Portal talk:English football/Did you know

Possible additions
Here are the English football related DYK's from the collection at WikiProject Football/Did you know. Some may be more relevant than others, some may need updating, but there's enough here to be picky in selection.


 * ...that Leyton F.C. had to win a High Court action in order to call itself the oldest football club in London?
 * ...that soccer player Paul Reaney was briefly a car mechanic before signing with Leeds United?
 * ...that England football captain Eddie Hapgood was forced by diplomats to give a Nazi salute before a match with Germany in 1938?
 * ...that Nat Lofthouse was the England football team's highest goalscorer of all-time for eight years?
 * ...that Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick in the 1953 FA Cup Final at Wembley, becoming the first player ever to do so?
 * ...that Ray Wilson, who was the eldest member of England's victorious 1966 World Cup team, became an undertaker after he retired from football?
 * ...that the England football squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico contained two players called Gary Stevens?
 * ...that although England centre forward Geoff Hurst had scored a hat-trick and was therefore entitled to keep the match ball, it was German striker Helmut Haller who took it home after the 1966 World Cup final?
 * ...that Mick Mills was made captain of the England national football team which started the 1982 World Cup because Kevin Keegan was unable to play through injury?
 * ...that former England footballer Mick Channon is now a successful horse trainer?
 * ...that 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?
 * ...that Norwegian football commentator Bjørge Lillelien famously taunted Margaret Thatcher after Norway's victory over England in 1981?
 * ...that Chris Woods cost Queens Park Rangers 250,000 pounds from Nottingham Forest in 1979 even though he had never played a League game before his transfer?
 * ...that although Archibald Leitch was the foremost football stadium architect in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century, only two of his works have been listed for preservation?
 * ...that, before Wayne Rooney made his debut in February 2003, England's youngest ever football player was James F. M. Prinsep, who had held the record for more than 123 years?
 * ...that the first ever golden goal was scored in the Cromwell Cup final at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1868, giving Sheffield Wednesday a 1-0 victory?
 * ...that in 1930, the footballer Gerard Keizer played for both Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam simultaneously, flying between England and the Netherlands to play in matches?
 * ...that footballer Alan Taylor scored two goals in the quarter final, two goals in the semi final and two goals in the final of the 1975 FA Cup as his club West Ham United won the competition?
 * ...that the former English football player Eric Brook is the all-time record goalscorer for Manchester City F.C. with 178 goals?
 * ...that Garry Parker ran the full length of the pitch at Wembley Stadium to score a goal for Nottingham Forest in the final of the Simod Cup against Everton in 1989, which Forest won 4-3?
 * ...that the first professional football team, The Zulus, was established in Sheffield, England in 1879? (21 July 2006)
 * ...that the English footballer David Layne scored 58 goals in 81 games for Sheffield Wednesday F.C. before he was jailed for his involvement in the British betting scandal of 1964?
 * ...that the Gay Football Supporters Network voted Steven Gerrard top of their annual "Lust List" for two years in a row?
 * ...that Charlie Williams, one of the first black football players in Britain after the Second World War and later Britain's first well-known black comedian, responded to heckling by saying: "If you don't shut up, I'll come and move in next door to you"?
 * ...that Sheffield Wednesday Ladies F.C. were formed at the Star Inn public house in Rotherham in 1971 following a charity match between men and women at the pub?
 * ... that English lower-league football team Bristol Rovers once beat the Netherlands national football team 3-2?
 * ...that West Ham Stadium in London holds the record for the lowest ever attendance of a football match in The Football League, despite its capacity of 120,000?
 * ...that the cope given to the Rt. Revd. David Urquhart upon his inauguration as the ninth Bishop of Birmingham in November 2006 featured the emblems of Aston Villa and Birmingham City, the two most prominent football teams of the city?
 * ...that Les Taylor only captained Watford in the 1984 FA Cup final because regular captain Wilf Rostron was suspended?
 * ...that Harry Kent worked both as a manufacturer of munitions and as a pub landlord whilst managing Watford F.C.?
 * ...that Peter Knowles, a popular English football player,  voluntarily ended his football career at the age of 24, after becoming a Jehovah's Witness?
 * ...that footballer Francis Lee earned his nickname Lee One Pen by setting an English record for the most penalties scored in a single season?
 * ...that Jacqui Oatley was the first female football commentator in the history of BBC football programme Match of the Day?
 * ...that English cricketer and footballer Arthur Milton was the last surviving person to have played Test cricket for the England cricket team and international football for the England football team?
 * ..that in 2003, aged 70, former English Football League and international soccer referee Pat Partridge took over as linesman in a non-league match he was watching, after the original linesman took over from the injured referee?
 * ...that footballer David Weir scored Manchester City's first ever FA Cup goal?
 * ...that the 1902 British Home Championship football tournament was won by Scotland in a replay after the deciding match was marred by the deaths of 25 spectators when a stand collapsed at Ibrox Park?
 * ...that footballer George Wynn was Manchester City's leading goalscorer in three consecutive seasons?
 * ...that Stoke City F.C. is the second-oldest English football league club, as it was founded in 1863?
 * ...that Eddy Brown, an English football player who had originally planned to take Holy Orders, was well known for his goal celebrations as early as the 1950s?
 * ...that the famous black-and-white striped shirts of Italian football club Juventus were based on the kit of English Notts County, replacing the club's initial pink and black colours in 1903?
 * ...that Tommy Sale scored 282 goals during 14 years at the English Football club Stoke City F.C.?
 * ...that Bob McGrory managed the English football team Stoke City for a period of 17 years, having previously played for the club for 14 years?
 * ...that Alex Leake was offered a £10 bribe by Manchester City player Billy Meredith to throw the final match of the 1904–1905 season?
 * ...that the England national football team trained on the football pitch of the Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College, as it was the only one identical to one in Russia on which they played in October 2007?
 * ...that despite being organised on St. Andrew's Day, the first official international football match did not result in a home win?
 * ...that Harry Newbould was the first-ever manager of Derby County F.C.?
 * ...that Sam Ormerod was the first manager to gain promotion to the First Division, the highest level of English football, with Manchester City F.C.?
 * ...that Wilf Wild was the first Manchester City manager to win the League Championship?
 * ...that English football referee Matt Messias once urged a Portsmouth defender not to kick an opposing player during a match against Newcastle United because "the devil was trying to get him sent off"?
 * ...that football referees in England officiate at eleven different levels according to ability, activity and age?
 * ...that former Hampshire wicketkeeper Adi Aymes went on to manage football club Fleet Town F.C., and is the current fitness coach of Havant and Waterlooville?
 * ...that English football referee Gary Willard once had to be given a police safety escort off the pitch after sending off three home team players in a single game?
 * ...that footballer Roy Cheetham was the first Manchester City player to be used as a substitute?
 * ...that a steam-powered portable engine drove the dynamo for the first floodlit football match in the UK in 1878?
 * ...that Tommy Johnson holds the record for the most goals scored by a Manchester City player in a single season?
 * ...that the first player to score a hat-trick during the final of a World Cup was Geoff Hurst in England's 4-2 win against Germany in the 1966 World Cup? Two of his goals scored within 120 minutes are controversial, though.
 * ...the first ever football tournament was the Youdan Cup in 1867. The final took place at Bramall Lane and was won by Hallam F.C..