Robbie Paterson inquires about Horst Blankenburg, a player who achieved three European Cup victories with Ajax but was never selected to play for his country, West Germany. He wants to know if there are any other players who have not received a cap but have won equal or more European Cup/Champions League medals.
Unfortunately, Horst Blankenburg held the role of sweeper during Franz Beckenbauer’s reign as the top figure in global football. The only known instance of a team playing with two sweepers was Steve Coppell’s Crystal Palace against Nottingham Forest in the 1990-91 season. Blankenburg and Beckenbauer only played together once, during the Common Market Match of 1973, which commemorated the UK’s joining of the European Economic Community.
Unfortunately, Blankenburg’s opportunity to play with Beckenbauer for the national team was ruined when West Germany’s coach Helmut Schön made disparaging remarks about him a few months later. In response, Blankenburg boldly stated, “Schön can kiss my behind!”
During the years 1971-1973, Ajax achieved three consecutive European Cup victories. Out of all the regular outfield players, Blankenburg was the only one who did not receive a national team cap. The goalkeeper, Heinz Stuy, was also not capped.
Blankenburg and Stuy were both present in all three finals, making them part of a highly exclusive group. For this inquiry, we have also included individuals who contributed to three victorious endeavors, even if they did not physically compete in the final match.
Most of the answers to this question were given during a time when the Champions League did not exist and there were fewer international games. During this time, teams were more likely to win multiple European Cups in consecutive seasons. At Real Madrid, Ángel Atienza and José Becerril achieved this feat between 1956 and 1958, although Becerril did not play in any of the finals. Similarly, Bernd Dürnberger and Rainer Zobel did the same at Bayern Munich in the mid-1970s. Liverpool’s first three European Cups were won over a span of five years, with uncapped players Jimmy Case and David Fairclough contributing each time.
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Filippo Galli, a defender for Milan, is the sole uncapped player to achieve three European Cup victories, with at least one of them occurring during the Champions League era. Despite facing competition from notable players such as Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, and Paolo Maldini, Galli proved to be a dependable backup for both his club and country.
In the 1989 and 1990 finals, he was brought in as a substitute, and in the 1994 final against Barcelona, he started in place of Baresi and Costacurta. Despite expectations from Europe and Johan Cruyff, who believed that Romário and Hristo Stoichkov would overpower Milan’s weakened defense, this did not happen.
Below is the complete list of players without a cap who have won three European Cup titles. Those listed in uppercase letters were present in all three finals.
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Ángel Atienza Real Madrid (1956–58)
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José Becerril Real Madrid (1956–58)
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HORST BLANKENBURG Ajax (1971–73)
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HEINZ STUY Ajax (1971–73)
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Bernd Dürnberger played for Bayern Munich from 1974 to 1976.
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From 1974 to 1976, Rainer Zobel played for Bayern Munich.
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JIMMY CASE Liverpool (1977, 1978, 1981)
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David Fairclough Liverpool (1977, 1978, 1981)
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FILIPPO GALLI Milan (1989, 1990, 1994)
I am grateful to all those who provided their answers for this question. To clarify, we believe that no player without a salary cap has won more than one Champions League title during the current era. Milan’s goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi participated in three back-to-back finals from 1993-1995, ultimately winning only one in 1994.
For club & country
Paul Quinn reports that Dion Pereira, an Antigua & Barbuda international, has been temporarily transferred from Luton to Dagenham & Redbridge. He wonders if there are other players who have simultaneously represented a club and a country with “and” in their name.
Thomas Biltcliffe has put in the effort for this question. “I was able to find a few examples,” he states. “Myles Weston played for Antigua & Barbuda seven times while at Dagenham & Redbridge. Chris Birchall, who used to play for Brighton & Hove Albion, also represented Trinidad & Tobago while on the south coast. The most unusual answer I found was Raheem Hanley, who plays for St Kitts & Nevis at the international level. He played for West Didsbury & Chorlton, a team in the North West Counties Premier Division (tier nine), in August 2023. Lastly, Sejad Salihovic played for Bosnia & Herzogovina while with TSG Hoffenheim. It may be tedious, but the TSG prefix stands for Turn und Sportgemeinschaft (literally: gymnastics and sport community).” And, or rather &, Don Berno has an example from the 2003-04 season: “Rodney Jack also played for St Vincent & The Grenadines while under contract with Rushden & Diamonds.”
Heads up
Alan Whitehill tweets, “Every goal in the Liverpool versus Burnley match was scored with a header. I can’t remember a game with this many goals being headers. Does anyone have a game that can top this?”
“Indeed,” Jim Hearson replies, getting right to the point. “In a previous WSL match, Manchester City defeated Bristol City 5-0 without any physical contact involved in the goals.” All five goals were made in the first half, which could lead to some sort of “head first” joke that is probably not appropriate.
Five is satisfactory, six is superior. Peter Collins comments, “The solution was readily available to you in Andy Hamilton’s autobiography detailing his time as a Chelsea fan. He attended his first match, Chelsea 4-2 Newcastle in 1960, where all six goals were scored from headers.”
Knowledge archive
In April 2013, Robert Molloy-Vaughan wrote about the tradition at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill stadium where two terrace chants are sung in honor of Edgar Kail. Kail was the last non-league player to play for England and spent his entire career with Hamlet, his last game being in 1933, 80 years prior. Molloy-Vaughan pondered which other clubs could top this level of nostalgia and recognition for their former players through song.
There are some clubs that can boast about players who have been gone for even longer than the talented Edgar Kail. Matt Lewis pointed out that Derby County’s admiration for Steve Bloomer is hard to top. Bloomer played for the Rams from 1892 to 1906, then went to Middlesbrough, and finally returned to Derby in 1910. He retired from football in 1914 and never played again.
“Having scored 332 times, he holds the record for most goals scored in Derby’s history and is second only to Jimmy Greaves in terms of goals scored in the top tier of English football. Despite his last international match being over 100 years ago, he remains tied for 10th place on England’s list of all-time top scorers with 28 goals in 23 games. The song “Steve Bloomer’s Watchin'” is a pre-game tradition at Pride Park.”
“In Scotland, those on the stands at Parkhead have a strong recollection. Mark Sheffield observed, “Celtic fans continue to sing The Ballad of Willie Maley,” which pays tribute to Maley’s time as a player for the club from 1888-1897 and later as manager until 1940. The song also mentions Jimmy McGrory, who also managed the club and retired as a player in 1937, and Charlie Tully, who played for the Hoops until 1959.”
Can you help?
Derek Robertson inquires if James Tavernier’s two goals in Rangers’ 3-0 victory against St Mirren brings his total for the club to 129, which may be a record for a full-back or defender solely in terms of goals scored for one club, rather than throughout his entire career.
“Steven Higgins wonders if there are any other leagues with a history of consecutive top-flight titles, as Manchester City aims to make history as the first English team to win four in a row.”
Matt Guthrie is curious about the current standings of Hibs and Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. After 25 games, both teams have a similar record of 6 wins, 9 draws, and 10 losses, with a total of 27 points. The question is, when in a season has this scenario occurred before?
“Albert Farkas wonders if any manager has ever left the game early to avoid traffic, after seeing Saudi Arabia’s Roberto Mancini disappear before South Korea’s deciding penalty in the Asian Cup.”
Source: theguardian.com
