💡 Interesting Facts
former footballer Christopher Bryan scored the Turks and Caicos Islands' first ever international goal.former Burnley chairman Bob Lord described coach Billy Dougall, who worked for the football club for 23 years, as the finest servant a club could have.former England footballer Mick Channon is now a successful horse trainer.former Welsh international footballer Wayne Jones was forced to retire at the age of 24 when it was discovered that he had a previously undiagnosed arthritic condition.former football player and manager Alan Brown quit Huddersfield Town and became a policeman for two and a half years before rejoining the club.former football official Lencie Fred was the first Vanuatuan to be included on the FIFA list of referees.following his retirement from professional football, Bobby Bell managed car manufacturer Rolls-Royce's football team.for the 10 Seasons Awards, almost 750,000 football fans from 184 countries voted, in a celebration of the first ten years of the English Premier League (trophy pictured).former Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday footballer Brian Hornsby trekked to Machu Picchu with musician Tony Hadley in aid of Action Medical Research.former professional footballer Charlie Sillett was one of two Royal Navy gunners killed when the Norwegian steamship SS Corvus was sunk by a torpedo launched from the German U-boat U-1018.former professional footballer Don Rossiter served as mayor of Rochester, Kent, during the 1980s.in 1929, Wales international footballer Moses Russell was threatened with a pistol during a pitch invasion whilst on a tour of Canada.in 1937, Harry Osman was the last footballer to score a goal on Christmas Day at Southampton's The Dell stadium.in 1945, footballer Doug McGibbon scored six goals in one match, one of which was timed at under five seconds from the second half kick-off.in 1980, Eamonn Collins became the youngest player in a professional football match in England, when he played for Blackpool at the age of 14 years and 323 days.in 1916, footballer Bob Benson volunteered to replace an absent Arsenal team-mate just before a game, only to collapse and die during the match.in 1900, Wilf Waller was the first South African footballer to play in the English Football League.former professional footballer Spike Rawlings, winner of the 1976 edition of TV talent show Opportunity Knocks, began his entertainment career after being asked to provide the half-time entertainment during a game.from 2010, reserve teams in Norwegian association football were barred from using more than three players aged over 21.in 1885, Jimmy Forrest was the first professional footballer to appear for the England national football team.ex-professional footballer Julian Hails has a BSc honours degree in mathematical studies and became a mathematics teacher.during the World War II, English footballer Jimmy Boswell served in the same army unit as four other future Gillingham F.C. players.all of the surviving individuals of the species listed in the The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates, which include the Silky Sifaka (Propithecus candidus), could fit into a single football stadium.although Gretna F.C. 2008 represents the town of Gretna, Scotland in association football, it has never played there, instead playing its home games eight miles away in Annan.amateur footballer Jürgen Wilhelm scored Germany's 1983 Goal of the Year while playing for BFV Hassia Bingen in the third division Oberliga Südwest.at 15 years and 314 days, Glyn Pardoe was the youngest footballer ever to play for Manchester City when he made his debut in 1962.after retiring, former Premier League footballer Adrian Whitbread worked in four different clubs as assistant coach for Martin Allen.after retiring as a footballer, Mike Trusson worked as marketing manager for a football-themed restaurant in London.after Norwegian soccer club Stord Sunnhordland FK was discontinued, the chairman of the owners called it "a club without soul".after playing association football and coaching the Philippine women's national football team, Tony Chua switched to manage a team in the Philippine Basketball Association.after playing for over twenty clubs and enjoying only mild success, former professional footballer Fred Eyre made his name as a businessman, after dinner speaker, and author.at least seven members of the Scottish Argentine Brown family have played international football for Argentina.before Tommy Walker became a footballer he was a champion sprinter.despite being an Australian, Walter Cornock played both professional football and first-class cricket for English teams.despite being born in Harlow, England, Alex Stavrinou qualified to play for the Cyprus youth football team through his father's Cypriot heritage.despite making his national team debut in 1924, footballer James Mitchell remains the only player to represent England while wearing spectacles.during English footballer Freddie Bunce's only season with Highlands Park FC, they won South Africa's 1964 National Football League.despite being Watford's top scorer as they won the Southern League in 1914–15, professional footballer George Edmonds continued working as a printer.brothers and England football defenders Arthur Melmoth Walters and Percy Melmoth Walters (pictured) were known as "Morning" and "Afternoon" in allusion to their initials.before becoming a full-time professional footballer at the age of 21, Mike Bickle worked as a milkman.before becoming a professional footballer, Bob Jefferson had deserted from the Royal Navy.between 1970 and 1976, former Spanish-Argentine footballer and manager Juan Carlos Touriño was part of three Spanish league championships and two Spanish cup-winning squads.in 1946, Welsh international footballer Bert Turner became the first player to score for both sides in an FA Cup Final.in September 1924, Jack Fowler scored five goals in a football match for Swansea Town against Charlton Athletic, which remains the club record for most goals in a match.the Groruddalen BK football team finished third in their league in 2007 and had the league top scorer, but lost their coach and all players save two, facing relegation and liquidation in 2008.the English football club Trawden Forest never lost a home game in the FA Cup.the Norwegian teen film Amors Baller will include scenes shot at the 2010 Norway Cup, one of the world's largest football tournaments.the career of association football player Mark Maley was ended after he was accidentally shot in the eye by teammate John Oster with an air gun.the Friends of Cathedral Music was formed in 1956 after the Provost of Southwell Minster abolished Saturday choral services to allow the choir men to watch local Association football matches.the FC St. Pauli rugby department was formed in 1933 when the club's complete 6th XI switched codes from football to rugby union.the Eimsbütteler TV, a German football club, failed to advance in the national championship finals in 1934 and 1935 despite beating the later champion, FC Schalke 04, in both years.the Essex derby football match did not take place for 15 years.the FC Büsingen, a German football club formed in 1924, had a nut tree in its playing field penalty area until 1927, when it was cut down.the early career of Mauritian-Norwegian footballer Caleb Francis was halted due to racist abuse.the fine of £175,000 handed to Arsenal F.C. in 2003 after the Battle of Old Trafford was a record for English football.when footballer Morten Knutsen left Odd Grenland due to persistent injury problems, he joined FK Arendal, only to immediately sustain another injury.when Bobby Folds joined Gillingham F.C. in 1966, he became the club's first ever apprentice-professional footballer.when transferred from Lincoln City to Leicester City for £27,500 in 1954, English footballer Andy Graver was said to be "afraid of the responsibility of living up to such a big price tag".with the inception of the Gauliga Ostmark in 1938, clubs from outside of Vienna were for the first time permitted to take part in Austria's premier football division.what is thought to have been the first ever properly floodlit association football match in the United Kingdom took place between two non-league teams, Ashton National and Hyde United, in December 1932.the winning cup for the European club champion of football is now kept by the final winners.the game between FC Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich on 23 April 1945 in the Gauliga Bayern, ending 3–2, was the last official football game played in Nazi Germany.the sports club Skeid, with a former top-level football team, has also won the Norwegian league in bandy.the television series Use It or Lose It documented the return of former association footballers Niall Quinn and Ronnie Whelan to their respective youth teams.the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion is the administrative organisation responsible for monitoring the accounts of professional football clubs in France.the Birmingham Charity Cup, a Victorian football trophy, featured engravings of a football match and of "the poor and sick succoured by the heavenly spirit".players from the FK Sørøy Glimt football team were caught in a doping case, a rare occurrence in Northern Norwegian football.professional footballer Andy Bell spent nearly a decade with hometown club Blackburn Rovers, without making a single first-team appearance.professional footballer James Caine's son Brian also played professionally.semi-professional football player Nevin Saroya featured in the football-themed film Mean Machine.over 100 former footballers called on President Paul Biya to stand in the 2004 Cameroonian presidential election.only three out of 32 football matches in the Third Round of the FA Cup 1962-63 were played on their scheduled day because of the Big Freeze of 1963.in a 16-year career, English footballer Bob Hutchinson played for 14 different clubs.in the initial Anglo-Italian Cup football tournaments, one point was awarded for every goal scored.no football team in Berlin was declared the winner of the Berlin Cup in 1969 because the penalty shootout was not yet introduced and the finalists were unable to schedule a re-match after a draw.semi-professional footballer Dean Clark made over one hundred appearances for Northwood F.C..semi-professional footballer Gareth Risbridger holds a UEFA 'B' Pro Licence coaching badge and is also a qualified referee, as well as working as a greenkeeper at Wycombe Heights Golf Club.the England amateur footballer, Leonard Dawe, became a crossword compiler for The Daily Telegraph newspaper and in 1944 was interrogated on suspicion of espionage in the run-up to the D-Day landings.the German football club Dansk Gymnastik Forening Flensborg, founded in 1923, is a club of the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig.the Luxembourgian football club FV Stadt Düdelingen won the German Gauliga Mittelrhein in 1942 and went on to the German championship finals, losing 0–2 to FC Schalke 04.the Franconian derby between 1. FC Nuremberg and SpVgg Greuther Fürth is the most played football match in Germany with over 250 games between the two sides.the football game between Offenburger FV and the SC Freiburg on 28 March 1920 lasted for over three hours.the football club Ulf-Sandnes altered its name to Sandnes Ulf to accommodate the merger partner Sandnes FK.several French international footballers have played for FC Versailles, including Thierry Henry, Jérôme Rothen and Hatem Ben Arfa.the football club Drammen FK makes its debut in the 2009 season, aiming to become the best club in Drammen after Strømsgodset IF.the football club StÃ¥lkameratene were expelled from their league in 1997, only to score 153 league goals the next year.after footballer Barrie Thomas transferred from Scunthorpe United to Newcastle United in January 1962, attendances at Scunthorpe's home games dropped by 20%.a branch of Exeter City Supporters' Trust members helped finance James Norwood's contract at the football club, paying £19 per month.Brazilian footballer Bobô won the 1988 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A before playing three games for the Brazil national team in 1989.Eastbourne Borough is the fifth football club for which Jean-Michel Sigere and Simon Wormull have played together.English footballer Glen Thomas came close to losing an eye in 1996 when he stumbled into a tree during a training session and was hit in the face by a branch.English footballer Tom Holford played professionally until he was 46, making him the sixth oldest player to have appeared in a Football League match.Bradford City footballers Geoff Smith and George Mulholland each played more than 200 consecutive appearances for the club during the 1950s.Bishop Auckland F.C. was the only football club to win the FA Amateur Cup in three consecutive seasons.footballer Tommy Magee is the only West Bromwich Albion player to have won both a League Championship medal and an FA Cup winners' medal with the club.footballer Tony Hawksworth had only made three appearances for Manchester United's reserve team when he made his Football League debut, but never played another League match.Bangladesh football goalkeeper Biplob Bhattacharjee made his international debut at the age of 18.English former footballer David Hamilton was Wigan Athletic's first ever full-time scout.England's Tom Brittleton is the oldest footballer ever to play a competitive match for Sheffield Wednesday.Swedish-Norwegian television host Kristin Kaspersen is the daughter of Swedish singer Lill-Babs and Norwegian football goalkeeper Kjell Kaspersen.Scottish footballer John Cushley was a modern-languages graduate who acted as translator when Celtic F.C. attempted to sign Real Madrid striker Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1964.Scottish footballer Kevin Bremner scored for five different teams in the Football League during the 1982–83 season.Scotland international football defender Alex McLintock played as a goalkeeper during his time at Burnley.Norwegian footballer Jostein Grindhaug scored the first league goal for the club FK Haugesund.Manchester United gave Stockport County a freezer full of ice cream in exchange for the transfer of footballer Hugh McLenahan in May 1927.World Cup winning soccer player José Andrade once played drums in a carnival band.Georgian footballer Georgi Kiknadze won five consecutive league championships with Dinamo Tbilisi.Justin Fashanu was the first professional association football player to come out as gay.footballer Stephen Brackstone had an operation to remove his appendix after being taken to hospital following his substitution in a game for York City in December 2002.footballer Sid Storey, who played for York City from 1947 to 1956, drove the open top bus that paraded the York team after winning the 1983–84 Fourth Division championship.footballer Abe Hartley used to place a rolled-up cigarette behind his ear prior to kick-off and then smoke it in the changing room at half-time.footballer Andy Leaning was named man of the match following York City's 3–1 extra time defeat at Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round in 1986, with his performance being described as "heroic".footballer Arthur Wolstenholme was the first player to score four goals in a Third Division North match.footballer Arthur Wood had a metal plate inserted in his forehead following an injury received in the First World War, and was never again able to head the ball.football champion Romualdas Marcinkus (pictured) was the only Lithuanian pilot to serve in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.football midfielder Evan Berger was nominated for an informal Australia Day award by his local council for representing Australia in the national under-20 team.association footballer Mikkel Diskerud played both for and against the United States national youth team in the spring of 2008.association footballers Jimmy Willis and Steve Finnan are the only players to have scored in the top five divisions of English league football.football manager Yvon Pouliquen led two clubs to victory in the French Cup Final and relegation from the top division in consecutive seasons.footballer Barry Hutchinson scored in each of the seven games that Weymouth played in January 1965.footballer Billy Ingham, whose nickname was "the Ginger Pelé", worked as a bus driver after retiring.footballer James Constable worked in an undergarment lining factory while playing as a semi-professional.footballer John Hewitt scored the fastest recorded goal in Scottish Cup history, timed at 9.6 seconds.footballer Johnny Warsap was signed by Gillingham F.C. after he played against the club for a team representing the Royal Berkshire Regiment.footballer Peter Stringfellow suffered a dramatic decline in form, which ultimately ended his professional career, after being involved in a car crash in which a team-mate died.footballer Henry Martin scored on his début against Liverpool and again the next day against their neighbours Everton.footballer Graham Lewis was nearly prevented from making his début for Belper Town F.C. when the referee and assistant referee failed to spot his name on the team sheet.footballer Bob Wilson was the last player to captain the original Accrington Stanley club in a professional match.footballer Bud Houghton was born in Madras to an Anglo-Indian family who migrated to England in 1947 when India gained independence from British rule.footballer Chic Brodie's professional career ended when he collided with a dog on the playing field.South African Jean-Michel d'Avray played football in England and Holland before becoming the last ever National Soccer League Coach of the Year in Australia.Spanish footballer Paco Bienzobas was the first person to win the Pichichi Trophy, awarded to the top scorer in La Liga.Sidney Weighell, General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen, played professional football with Sunderland for two seasons as an inside left.William Bambridge, the father of England Football international Charles Bambridge was a member of the Te Waimate mission, New Zealand who became official photographer to Queen Victoria.Willie Groves was the first footballer to be transferred for £100 or more.Willie McCartney was listed by the Sunday Herald newspaper as the 22nd greatest Scottish football manager of all time, even though he never won a major trophy.Seth Burkett is the only British footballer to currently play professionally in Brazil.Samuel Clucas was offered a soccer scholarship in the United States after studying sports development at Lincoln College.Reuben Noble-Lazarus became the youngest footballer in the Football League when he came on as a substitute in Barnsley's 3–0 defeat to Ipswich Town in 2008.Ross Memorial Park and Alexandre Stadium, Washington & Jefferson College's combined lacrosse, baseball, and soccer facility, is the largest continuous artificial playing surface in the world.Sam Cowan is the only footballer to have represented Manchester City in three FA Cup finals.Kevin Reiman, a MLS footballer for Real Salt Lake, helped Maryland U. win an NCAA title, then transferred after their addition of Robbie Rogers.English football clubs entering administration have fewer points deducted in the Premier League than in the Football League because they play fewer games.Kerry-Ann Booth, the girlfriend of footballer Greg Young (pictured), did not see him on the losing side of a game for Halifax Town for the first four years of their relationship.Scottish footballer Jim Baxter once taunted opponents in an international match by playing keepie uppie during the game, and that he described his style as "treating the ball like a woman".a Glasgow-born railway engineer, John Harley, was responsible for revolutionizing the way Uruguay played football.a steam-powered portable engine (example pictured) drove the dynamo for the first floodlit football match in the UK in 1878.Italian Gigi Peronace has been described as the first football agent in England.German football manager Horst Buhtz led both Dortmund and Nuremberg to the Bundesliga promotion playoffs, but was dismissed each time before the matches took place.English footballer Brian Punter did not receive his 1953 FA Youth Cup runners-up medal until some 56 years later.English footballer Fred Geary scored the first goal at the opening of Everton's new Goodison Park stadium in August 1892.Englishman Bob Bootland, who was the first foreigner to coach a football club in India, arrived in the country on holiday and never left.Peter Sanders began his career as a professional association football player, switched to playing rugby union, and has subsequently spent forty years running a baseball club.John Percival, when headmaster of Rugby School, gained the nickname "Percival of the knees" because he was concerned about "impurity" and insisted that boys secure their football shorts below the knee with elastic.Bob Matthewson, an English footballer and referee, was recently portrayed in the 2009 film The Damned United.Bobby Cowell only played for one professional club during his entire football career (Newcastle United).Brian Statham shares his name with an England international cricketer and was himself a talented schoolboy cricketer, but opted to pursue a career in professional football.Christ Bongo was one of only three Congolese footballers to score in final qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.Alan Mullery became the first England association football player to be sent off in a full international match during the 1968 European Championship semi-final against Yugoslavia.Welsh footballer Roy Clarke played in three different divisions of the Football League in three consecutive matches.Swiss athlete Georges de Regibus introduced association football to Bulgaria in 1894 as a sports teacher in Varna.Uruguayan footballer Vladas Douksas' father was a Lithuanian shopkeeper.Uruguayan Isabelino GradÃn won South American championships in both football and track and field athletics.Curtis Woodhouse was a professional boxer while still playing professional football for Rushden & Diamonds.Dean Holness, who starred in football television drama Dream Team and film Mike Bassett: England Manager, played professional football for Southend United.Hapoel Tayibe was the first ever Arab football club to play in the top division in Israel.Hibernian Park hosted the first football international match played in Edinburgh, Scotland.Jack Hillman was responsible for the earliest recorded case of match fixing in football.Gus Hurdle rejected a chance to play international football for Barbados to help Crawley Town in their relegation match against Dorchester Town, saying it was the "bigger game".Frank Loughran played for the Socceroos at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, scoring a goal in the first game his adopted country of Australia ever played in Olympic soccer.Derek Forster became the youngest Sunderland footballer to have made a first team appearance when he was 15 years 185 days old.Donald Colman invented the football dugout in the 1930s while working as coach of Aberdeen.Frank Allen originally worked as a coal miner before becoming a professional footballer at the age of 24.amateur footballer Lee Todd is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the quickest sending off in a match, playing for just two seconds.