The patrons at the Star & Dragon Pub in Carbondale are curious to know which team, who were once European champions, were the fastest to be relegated. They also wonder if there have been any players who experienced both European glory and relegation with the same club without playing for another team in between.
There is a clear and somewhat disheartening explanation to inquiries like this: teams who were demoted due to their deceitful actions. Paul Brack notes, “In 1993, Marseille won the Champions League but were later relegated for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal in 1994.” Despite relegation, only one player from the starting lineup in the 1993 final, Fabién Barthez, remained with the team for one season in Ligue 2 before joining Monaco in 1995. Another player, midfielder Jean-Philippe Durand, also participated in the final as a substitute and stayed with the club until his retirement in 1997.
Out of the 13 players who participated in the 1993 final, nine remained on the team when they were demoted. The remaining players, Rudi Völler, Basile Boli, Jocelyn Angloma, Éric Di Meco, Jean-Jacques Eydelie, Jean-Christophe Thomas, and Didier Deschamps, all departed from the club in the summer of 1994.
Nigel Spink, serving as a backup goalkeeper, played a key role in Aston Villa’s victory over Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final, earning him the title of man of the match. This was his only appearance for the first team that season. However, the club’s fortunes quickly declined, as evidenced by their relegation in the 1986-87 season, during which Spink made 32 appearances. Other players from the 1982 final, including Allan Evans, Gary Shaw, and Gary Williams, were also part of the team that suffered relegation, with the exception of Shaw who only managed one league appearance due to injuries.
Each of the four contributed to Villa’s promotion on their first try, but only Spink and Evans were consistent players.
Carl O’Reilly and Dirk Maas, along with their fellow European champions, have collectively uncovered the trapdoor.
Manchester United won the title in 1968 but were demoted in 1974, only six seasons later.
Alex Stepney and Brian Kidd, who were both part of the final team, were demoted. While Stepney remained with United, Kidd left to join Arsenal. In 1973-74, George Best played for United, but had already departed from the club before they were relegated.
Juventus, winners in 1996, faced relegation in 2006 after 10 seasons due to the Calciopoli scandal.
In 1996, both Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluca Pessotto began their careers, but unfortunately, they were both eventually demoted after 10 years. Del Piero played in the Serie B league while Pessotto retired from playing and later became a sporting director before having a tragic incident where he attempted to end his own life.
Nottingham Forest, winners of the championship in 1980, were demoted in 1993 after 13 seasons.
In 1969, Milan were champions but were later relegated in 1982 due to the Totonero scandal, after a span of 13 seasons.
Hamburg was champions in 1983 but unfortunately got relegated in 2018 after 35 seasons.
Doubling down
Crispin Leyser ponders, “Has it ever occurred that Burnley and Sheffield United, with only 13 points apiece, would not have enough points together to avoid relegation?”
For this question we’re ignoring the wrong’uns, because they skew the points totals and it’s just not that interesting. We want teams who were crap on merit! And the ever-reliable Chris Roe has dug up a 21st-century example. “In the 2002-03 Premier League season, a combined West Brom-Sunderland team would have got 45 points and been relegated on goal difference by Aston Villa.”
Challenges:
Low points, elevated hopes
“Chris Matterface ponders whether Gillingham’s promotion chances are hindered by their status as the lowest-scoring team in League Two with only 32 goals scored in 34 games.”
In addition to being promoted, they also emerged victorious (AIK in Sweden, 1998, and Aduana Stars in Ghana, 2010). However, in terms of England, Chris Roe has the details: “The team with the lowest goal count in a division has reached sixth place, as seen with Lincoln City in League Two during the 2002-03 season when they scored 46 goals.”
This averages out to one goal per game, making the Imps the team with the best defensive record in the league, having only allowed 37 goals. However, despite scoring two goals, they ultimately lost the playoff final to Bournemouth, who scored five goals in Cardiff.
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Corrections corner
Last week, we explored full-backs who were skilled at scoring goals. We overlooked Raymond Stewart, the reliable right-back for West Ham, who successfully scored 84 times for the team, with 76 of those being penalty kicks. This accomplishment earns him a spot on our list of full-backs with the highest number of goals for a single club.
James Tavernier, number 121, has been playing for Rangers since 2015.
105 Nelinho (Cruzeiro, 1973-82)
Manny Kaltz, who played for Hamburg from 1971 to 1989, wore the number 101.
The player 88 Stuart Pearce was a member of Nottingham Forest from 1985 to 1997.
The person of Ray Stewart with the team West Ham United during the years 1979 to 1991, was 84.
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Last week, we did not fulfill our responsibilities adequately and overlooked the fact that Jayden Danns wore the shirt number 76, which was not the highest in this year’s Carabao Cup final of 2024, let alone all domestic cup finals. We appreciate the 162 of you who brought to our attention that Conor Bradley wore 84 on his back and Jarell Quansah wore 78.
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Long-time leaders losing
Last season, a similar situation occurred when Arsenal was down 2-0 against Bournemouth, but managed to secure a victory with a last-minute goal from Reiss Nelson. St Mirren’s recent win is comparable to the 96-minute gap between the first and last goals in that game, although Arsenal’s Ben White scored in the 70th minute to level the playing field. Therefore, Aberdeen held the lead for approximately 94 minutes while Bournemouth only led for around 70 minutes.
One of the standout moments this season is from Spurs, who held the lead at Molineux for the majority of the game until conceding two goals in extra time to ultimately suffer a 2-1 defeat. Despite this, the time gap between their early lead and the late goals was 88 minutes, still six minutes less than the time Neil Warnock endured in Paisley, even counting the added injury time in the first half.
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Is there someone who can surpass that? Please email us or tweet at @TheKnowledge_GU.
Knowledge archive
In 2009, Kris Scrimgeour inquired about the largest number of attendees at a friendly match in Britain?
This statement is quite simple. The highest attendance for an international friendly was 125,683, which was seen at Hampden Park during a match between Scotland and France. The game took place on April 27, 1949 and the home team won 2-0. This information was given by Sean DeLoughry, who also holds the record for the highest attendance at a club friendly match, which was 104,493 for Rangers’ 1-2 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden in October 1961.
Chelsea’s 3-3 draw against Dynamo Moscow in 1945 was a notable event. The recorded attendance for the match was 85,000, but witnesses claimed it was closer to 100,000. According to Damon Maddison, the crowd was overflowing from the terraces and some even climbed onto the dog track and stands to watch. The largest turnout for the tour, however, was at Ibrox, where 92,000 people witnessed Dynamo’s draw against Rangers.
Can you help?
“Kevin Bartlow received an email from a friend mentioning a Cup match in the mid-90s where Sheffield Wednesday lost to Wolves after initially leading 3-0 in a penalty shootout. Can you provide an instance where a team was ahead 4-0 in a shootout but ended up losing?”
Jasa Lorencic notes that in Slovenia’s top division there are currently ten teams, with only two (Maribor and Celje) having never been relegated. They wonder if this is the fewest number of teams in a top tier league or the smallest percentage.
Last week, during the Women’s Nations League, there were two matches that ended with the same score in both legs – Belgium 5-1 Hungary and Sweden 5-0 Bosnia. Jon Taylor poses the question, “What is the highest score to have been repeated in both legs of the same match?”
“Peter Clarke inquired if there have been any instances of a player refusing to participate in the second half. If this has occurred, what actions were taken by the club?”
Source: theguardian.com
