“What has been the most dramatic relegation/promotion swing of any league, in any season?” asks Andrew Wright.
“It took me a while, but I’ve located the details of a bizarre story concerning Blackpool,” writes Andrew Wright. And what a story it is. “From eighth in the 22-team Ye Olde Division 2 table on 1 April 1978 to relegated in 20th place a month later is a spectacular collapse, but the combination of adverse factors that conspired against Blackpool were exceptional.” The long and the short of it is that Blackpool sunk like a stone dropped in the sea from the town’s North Pier after a falling out between the chairman, Billy Cartmel, and manager, Allan Brown.
Blackpool had been as high as sixth early in 1978 but Cartmel let it be known in the local press that Brown’s job was not safe, prompting the fiery Scottish manager to respond by publicly calling the chairman “a back-stabbing rat”. He was rapidly sacked, causing great upset among the team, who then bombed. With six games to go the Seasiders were eighth, nine points off relegation. On 25 April, with one game to go, Blackpool were 14th, three points above Cardiff in the third relegation spot. Four days later, Blackpool finished the season with a 2-1 defeat at Brighton, meaning they were 16th with 37 points – two clear of Orient in 20th, with a superior goal difference. The bottom of the Division Two table read:
16 Blackpool P42 37
17 Charlton P41 37
18 Millwall P41 36
19 Cardiff P40 36
20 Orient P40 35
21 Mansfield P41 31
22 Hull P42 28
Should be fine then? Oh. Millwall secured safety by beating Mansfield meaning there were only three games remaining: Cardiff v Notts County, Orient v Charlton and Cardiff v Orient. There were 27 possible outcomes and only one of them (Cardiff beating Notts County, Orient drawing with Charlton and Orient beating Cardiff) would result in Blackpool’s relegation. Yes, of course that happened. Blackpool did not climb back into the second tier again for 29 years. It was pretty much a fluke relegation. Here’s the final table:
16 Millwall P42 38
17 Charlton P42 38
18 Bristol Rovers P42 38
19 Cardiff P42 38
20 Blackpool P42 37
21 Mansfield P42 31
22 Hull P42 28
Substituting both goalkeepers
“In a recent game between Rangers and Kilmarnock both teams substituted their goalkeeper. Has this been done before?” asks Jeremy Nicholson.
It certainly has, Jeremy, and Rangers were involved on that occasion too. Alan Christine points out that both Allan McGregor and Artur Boruc were withdrawn injured when Celtic and Rangers met in May 2010.
It also happened in the Premier League seven years earlier. “It happened in Manchester United’s routine 2-0 win at Southampton on 1 February 2003,” writes Malcolm Warburton. “What was particularly unusual was that all four goalkeepers were internationals at the time. Fabien Barthez (France) was injured for the visitors and replaced by Roy Carroll (Northern Ireland). Then the home club’s Antti Niemi (Finland) was replaced by Paul Jones (Wales).” Steve Williams adds that he “remembers it because it was a featured game on The Premiership on ITV and Niemi’s substitution was the only ‘highlight’ included in the edit from the second half.”
Free-scoring but free-falling
“Basingstoke Town were relegated from the Southern League South Division, despite scoring 81 league goals (averaging 1.93 goals per game). Is this some sort of record for a relegated team? Has anyone been relegated and scored even more?” asks Dan Robinson.
Malcolm Warburton offers Middlesbrough (1927-28) and Aston Villa (1935-36), “each relegated from Division One having scored 81 goals”, giving them both the same 1.93 average from 42-game seasons. However … “Amateurs!” snorts Darren Jalland. “Manchester City (who were defending champions at the time) were relegated in 1937-38 after scoring 80 goals away from home. Having also scored 49 at home that makes 129 goals which, over the 42 games, is 3.07 goals per game.”
Knowledge archive
“What is the earliest in a match that a player has been booked for ‘time-wasting’?” asked John Briggs in February 2006.
“I’m sure your Norwegian readers will remember the World Cup qualifying match in Rotterdam between the Netherlands and Norway back in November 1972,” says Bjørnar Steinbakken. “Back then, Norway seldom won more than one match in an entire season, and that was usually against Iceland. Anyway, the Norwegians were pegged back by the mighty Johan Cruyff and friends from the outset and their goalkeeper, Per Haftorsen, received a yellow card for time-wasting after only five minutes. The match ended in a 9-0 victory for the home team.”
Not bad, but not the fastest, according to Ed Gilbert. “On 22 December 1979, Derby County played Liverpool and the Rams were awarded a penalty after just 20 seconds, which they scored. At the time Derby were on a downward spiral towards near-bankruptcy, Robert Maxwell and the old Third Division. Roy McFarland recognised that Derby were unlikely to win against the eventual league champions and so, with not a little humour, on getting the ball from the ensuing kick-off he hoofed the ball high into the stands; the referee was not amused and booked him. The report does not list the exact time, but it was pretty much around the two-minute mark.”
Can you help?
“What is the smallest recorded distance between a player’s house/apartment/residence and their home stadium? Have any top level players been able to walk to a game because they live so close to their stadium?” asks Graham Clayton.
What's worst striker in football (lowest goal to match ratio) during his whole career?
— Toon (@FCToon) May 28, 2019
“The Isthmian League Premier Division play-off semi-final between Merstham and Carshalton Athletic on 2 May this year featured 13 ex-Dulwich Hamlet players. Eight of the Merstham starting 11 had previously turned out for Dulwich and four of the Carshalton side, plus one on the bench. Merstham won 2-1 and all three goals were scored by ex-Hamlet men. Has there been a game where one club has a claim on more players than this?” asks Jim Harris.
@TheKnowledge_GU with Benjamin Pavard being relegated with Stuttgart, has any other player won the World Cup and been relegated the following season?
— Lenin Dunham (@LokomotivHubris) May 28, 2019
“Are there any instances of two players who are teammates for club and country where one is captain of their club but the other is captain of their country?” wonders James Robinson.
“Dundalk beat Bohemians on Monday 20 May thanks to an injury-time penalty – Dundalk’s ninth spot kick in 18 league games. Has any club averaged a penalty every two matches over the course of a season?” asks Sean DeLoughry.
Email your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU.
