WHEN DID FOOTBALL VIOLENCE START?

"What is the first recorded incident of football violence or hooliganism?" asks Sanjeev Mehra.

Football and violence go way back - at least seven centuries back, in fact. In 1314, for instance, Edward II banned football - at that stage a nasty free-for-all involving rival villages fly-hacking a pig's bladder across the local heath - because he believed the disorder surrounding matches might lead to social unrest or possibly even treason.

If you're talking about the modern game, then look no further than the 1880s and, in particular, Preston North End. In 1885, Preston's 5-0 friendly win over Aston Villa sent the supporters - who were described by press reports of the time as "howling roughs" - into a frenzy. The two teams were pelted with stones, attacked with sticks, punched, kicked and covered in spittle. One of the Preston players was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness.

The following year Preston fans notched up another first - fighting Queens Park fans in a railway station. Another milestone of sorts was reached in 1905 when several Preston supporters were tried for hooliganism, including a "drunk and disorderly" 70-year-old woman, following their match against Blackburn.

In the inter-war years there was a break applied to such incidents, but in the 1950s - along with the Mods and the Rockers and Elvis - came a second wave of hooliganism. In the 1955-56 season, Liverpool and Everton fans were involved in several train-wrecking incidents and by the 1960s an average of 25 hooligan incidents a year were being reported - and hooliganism as we know it had been born.

For more information see the Social Issue Research Centre at Oxford website

FOOTBALL PUZZLE #1

"Which player has scored at Wembley three times in one season for three different teams, but all against the same goalkeeper?" asks John Edwards.

Several of you think that the answer is Dennis Law, the goalkeeper is Gordon Banks, and the year is 1963.

"On April 6, Law struck for Scotland in a 2-1 win over England," explains Gelekidis Stelios, "and the following month he was in inspirational form for Manchester United as they beat Leicester City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final.

"Finally, on October 23, he was on target again for the Rest of the World against England in a game celebrating the centenary of the Football Association."

However Pete Tomlin points out that "both of Scotland's goals in the 2-1 win over England were scored by Jim Baxter."

"I think the question is incorrect," he adds. "I have heard it before but when I was asked, it was not by one player in the same season. As far as I'm aware, no-one has managed that"

Anyone know different?

WELL-TRAVELLED PLAYERS



"We're struggling to name over 10 players who've played in the Premiership, La Liga and Serie A", says Jonnie Cahill. "Can anyone help?"

They certainly can Jonnie, and our mail bag is bulging following your tricky teaser. Lots of you could list 10, with Adam Wallace doing the best of all with 13. Incidentally, 16 names were put forward in total.

The consistently-agreed-on-10 are:

Winston Bogarde (AC Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea),

Paulo Futre (Athletico Madrid, West Ham, AC Milan),

Christian Karembeu (Sampdoria, Real Madrid, Middlesborough)

Darko Kovacevic (Sheffield Wednesday, Real Sociedad, Juventus)

Savo Milosevic (Aston Villa, Real Sociedad, Juventus),

Christian Panucci (AC Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea)

Florin Raducioiu (Espanyol, West Ham, AC Milan),

Mario Stanic (Chelsea, Sporting Gijon and Parma), Nelson Vivas (Arsenal, Celta Vigo and Inter),

and Laurent Blanc (Manchester Utd, Barcelona and Inter).

Joel Davidson (amongst many others) adds Didier Deschamps (Chelsea, Juventus, Valencia), Abel Xavier (Everton, Oviedo, Bari), Finidi George (Real Betis, Ipswich, AC Milan) and Stefan Schwartz (Valencia, Fiorentina and Arsenal/Sunderland).

Meanwhile Adam Wallace remembers Nicola Berti (Spurs, Alaves, Inter/Parma/Fiorentina), John Aloisi (Coventry, Osasuna, Cremonese) and Giga Popescu (Spurs, Barcelona and Lecce)

The most well-travelled of our select band are Xavier and Raducioiu, who also played in the Dutch and Portugese leagues and French and German leagues respectively. Are there any more intrepid travellers out there?

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE PLUG

"Can anyone please tell me the last player to join Manchester United from Liverpool and the last to join Liverpool from Manchester United," writes Christopher O'Donnell.

You'll find the answer to this question, along with why Patrick Vieira puts gunk on his shirt as well as several hundred others by going to the Knowledge Archive

FOOTBALL RIDDLE #2



"Which footballer has played in the Premier League, managed in the Premier League, played for England and played against England?" asks Barnaby Smith.

It seems that only the Knowledge and Barnaby himself were clueless about this question, as hundreds of you wrote in with the answer - ex-Everton stalwart Dave Watson.

Watson played twelve times for England between 1984 and 1988. He also played against his country for a Singapore select XI, around the time of the Dentist's Chair incident just before Euro 96.

As well as playing for Everton in the Premier League, Watson also managed them for a couple of months in a caretaker capacity back in the spring of 1997, between the sacking of Joe Royle and the appointment of Walter Smith.

Can you help?



"While perusing the league tables, I noticed that Norwich are fourth in the First Division, yet have a negative goal difference," says Stephen Wilcox. "This made me wonder, what is the highest final position of a team with a negative goal difference?"

"Can you tell me why the 'nutmeg' is so called, and how long this term has been in use?" asks David Birrell. "I refuse to believe my girlfriend's suggestion that it comes from an abbreviation of a hapless defender's cry: "Not my legs!" he adds.

"Aston Villa and West Ham have just played out their seventh consecutive league draw; is this a record?" asks Mad Cyril. "Also, a fair few of them were scoreless, so what's the most consecutive scoreless draws played between two teams in the league?"

"After four games, Sheffield United stood at P4, W0, D4, L0, F4, A4, P4. My question is: what's the most symmetric finish ever?" asks John Smith.

"Coventry City have scored 29 successful penalties since their last miss in 1995 at Blackburn when Peter Ndlovu was the culprit," writes Jim Brown. "Is this a record for British football?"

Send your questions to the.boss@theguardian.com and we'll do our best to help.

Knowledge archive