Plus: Can we play you every week?; Teams facing each other over and over and over again; and Everton's FA Cup Total Toughness Rating?. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk and follow us on Twitter
"After the Jos� Pinto episode during the half-time scuffle during the first leg of Real Madrid v Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final, who's the person with the most obscure role to be sent off during a football match, other than ball boys?" muses Matthew Britton.
He may only have been on the bench as Barcelona's substitute goalkeeper, but Jos� Pinto's role in proceedings was pivotal compared to some of the ridiculously peripheral figures to have received their marching orders from irate referees at football matches. "On 30 April 2007, Kingsley Royal, mascot for Reading, was sent off by Mike Dean during a match against Newcastle Utd," writes John O'Brien. "He was alleged to have strayed too close to the pitch and confused the officials, who apparently couldn't easily distinguish between a professional footballer and a bloke in a lion costume. Despite the loss of such a key performer, Reading clung on to their 1-0 lead to take all three points.
During his next home match, Kingsley wore a T-shirt that proclaimed he was "INNOCENT" under his kit and revealed it during a pretend goal celebration."
There have been other incidents of misbehaving mascots falling foul of officialdom, with Bury FC's Robbie The Bobby - a policeman - managing to notch up three dismissals in as many months back in 2001, once for his part in a touchline brawl with his Cardiff City counterpart Barclay The Bluebird and twice for mooning supporters.
Meanwhile in Scotland, Mark McEwan would like to refer readers to the 2009 Battle of Douglas Park, a post-match tunnel brawl between the players and backroom teams of Hearts and Hamilton which resulted in Jambos masseur Alan Robson being shown the red card along with three players. Hearts players Michael Stewart and Ismael Bouzid had been sent for early baths during the match. A few weeks previously, Hamilton's elderly kitman, Danny Cunning, earned himself a two-match ban having been sent to the stands for "unacceptable conduct" 10 minutes into the second half of a 2-2 draw between the Accies and Motherwell. "There was a time in the game when we felt frustrated and that we were not getting too much out of the game, and I think it boiled over a wee bit," said the Hamilton manager, Billy Reid.
And finally, to America, where this report by Arnold Irish from the St Louis Post-Dispatch details the sending-off of the PA announcer at a Major Indoor Soccer League game, for swinging a haymaker at a member of the visiting team. Kevin Slaten, for it was he, take a bow.
CAN WE PLAY YOU EVERY WEEK?
"On Saturday I saw the last day of season match between Rothwell Corinthians and Yaxley, which Yaxley won 7-0," began Doug McNair last week. "Nothing odd about Rothwell losing heavily - they ended the season with a goal difference of -110. What was unusual was that in their first 39 league fixtures Yaxley had only managed to find the net 30 times, so seven of the 37 goals (18.9%) they scored this season came in one game. In addition they had put three goals past Rothwell in their first meeting, so 10 of 37 (27%) of their goals came against one opponent. Has any other team scored a greater percentage of their season's goals in a single game or against a single opponent?"
The best English effort comes from Phil Jenkins: "In the 2006-07 season Manchester City scored only 29 goals. In that season, they beat Fulham 3-1 at home and away and thus scored 20.7% of their goals against the Cottagers.
But down in La Liga CD Logrones can do slightly better. "In 1994-95 Logrones scored just 15 goals scored all season," writes Dave Willbe. "Four of them came in a 4-2 home win over Tenerife - a mighty 26.67%. Unfortunately they didn't score in the corresponding away game."
But to pip Yaxley's effort we head to Ireland. "Galway United and Monaghan United were both pretty useless in the 2001-02 League of Ireland Premier Division," writes Sean DeLoughry. "They ended up 21 and 28 points from safety respectively. Eight of Galway's 28 league goals (28.6%) came in a single win over Monaghan. Apart from that 8-0 win Galway drew 0-0 with Monaghan and beat them 2-1, so scored 10 of their 28 goals (35.7%) against the Magic Mons."
HEAD-TO-HEAD-TO-HEAD-TO-HEAD
"I know everyone is totally focused on that series of footballing gems that a certain pair of Iberian teams are currently inflicting upon the world at large," begins Chris Weaver, "but I would point out that the programmes of the two clubs concerned do actually include some other games which intervene between their repeated encounters. In the Blue Square Premier my team, Luton, and Wrexham are playing each other in the final league game on the last day of April, followed by two further games in the play-offs, 5 and 10 May. It occurs to me to wonder if there has ever before been a longer uninterrupted series of repeated head-to-heads?"
Thanks to ludicrous end-of-season systems in Belgium and Australia they have. First to the Jupiler League. "A new format for the relegation play-offs was introduced this season," writes Stephan Wijnen. "The two teams that finished in the two last positions (15th-placed Eupen and 16th-placed Charleroi) had to play a best-of-five series to decide who was going to go down, with Eupen given a three-point head-start. Four matches were played, with Charleroi relegated (2 April: Eupen 3-2 Charleroi; 9 April Charleroi 2-0 Eupen; 16 April: Eupen 4-2 Charleroi; 23 April: Charleroi 2-2 Eupen). Eupen, meanwhile, have to play another relegation play-off with teams from the second division."
Right, now pay attention here because this gets complicated. "My team, Melbourne Victory (of Kevin Muscat infamy) played bitter rivals Sydney FC five times in a row," writes Trent Paton. "However Sydney played one other game in that time. Let me explain ?
"The final round of the 2009-10 season was the league decider (we call it the Premiership) in Sydney between the two, won by Sydney 2-0. In true Australian style, we play a final series with a Grand Final at the end (the Championship). As the top two teams they first played a two-leg tie to decide the Grand Final host (won by Melbourne in extra time of the second game). Sydney then played Wellington Phoenix at home to decide who would meet Melbourne in the Grand Final, which they won, before winning the Grand Final against Melbourne after penalties. And who should Melbourne meet in the first game of the next season? Yep, Sydney. You can check it out here."
KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE - AN FA CUP FINAL SPECIAL
On 22 April 2009, Firat Topal was one of several Everton fans to inquire if their side's route to that season's FA Cup final (which they went on to lose against Chelsea) had been the toughest ever: "Before beating Manchester United, Everton beat Aston Villa and Liverpool. They are going to play against Chelsea on 30 May. That means, if they win the Cup, the four teams out of the first five in Premier League table will be beaten by them on the road," wrote Firat. "Has this ever happened before? Has any team ever had to take a tougher road to winning the FA Cup?"
Where to start with this one. Perhaps the clearest way would be to first establish a points system, whereby a team's opponents' final league positions (from 1-92 and beyond if necessary) are converted into points. By that criteria a team with the lowest Total Toughness Rating? can be considered to have had the hardest Cup run (no, it doesn't take away games into account or the league positions at the time of the Cup ties, but this is going to be complicated enough as it is). Everton's Total Toughness Rating? this season - were they to beat Chelsea, and assuming teams remain in their current league positions - would be worked out thusly:
Macclesfield 88 points
Aston Villa 5 points
Middlesbrough 18 points
Liverpool 2 points
Manchester United 1 point
Chelsea 3 points
TOTAL 117 points (or an average of 19.5)
Chelsea's, in contrast would be:
Southend 52 points
Ipswich 29 points
Watford 36 points
Coventry 35 points
Arsenal 4 points
Everton 6 points
TOTAL 162 points (or an average of 27.6)
So of the previous 127 Cup winners has anyone had a harder ride than David Moyes side? On this statistical criteria, we've turned up plenty and below are a handful of examples. Let's turn the clock back exactly 100 years to Manchester United's victory in 1908-09:
Brighton (18th in the Southern League) 58 points
Everton 2 points
Blackburn 4 points
Burnley 34 points
Newcastle 1 point
Bristol City 8 points
TOTAL: 107 points
And, particularly impressively, to United's Cup win in 1947-48:
Aston Villa 6 points
Liverpool 11 points
Charlton 13 points
Preston North End 7 points
Derby 4 points
Blackpool 9 points
TOTAL 50 points
United's 1998-99 victory (suggested by one Red in the Guardian office), also weighs in at a Total Toughness Rating? of 79 (Middlesbrough 9th, Liverpool 7th, Fulham 45th, Chelsea 3rd, Liverpool 2nd and Newcastle 13th). More recently, Arsenal in 2001-02 can claim a TTR? lower than Everton's:
Watford 34 points
Liverpool 2 points
Gillingham 32 points
Newcastle 4 points
Middlesbrough 12 points
Chelsea 6 points
TOTAL 90 points
So can Everton's city rivals, Liverpool, in 1985-86:
Norwich 23 points
Chelsea 6 points
York City 51 points
Watford 12 points
Southampton 14 points
Everton 2 points
TOTAL 108 points
And 2005-06:
Luton Town 30 points
Portsmouth 17 points
Manchester Utd 2 points
Birmingham 18 points
Chelsea 1 point
West Ham 9 points
TOTAL 77 points
But all this does seem rather unfair on the Toffees. As Gareth fears, it's that third round tie against Macclesfield that is skewing their stats. Indeed, replace the Silkmen with a mid-table Championship side and Everton would dip very close to Liverpool's '06 Total Toughness Rating?. It's only fair, then, that we try another tack ? has any side won the Cup having beaten four of the top-flight's top five?
You can see above that Manchester United beat three of the top four in 1909, and in 1948 beat six of the league's top 13. The 11-time Cup winners also beat four of the top nine in 1998-99. Arsenal beat three of the top six ? Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool ? in 2001/02. In 1895-96, Sheffield Wednesday beat three of the top five ? Everton, Bolton and Sunderland. In 1905-06, Everton themselves beat three of the top four ? Preston, Wednesday and Newcastle ? on the way to the trophy. In 1951-52, Newcastle United beat Aston Villa (6th) at St James's Park and Tottenham (2nd), Portsmouth (4th) and Arsenal (3rd) and the mid-table second division teams of Blackburn and Swansea on the road.
But no one, according to the Knowledge's in-depth it's-taken-us-all-ruddy-day research, has beaten four of the top of five en route to the Cup. Of course, if Everton themselves pip Villa to fifth place [They did, by one point - Knowledge Archive Ed.], they'll deny themselves a potential place in history. Does that mean a victory for Moyes' boys on 30 May would be the hardest-earned Cup win ever? That's open to debate, but it would certainly stake a decent claim.
For thousands more questions and answers take a trip through the Knowledge archive.
CAN YOU HELP?
"Ibra Sekajja scored a goal with his first ever touch as a professional footballer when he came on for Crystal Palace against Hull City. Is this a first or have any other footballers made such an impact on their professional debuts?" asks Ivan from West Norwood.
"This question might be easy to resolve given certain clubs' propensity to win the competition repeatedly in its early history, but: has a Champions League/European Cup final ever been contested at a stadium where both competing sides have previously won the competition?" wonders ... somebody whose name we appear to have lost.
"Has there ever been an occasion when a team is being so comprehensively beaten that they refuse to finish the game, or fail to take part in the second leg of a two-leg match?" wonders Bill Dods.
"Interesting stat from Celtic debacle against Livingstone. They were denied an injury-time penalty, which if awarded would have been their 18th of the season. Forgetting about penalty shoot-outs that must be pretty close to a record I would imagine: one in every two league games. Is this the case? And yes, I am a Rangers fan before you ask," confesses Ross Leslie, who probably didn't need to nail his colours to the mast with a name like that. And in a question that may very well prompt a deluge of amusing replies citing Rangers and Celtic ...
"The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt have announced yesterday they will participate in the Egyptian Football league with a team of their own. Has there ever been a football team officially representing a religious group anywhere in the world? Are there any Fifa or continental regulations against their participation in international games?" asks Noraldin Hamouda.
"I was reading a recent La Liga round-up from Sid Lowe and something really struck me. He said that 'Real Sociedad beat Barcelona, with 12th (13th by kick-off) defeating first. Never before had a side beaten someone 50 points ahead of them'. Is this really the biggest points difference between two clubs in a game which the team lower down in the league won?" asks Manas Phadke.
Seeing that Dublin-based former Airtricity League side Sporting Fingal have dissolved after just four years in existence (and only playingfor three seasons), are they the shortest lived team to play in a country's top division? Surely this must be a record?" declares Holly Cruise.
"What is the biggest goal difference swing on the final day of a season to secure promotion/play-off place/avoid relegation?" asks Stuart Millar.
"Zlatan Ibrahimovic has won the league title for the past eight seasons (albeit with Juve having two stripped). Record?" tweets Nicholas Wyver.
Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/11/the-most-obscure-person-sent-off
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