“With Sheffield Wednesday on the point of relegation in February [update: they’re now down], what’s the earliest a staff has been demoted to a different division?” asks Kevin Bartholomew.
The earliest confirmed relegation in a season we will discover is Peterborough United, in 1967-68, who had been relegated from the third tier with a whopping 27 video games remaining. After the membership had been discovered responsible of breaking league guidelines regarding match-fee incentives and signing-on bonuses, a Soccer League administration committee confirmed in mid-November of 1968 that Posh could be relegated, no matter their closing league putting or factors tally. Regardless of ending ninth with 50 factors, Peterborough had been docked 19 of them, rendering them backside. The membership had been relegated having scored 79 objectives that season, which made them extra prolific than all however one of many different groups in Division Three, together with champions Oxford United.
There is no such thing as a different instance in English soccer that may beat Sheffield Wednesday’s February relegation with 13 matches to go, but when we take away factors deductions and solely embrace seasons the place three groups are relegated, Cambridge United are the following finest/worst instance, relegated from the third tier in 1984-85 with eight video games to spare. This was all of the extra exceptional given they’d solely simply been relegated from the second tier the earlier yr (with six video games to spare).
Doncaster Rovers match Cambridge, falling out of the Soccer League for the primary time of their historical past after relegation from the previous Third Division in 1997-98, additionally with eight video games to spare. To say Doncaster had been a bin hearth of a membership that season was an understatement, significantly as a result of only a few weeks after their relegation was confirmed, chairman Ken Richardson was discovered responsible of hiring a former SAS trooper to burn down the principle stand on the membership’s Belle Vue Stadium in a property improvement rip-off. Richardson got here unstuck after the person he employed, Alan Kristiansen, left petrol cans and a haversack on the scene in addition to his cell phone on the badly burned predominant stand together with a message on Richardson’s answering machine saying: “The job’s been executed.” Kristiansen grew to become the principle prosecution witness towards Richardson after pleading responsible to arson.
There are a selection of different English golf equipment which have been relegated with seven video games to go. This record consists of Southampton (from the Premier League) final season and Watford (second tier, 1971-72) – even if solely two golf equipment went down from every of the highest two divisions till 1974, Watford had been mathematically unable to catch even the third-bottom staff with seven matches to spare. The record of golf equipment relegated with seven video games to go additionally numbers Stoke Metropolis (high flight, 1984-85), Stockport County, (second tier, 2001-02), Wimbledon, (second tier, 2003-04), Rotherham United (second tier, 2016-17), and Oxford United (third tier, 2000-01), with the latter relegated within the closing season on the Manor Floor earlier than the transfer to the Kassam Stadium. Ouch.
Prime and tail
“Assuming Arsenal win the league and Wolves stay backside, are there every other cases of a league’s high and backside groups additionally being first and final alphabetically?” asks Martin Villau.
Nice query! We should always caveat this by saying that some folks depend AFC Bournemouth as the primary staff listed alphabetically within the Premier League, however most don’t … so we’ll let it slide. Chris Roe writes in to reply this one.
“In English league historical past it’s virtually identically widespread for the primary and final alphabetic staff to complete in these positions (26 for the primary v 25 instances for the final),” he writes. “Of these, there are simply two seasons wherein the highest and backside groups have additionally been first and final alphabetically. In Arsenal’s unbeaten title run of 2003-04, the opposite finish of the desk was tremendous shut with Wolves ending up backside on objectives scored from Leeds United, when each ended on 33 factors and a purpose distinction of -39.
“Then we return to the second tier in 1892-93 and this one comes with an asterisk beside it, because the alphabetical requirement is just happy if we use the golf equipment’ present names, quite than these on the time. Walsall (then Walsall City Swifts) had been backside which labored alphabetically, nevertheless it was champions Small Heath (now Birmingham Metropolis) who come first alphabetically on present names, however clearly not on the names on the time!”
An ideal circle
“In Napoli’s 2-2 draw with Roma earlier this month, there have been solely three corners in whole. What number of matches have had fewer? And has a match ever performed out with none corners in any respect?” asks Mykyta Shchehlov.
Apparently in the course of the match between Wigan and Chelsea within the Premier League on 21 August 2010, there have been no corners in any respect. Chelsea gained 6-0 with braces from Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou and a hat-trick of assists from Didier Drogba. Based on Opta, this was the primary recreation with none corners since they began protecting matches.
Data archive
“Scott Dobbie of Queen of the South, age 36, had scored 37 objectives by the tip of January this season,” defined David Forbes in 2019. “Who’s the oldest participant to have outscored their age in a season?”
“At high stage, the legendary Ferenc Puskás takes some beating,” reckoned David Warriston. “By the tip of 1961-62, the Magyar maestro was 35 and had scored 40 objectives for Actual Madrid, together with a first-half hat-trick in that yr’s European Cup closing. He was clearly on the slide nonetheless; the next season he didn’t beat his age, netting a meagre 31 objectives.”
Tim Dockery had extra: “Even at 39, Patrizia Panico was inducing panic amongst her opponents. When the 2013-14 season led to Girls’s Serie A, she was the highest scorer with 43 goals for Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Torres Calcio Femminile. Throughout that point, she additionally scored 4 objectives for Torres in cup competitions, bringing her whole for the yr to 47.”
Room for yet one more. “Lee Trundle scored 45 league objectives in 23 appearances for Llanelli City in 2016-17, when he turned 40,” famous Dave Johnston. “He scored 53 in all competitions that season, in solely 31 appearances. Llanelli City had been promoted to the Welsh Soccer League Division One.”
Are you able to assist?
“A number of weeks in the past, Sandra Jessen began for FC Köln towards Essen,” notes James Vortkamp-Tong. “Is that this the primary time a participant has contained the opposing aspect’s identify in their very own?”
“Trawling via numerous South and Central American leagues, one comes throughout the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool and others. Have any of those groups ever performed towards their European namesake?” queries Paul Huby.
“There appear to be only a few gamers from exterior the state system in top-tier British groups now,” emails Mark Burns. “Who was the final British worldwide participant that was privately educated?”
“With kits of purple, amber and claret, inexperienced, inexperienced hoops, and tangerine, top-flight Scottish golf equipment appear to have way more numerous kits than these in England,” writes James Bolle. “Is that this true, or simply my notion? If true, why? Is the English color palette out of step with the remainder of the world, or the Scottish one?”
“Like many I bear in mind the Channel 4 Italian soccer days fondly,” recollects Daz Pearce. “One random stat I remembered was that Piacenza went two complete seasons between 1995 and 1997 with out successful a single away match, but managed to outlive each on the power of their house type. What’s the longest such run managed by a staff in a significant European league?”
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