Which footballer made the largest leap in aggressive ranges between video games? | Soccer

“Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s final game of last season was for York City against Rochdale in the National League. His first competitive game of 2026-27 season was for Hearts against Sturm Graz in a Champions League qualifier. Has a player ever made a bigger leap in competitive levels between consecutive club games?” asks Tom Reed.

Does a bounce from the Welsh League to the FA Cup depend as a much bigger leap? Probably not, however this was an FA Cup semi-final, somewhat than a Champions League qualifier, and it’s a cracking yarn regardless. “I’ll nominate Gary Plumley,” writes Russell Connor. “Gary made almost 200 appearances for Newport County in four separate spells over the course of a decade but by 1987 he had effectively retired and was running a wine bar while making occasional appearances for Ebbw Vale in the Welsh League.

“In the build-up to the FA Cup semi-final in 1987, Watford found themselves short a goalkeeper after both Tony Coton and Steve Sherwood broke a thumb and finger respectively. As luck would have it, Gary’s dad Eddie was chief executive of Watford at the time which led to Gary being signed by the club to play in the game.

“Watford lost 4-1, and by all accounts Plumley didn’t cover himself in glory. His reward was a cheque for expenses, which he used to buy a fridge. The family referred it to as the Watford Fridge. Here’s an interview with Plumley about the game.”

You also can learn learn this from the Guardian archive.

“Erling and Alf-Inge Haaland bought the only surviving copy of the first printed edition of Snorri Sturluson’s medieval history of Norwegian kings and donated it to their hometown of Time in Norway,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Have other footballers bought and donated rare books or other antiques?”

“In 2017, the then Spurs midfielder Mousa Dembélé bought a 700-year-old building in Antwerp which he began converting into a hotel,” writes Tom Reed. “During the renovations a treasure trove of 18th-century porcelain, glass, pottery and tableware was discovered. Dembélé donated a portion of the treasure, reportedly valued at over £1m, to the local museum and the rest went on display in the lobby of the newly renovated hotel which he (perhaps optimistically) named De Gulde Schoen (The Golden Shoe).”

Poachers turned gamekeepers

“On Sunday, Sean Murdoch was the referee for St Mirren v Dunfermline in the Scottish League Cup. Murdoch was previously a goalkeeper and played for Dunfermline. Are there any other examples of a former player refereeing a match for a club they had played for?” asks Ian Golightly.

We had this query in 2010, when the solutions included:

• Steve Baines, the one referee within the English skilled leagues to have had vital expertise as a participant.

• Dick Jol, who refereed the 2001 Champions League last between Bayern Munich and Valencia.

• Ben Haverkort, who as a participant obtained 73 yellow playing cards and 6 reds, many for verbally abusing referees.

There is a more moderen instance within the ladies’s recreation: Cheryl Foster MBE, who received 63 caps for Wales and spent most of her membership profession at Liverpool. She then retrained as a referee; inside three years of enjoying her last recreation, she was on the Fifa worldwide checklist. Foster grew to become one of many world’s greatest referees and took cost of the 2023 Women’s Champions League last between Barcelona and Wolfsburg.

“There’s a picture of me picking the ball out of the little Jeep that drove the ball on to the pitch and I had the biggest smile,” Foster stated when she retired last year. “To describe those feelings of doing major tournaments and a big final is incredible.”

The oldest goalscorers on the town (II)

In the Knowledge final week we checked out a few of the oldest goalscorers in soccer historical past. But we missed one which was scoring in plain sight. You missed the second oldest goalscorer, 58-year-old Mykola Lykhovydov from Real Pharma in Ukraine,” writes Mykola Kozlenko. “There was even an article about him in the Guardian last year. He will not beat the new record though, as his club was relegated from professional football this summer after finishing last for two seasons in a row. At least unless they get promoted back and he is still around 60 … ”

And although it wasn’t at first-team stage, Tom Weir factors out that, in 1992, the previous Scotland supervisor Ally MacLeod scored a penalty for Queen of the South reserves on the age of 61.

Knowledge archive

“In the preliminary round of the English League Cup, Rochdale beat Tranmere 2-1 in a penalty shootout. Is this the fewest goals scored in such a shootout?” asks Paul Gage.

We had an analogous query in 2008, when Mike Gibbons requested in regards to the worst penalty shootouts. Here’s what we stated again then:

As Bill Martin, Florian Kinast and Paul Fields all level out, the shootout within the 1986 European Cup final takes some beating. Barcelona and Steaua Bucharest had performed out 120 of essentially the most tedious minutes of soccer witnessed in a significant last, and with the rating at 0-0 the sport went to penalties, at which level each groups missed their first two. The Romanians then discovered their capturing boots and knocked dwelling their subsequent two, however Barça, then managed by Terry Venables, twice extra did not beat Helmuth Duckadam within the Steaua aim. Duckadam, who grew to become often called “the hero of Seville”, had saved all 4 spot-kicks from José Alexanko, Ángel Pedraza, Pichi Alonso and Marcos Alonso, enabling Steaua to expire 2-0 winners.

Sadly Duckadam, who at 27 was reaching his peak years as a goalkeeper, was compelled to retire shortly after his best hour. “Just a few weeks after his epic moment,” writes Florian, “Duckadam’s career came to an end due to a rare vascular disease in his right arm.”

Florian additionally factors to Thailand’s 1-0 win on penalties towards Bangladesh within the 1973 Merdeka Tournament, by which Singapore additionally beat Cambodia 1-0 in a shootout.

The world report for the worst penalty shootout, nevertheless, is held predictably by a pair of English sides. In January 1998 the under-10 sides Mickleover Lightning Blue Sox and Chellaston Boys met within the Derby Community Cup. The recreation completed 1-1 and the Blue Sox received 2-1 on penalties, although not till a exceptional 66 spot-kicks had been taken. Thanks to Paul Haynes for that one.

All these and plenty of different penalty-related details, together with the most effective shootouts, may be discovered on the ever-marvellous rsssf.com

Can you assist?

“Mikel Arteta (one title) is the only manager with title-winning experience (in England) heading into the new season. Is this the only time since 1889-90 that there is only a single title among the managers at the start of the season?” wonders Jeremy Finch.

“Kerim Alajbegovic joined Leverkusen on 1 July after his buyback clause from Salzburg was activated for €8m. He’s currently in the process of moving to Juventus for €37m, meaning Leverkusen will profit to the tune of around €1m per day Alajbegovic was at the club. Has any player ever provided a greater ratio of profit per day than this?” asks Richard Wilson.

“As a fan of the Liga MX club Tigres UANL, it’s great to see them enter the record books (or trivia nights, at least) by having the shortest professional player in the world: 5ft 1in Diego ‘Chicha’ Sanchez,” begins Steve Smith. “Not only that, but he scored an excellent goal against San Luis on Saturday. Made me wonder: just how short are the shortest goalscorers for the top division leagues in Europe?”

“Which footballer has played for the most clubs?” asks Paul Gage.

“I’ve driven through the North East on many occasions, and have regularly gone past Gateshead FC’s home (Gateshead International Stadium) and Newcastle United’s St James’ Park on the same journey,” writes Jack Birch. “Google Maps suggests the distance between these is 3.5 miles (or 2.3 miles if you are walking). Are there a combination of towns that beat this?”

“The Wrexham defender Max Cleworth had the letters of ‘Wrexham’ within his name,” notes Mark Lumby. “Have any other players had their club within their own name?”