Portal:English football/Did you know

...that English lower-league football team Bristol Rovers (1904 side pictured) once beat the Netherlands national football team 3-2?

...that the first professional football team, The Zulus, was established in Sheffield, England in 1879?

...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 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?

...that Bradford City Football Club blamed their FA Cup exit in the 1919–20 season on a pre-game trip to Fry's chocolate works?

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With pictures (14)

Portal:English football/Did you know/1

...that although Archibald Leitch (Craven Cottage pictured) 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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/2

...that Billy Mercer (pictured) became caretaker assistant manager of Sheffield Wednesday in October 2006, having previously played for rivals Sheffield United?

Portal:English football/Did you know/3

...that footballer Francis Lee (pictured) earned his nickname Lee One Pen by setting an English record for the most penalties scored in a single season?

Portal:English football/Did you know/4

...that football referees in England (Howard Webb pictured) officiate at eleven different levels according to ability, activity and age?

Portal:English football/Did you know/5

...that English lower-league football team Bristol Rovers (1904 side pictured) once beat the Netherlands national football team 3-2?

Portal:English football/Did you know/6

...that Ray Wilson, who was the eldest member of England's victorious 1966 World Cup team (statue pictured), became an undertaker after he retired from football?

Portal:English football/Did you know/7

...that Stoke City F.C. (1870s squad pictured) is the second-oldest English football league club, as it was founded in 1863?

Portal:English football/Did you know/8

...that despite being organised on St. Andrew's Day, the first official international football match (comic pictured) did not result in a home win?

Portal:English football/Did you know/9

...that Mick Mills (pictured) was made captain of the England national football team which started the 1982 World Cup because Kevin Keegan was unable to play through injury?

Portal:English football/Did you know/10

...that a steam-powered portable engine (pictured) drove the dynamo for the first floodlit football match in the UK in 1878?

Portal:English football/Did you know/11

...that the rivalry between Leeds United ("rose" pictured) and Manchester United football clubs has its roots in the 15th century English civil war, the Wars of the Roses?

Portal:English football/Did you know/12

...that former England under-21 goalkeeper Lee Grant (pictured) has been described by Owls manager Brian Laws as "probably the most outstanding keeper" in the Championship?

Portal:English football/Did you know/13

...that the England national football team has only had fifteen managers (Glenn Hoddle pictured) since the position was made a full-time post in 1946?

Portal:English football/Did you know/14

...that former Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday footballer Brian Hornsby trekked to Machu Picchu (pictured) with musician Tony Hadley in aid of Action Medical Research?

Without Pictures

Portal:English football/Did you know/15

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/16

...that in 1930, the footballer Gerrit Keizer played for both Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam simultaneously, flying between England and the Netherlands to play in matches?

Portal:English football/Did you know/17

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/18

...that the former English football player Eric Brook was the all-time record goalscorer for Manchester City F.C. with 178 goals until his tally was surpassed by Sergio Agüero in 2017?

Portal:English football/Did you know/19

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/20

...that the first professional football team, The Zulus, was established in Sheffield, England in 1879?

Portal:English football/Did you know/21

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/22

...that Paul Reaney was briefly a car mechanic before signing with Leeds United?

Portal:English football/Did you know/23

...that Nat Lofthouse was the England football team's highest goalscorer of all-time for eight years?

Portal:English football/Did you know/24

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/25

...that Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick in the 1953 FA Cup Final at Wembley, becoming the first player ever to do so?

Portal:English football/Did you know/26

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/27

...that Les Taylor only captained Watford in the 1984 FA Cup Final because regular captain Wilf Rostron was suspended?

Portal:English football/Did you know/28

...that Peter Knowles, a popular English football player, voluntarily ended his football career at the age of 24, after becoming a Jehovah's Witness?

Portal:English football/Did you know/29

...that England football captain Eddie Hapgood was forced by diplomats to give a Nazi salute before a match with Germany in 1938?

Portal:English football/Did you know/30

...that Jacqui Oatley is the first female football commentator in the history of BBC football programme Match of the Day?

Portal:English football/Did you know/31

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/32

..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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/33

...that footballer David Weir scored Manchester City's first ever FA Cup goal?

Portal:English football/Did you know/34

...that footballer George Wynn was Manchester City's leading goalscorer in three consecutive seasons?

Portal:English football/Did you know/35

...that the England football squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico contained two players called Gary Stevens?

Portal:English football/Did you know/36

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/37

...that Tommy Sale scored 282 goals during 14 years at the English Football club Stoke City F.C.?

Portal:English football/Did you know/38

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/39

...that Alex Leake was offered a £10 bribe by Manchester City player Billy Meredith to throw the final match of the 1904–1905 season?

Portal:English football/Did you know/40

...that the England national football team trained on the football pitch of the Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College, as it is the only one identical to the one in Russia on which they played in October 2007?

Portal:English football/Did you know/41

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/42

...that Harry Newbould was the first-ever manager of Derby County F.C.?

Portal:English football/Did you know/43

...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.?

Portal:English football/Did you know/44

...that Wilf Wild was the first Manchester City manager to win the League Championship?

Portal:English football/Did you know/45

...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"?

Portal:English football/Did you know/46

...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"?

Portal:English football/Did you know/47

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/48

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/49

...that footballer Roy Cheetham was the first Manchester City player to be used as a substitute?

Portal:English football/Did you know/50

...that former England footballer Mick Channon is now a successful horse trainer?

Portal:English football/Did you know/51

...that Tommy Johnson holds the record for the most goals scored by a Manchester City player in a single season?

Portal:English football/Did you know/52

...that footballer Billy Mosforth was a leading exponent of the screw shot, which allows players to bend the ball's trajectory?

Portal:English football/Did you know/53

...that the Gay Football Supporters Network recently voted Steven Gerrard top of their annual "Lust List" for the second year running?

Portal:English football/Did you know/54

...that 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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/55

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/56

...that 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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/57

...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.

Portal:English football/Did you know/58

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/59

...that the Premier League's proposal to play some matches outside England has been condemned by the Football Supporters' Federation as "outrageous desecration of the national game"?

Portal:English football/Did you know/60

...that 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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/61

...that Bradford City Football Club blamed their FA Cup exit in the 1919–20 season on a pre-game trip to Fry's chocolate works?

Portal:English football/Did you know/62

...that Leyton F.C. had to win a High Court action in order to call itself the oldest football club in London?

Portal:English football/Did you know/63

...that the 1976 Football League Cup win made Tony Book the first to so as both a player and manager?

Portal:English football/Did you know/64

...that Stockport County physio Rodger Wylde formed a rock group with player Tom Bennett whilst treating his broken leg?

Portal:English football/Did you know/65

...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?

Portal:English football/Did you know/66

...that former football player and manager Alan Brown quit Huddersfield Town and became a policeman for two and a half years before rejoining the club?

Portal:English football/Did you know/67

...that Scottish footballer Kevin Bremner scored for five different teams in the Football League during the 1982–83 season?

Portal:English football/Did you know/68

...that after retiring, former Premier League footballer Adrian Whitbread worked in four different clubs as assistant coach for Martin Allen?

Portal:English football/Did you know/69

...that in an attempt to "beef him up", Watford manager Graham Taylor placed a then 17-year-old Nigel Gibbs on a steak and Guinness diet?

Portal:English football/Did you know/70 Portal:English football/Did you know/70

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