Zero to hero
“Spain won the final of the Women’s World Cup despite losing 4-0 to Japan in the group stage. What’s the heaviest defeat that has been suffered by a team that went on to win a major tournament?” asks Alex White.
Quite the turnaround for Spain, who were unceremoniously battered in their final group game, despite having 77% possession and over 900 passes. Eventual Golden Boot winner Hinata Miyazawa was unplayable, scoring twice, but Spain were excellent from that point on: dispatching Switzerland 5-1 in the last 16 before beating the Netherlands, Sweden and England to clinch their maiden title.
Worthy World Cup winners, so congratulations to them but kudos to Dirk Maas, who has found a heavier defeat suffered by eventual winners. “In their World Cup group stage match against Hungary in 1954, West Germany suffered an 8-3 loss. The Germans got their revenge in the final, overcoming a 0-2 deficit.” The 3-2 win became known as the Miracle of Bern. Many attributed the German comeback to Adi Dassler, founder of Adidas, who had designed a revolutionary innovation to football boots just before the final: removable studs, that could be changed depending on the terrain.
The game started with four goals inside the first 18 minutes but as the rain made conditions more slippery, the Germans were able to change their studs to gain more grip, and were comfortably the better side in the second half. Helmut Rahn scored a late winner to deny Ferenc Puskas and the Mighty Magyars – Hungary’s only defeat between 1950 and 1956, which otherwise included 58 victories and 10 draws.
We can match four goals: Borussia Mönchengladbach beating Real Madrid 5-1 in the first leg of 1985-86 Uefa Cup round of 16. The Spanish side, which had Juanito, Emilio Butragueño and Míchel in their ranks, roared back in the second leg, winning 4-0 thanks to two goals each from Jorge Valdano and Santillana.
Borders and boundaries
“Are Brighton and Hove Albion the only club to have two place names in their name where the stadium is in neither?” asks Brandon Martin-Moore, via Twitter.
A good question, although it seems that the Amex Stadium could actually be deemed as within the boundaries of Brighton (just). “As far as I am aware, the stadium and the university are in Brighton, even if the heart of Falmer village is in East Sussex,” elaborates David Erritty. “The boundary between Brighton and Hove area and East Sussex runs just to the east of the stadium as shown in the below image.
David’s claim appears to be correct, with the club listing the stadium’s address as Brighton (well they would), complete with a BN1 postcode. But nonetheless, the question remains: are there any clubs that don’t play their football in either of their two place names?
The short answer is yes. Ewen Anderson, currently resident of Brisbane, Australia, highlights his relatively niche knowledge of Tooting and Mitcham FC, who currently play at Imperial Fields in Morden (a place made only slightly more famous by this excellent song). Situated next to the River Wandle, the ground is on a sliver of land in Morden, part of the London borough of Merton.
Tom Reed has been kind enough to do a deep dive into the rest of non-league English sides, helped no doubt by the humble ampersand.
Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers FC are based just outside the Hellesdon area of Norwich, which is the opposite side of town from Dussindale
Epsom & Ewell FC’s ground is in Cobham, approx 10 miles from both places
Erith & Belvedere FC are in Welling which is about three to four miles away
Hollands & Blair FC is a slightly tenuous one – they are based in Gillingham but are named for a company as their works team rather than a place. But they are nowhere near Holland or Blair.
May & Baker FC – another tenuous works team who used to play next door to the May & Baker factory but moved out in the 1970s and now play home games in Aveley
Newark and Sherwood United FC play in Collingham - seven miles from Newark and 24 miles from Sherwood
Yarm & Eaglescliffe FC play 10 miles away from both those places in Billingham
A couple of excellent shouts from Twitter user @partsublimated: “The club in Ghana now called Berekum United were, for a time, based in Berekum while named Bechem Chelsea, despite being in neither Bechem nor Chelsea (admittedly this is a slightly more tenuous link, as they were named for the English club Chelsea rather than the place itself).
“Similarly, the Botswana club União Flamengo Santos FC are based in Gaborone rather than the city of Santos or Flamengo beach in Rio (incidentally, their kit colours were inspired by the Argentina national team and not Brazil for some reason).”
“The biggest club to share this trait here is RCD Espanyol de Barcelona, or Espanyol, who were relegated from La Liga in 2020. “The stadium sits between Cornellà and El Prat, not Barcelona. Also, the name is in Catalan, even if it says it’s Spanish,” tweets Jordi Gómez.
Welsh side The New Saints of Oswestry Town and Llansantffraid, or TNS, are Knowledge favourites and we’re delighted to see them crop up here again. “Technically the Park Hall stadium is located in Whittington parish, outside the borders of Oswestry”, informs @yesthatsatwitr.
Comeback kid
Staying in Wales … Ben Foster recently retired for a second time, hanging up his gloves in September 2022 and this week after a six-month stint at Wrexham, who were promoted back to the Football League after the goalkeeper’s heroics in the National League play-offs” emails Jon Brodkin. “But has there ever been a footballer who has retired three times?
Enter Hollywood rogue Landon Donovan, who – after a career with LA Galaxy that was so good that the MLS’ MVP award now bears his name – retired in 2014, before a string of injuries at Galaxy in 2016 convinced the then 34-year-old to dust off the boots. With Steven Gerrard among those sidelined and with Nigel de Jong shipped off to Galatasaray, Donovan returned in September of that year, playing eight regular season games, as well as in all three play-off matches. He retired again shortly afterwards, citing a need to spend more time with family.
But wait! Fast forward to 2018, and after spending three days in Mexico, Donovan announced his third stint as a professional at Club León. “I loved the city, León is an historic and winning team. I don’t believe in walls”, Donovan wrote in Spanish, in an apparent swipe at his then US president. “I want to go to Mexico, dress in green and win tournaments in León. See you soon.”
It is arguable whether this qualifies, but Donovan did also return to (indoor) professional football in 2019 with the San Diego Sockers in the Major Arena Soccer League, and was named as the 2018–2019 All-MASL Top Newcomer at the post-season awards before retiring for good at the age of 37.
Knowledge archive
Tom Haslam asked in 2005, before the Qatari owners changed the badge in 2013: “The Paris Saint-Germain logo has what can only be a pram under the Eiffel Tower – why?”
The pram is actually a cradle, as several readers picked up on, but Tom was on the right lines. “The badge does indeed combine the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower with a cradle and the fleur de lis, or lily,” explained Tim Pike.
“Obviously, the Tower represents Paris, while the cradle and fleur de lis are the symbols of the quiet suburban town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where PSG train and are headquartered (about 15 miles west of Paris). A similar design features on the town’s crest, which you can see here. Saint-Germain is nicknamed ‘le berceau de Louis XI‘ (the cradle of Louis XIV), as the town happens to be the birthplace of the Sun King (in 1638, fact fans), hence the cradle. The lily is also a longstanding royal symbol in France.
“The pram is an emblem for Paris,” added Stéphane Di Cesare. “More exactly, it was the emblem of the ‘Water Merchants’, a merchants’ guild in Paris in the Middle Ages.” So now you know.
Can you help?
“While watching Liverpool v Bournemouth I realised that Liverpool had five current international captains on the pitch at the same time (Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah). Are there any teams that have fielded more in a single game?” asks David Smith.
“The mighty Gillingham are top of League Two after winning all four of their opening fixtures 1-0,” notes Chris Wood. “Is this the furthest a team with maximum points has got from the start of a season with only 1-0 wins?”
“Derry City lost 4-3 on penalties to St Patrick’s Athletic in the FAI Cup second round on Sunday, just three days after they lost 6-5 on penalties to FC Tobol in the Europa Conference League. Are there any other examples of a club losing two (or more) consecutive competitive games on penalties?” asks James Fenton.
“Jude (for Real Madrid) and Jobe Bellingham (for Sunderland) both scored two goals on Saturday for different teams. Have any other siblings achieved this feat?” wonders Jack Leveson.
“England beat a team from every continent on their run to the Women’s World Cup final (although only five out of six confederations),” notes Phil Jolly. “Is this a unique achievement?”
Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU.
