watch United when they play
I once courted a maid,
A spot-welder by trade,
Who was fair as a goal by the King,
And the gold of her hair
Matched Bobby Charlton’s pair
In that European Cup Final of which we sing.
On the day we were due to get married,
I went to Old Trafford instead,
As sooner than part from United,
I think I would rather be dead
I’m a Stretford Ender,
I’m a Stretford Ender,
From Manchester way,
I spend all my money on watching them play,
I may be a wage slave on Monday,
But I watch United when they play
The game had just ended,
And as I descended,
The steps of the Old Kippax Stand,
Into the Street,
And who should we meet,
Those blue bastards we hate and can’t stand,
The battle was fast and was furious,
And a bottle hit me on the head,
But sooner than part from United,
I think I would rather be dead
I’m a Stretford Ender,
I’m a Stretford Ender,
From Manchester way,
I spend all my money on watching them play,
I may be a wage slave on Monday,
But I watch United when they play
So I go where I will,
Over land sea and hill,
Wherever those Busby Babes play,
And I wear my black tunic,
In the memory of Munich,
And the Martyrs that died on that day,
I’ve seen them the Champions of Europe,
And into Division Two instead,
But sooner than part from United,
I think I would rather be dead
I’m a Stretford Ender,
I’m a Stretford Ender,
From Manchester way,
I spend all my money on watching them play,
I may be a wage slave on Monday,
But I watch United when they play
Knowledge archive
“Arsenal conceded with five seconds left at Anfield, then after 19 seconds in their next game at Old Trafford. Has any other team ever conceded two goals in such a short space of time?” asked Anthony Stanger in December 2004.
Twenty-four seconds? We can do quicker than that - well, Arsenal can. As Nino Rospigliosi points out, the Gunners scored two in 10 seconds against Middlesbrough at Highbury in August [2004]. Robert Pires scored on 65 minutes, only for Arsenal to pinch the ball back from Boro’s kick-off, allowing Jose Antonio Reyes to tuck away the home side’s fourth.
But, and we never thought this sentence would come about, Wycombe Wanderers can better Arsenal’s efforts. In September 2000 they scored two goals in nine seconds against Peterborough United - and managed it without a single opposition player touching the ball. Mike Turner tells us: “The referee blew for half-time straight after Jamie Bates scored. Nine seconds after the restart Wycombe’s Jermaine McSporran sashayed through the Peterborough defence and struck past Mark Tyler.”
Can you help?
“What is the most remarkable ‘never’ left in football?” tweets Tony Crawford. “For instance: ‘Big club X has never won at Y. Has never scored at … never played against, etc.”
“Which rappers and tracks have referenced clubs or players in their lyrics?” spits Kai Helge Aalhus.
“After Cork City clinched the League of Ireland Premier Division title on 17 October, am I correct in thinking that their league-winning manager, John Caulfield, is the first American (he was born in The Bronx and retains US citizenship) to coach a team to championship victory in Europe?” wonders Justin Collins.
“I was looking at the Premier League table and noticed that, 10 games in, Manchester City have a higher goal difference total than points total (29 to 28). I’m sure this isn’t all that rare, especially early in the season, but it seems like it would get significantly more difficult throughout the season. What’s the latest in a season any team has had a higher goal differential than point total?” asks Jacob Thackston.
“I was watching TV and I noticed that all five goals in the Hull City v Nottingham Forest were scored with the left foot. I was wondering if there had been any games with more than five goals which were all scored with the same body part (eg: a 3-3 draw with all headers)” – James Weaver.
“I saw a video about former NBA star Al Harrington who said he had never picked up a basketball until he was 17. There are plenty examples of footballers who went professional at a notably old age, but are there any who are known to have not even laced up a boot or kicked a ball until their late teens? Or later?” muses Joe Hadden.
Serbia just fired a manager after directly qualifyng for World Cup. Which other european countries did this?
— Милутин (@mylutin) October 31, 2017
Send questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU
