Plus: Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro and a pitch for the ages; happy Hornets; and wedding venues where you can see the most grounds. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“Steve McClaren has been sacked by Derby for a second time,” notes Stuart Willsher. “Which manager has been sacked the most times by the same club?”

To no great surprise, a strong contender for the unofficial Guardian P45 Cup comes from Atlético Madrid in the Jesús Gil years. “I don’t think anybody can hold a candle to former Luton Town hero Radomir Antic,” writes Chai. “He has the unfortunate distinction of being sacked three times in two years (1998-2000) by Atlético Madrid’s trigger-happy president. After getting the sack at the end of the 1997-98 season, Antic was rehired just 11 league matches into the 1998-99 campaign. He was let go at the end of the season before returning again in February 2000. He lasted 10 weeks before being fired after the team were relegated.”

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Impressive as that is, it turns out somebody can hold a candle to Antic. “I’m not sure if it’s the most a manager has been sacked by the same club, but we should probably give a special note to Tsanko Tsvetanov, who was sacked three times by Bulgarian side FC Etar 1924 Veliko Tarnovo in the same season,” says Oliver Billeness. “After guiding them to promotion from the B Group in 2011-12, he was first sacked in August before a fan protest got him reinstated. He was fired again in September, but once again reinstated after a fan protest. The final nail went into the coffin in October following ‘a series of statements against [the owner] and actions that undermine the prestige of the club’.”

Other contenders include Jim Gannon (sacked twice by Stockport, currently in his third stint), Francesco Guidolin (sacked thrice by Palermo) and Emerich Jenei. “He has been coach of Steaua Bucharest six times,” says Eoin Byrne, “but it appears he left three times for new roles, rather than being dismissed, and I think he has only been sacked three times there.”

Not even Jenei can top Barry Fry and his relationship with Stan Flashman at Barnet. “Every Friday afternoon I used to go to Stan Flashman’s house for my wages, but he would only pay me if I told him the team and he agreed with it,” he told the Daily Mail in 2012. “If he disagreed, he wouldn’t pay me until after the game. If the team lost, he wouldn’t pay me at all! It sounds funny now, but it wasn’t. He must have sacked me 37 times.”

Pitch battle

“Digging through some old Copa Libertadores webpages, I came across the following in reference to a group match between Flamengo and Atlético Mineiro,” begins Iain Pearson. “‘Match awarded to Flamengo after 37 minutes because Atlético had six players left after five sendings-off. The game was 0–0 at the time of stoppage.’ Could anyone give us a taster of what happened?”

Ah, this is a doozy, Iain. It happened in 1981, at the Estádio Serra Dourada in Goiânia, in a one-off play-off between the two after they finished joint-top of Group 3. As Luke Dempsey details in his book, Club Soccer 101:

There was bad blood from the start: referee José Roberto Wright [also the bloke who booked Gazza at Italia 90 – Knowledge ed] remembers ‘uma atmosfera muito pesada’ (a very heavy atmosphere), though he undoubtedly contributed to the farce that was about to unfold. The first Atlético player to get a red card, after just 20 minutes, was Reinaldo after a fairly innocuous tackle on Zico; a few minutes later, Éder followed him down the tunnel, having accidentally bumped into the referee while rushing to take a free-kick. Éder quite understandably fell to his knees in horror at his red card; cue a pitch invasion by Atlético’s bench, and in the melee two more players were sent off, Palhinha and Chicão. Police now ringed the field. On 37 minutes, the fifth and last sending-off came for Atlético, this time defender Osmar Guarnelli. With only six players left on the Atlético team, Wright had no choice – the game was abandoned. The referee marched away, straight-backed and proud, and Flamengo were awarded the win.

You can watch how it all unfolded here, with the added benefit of one of the greatest pitches you’ll ever see. As Dempsey notes: “Perhaps all these histrionics were something to do with the crazy way that grass was cut that day, dark squares next to light squares, and inside each, alternating light circles and dark circles – it was enough to send anyone out of his mind.”

Flamengo would go on and win the title, eventually beating the Chilean side Cobreloa after a three-game final, the scores tied at 2-2 with no away goals after the second leg. Zico’s double in the neutral venue of Montevideo proved decisive.

Magpies stung

“The recent discussion about teams scoring an own goal without touching the ball brought back a memory that I need confirmation actually happened,” writes Barrie Voyce. “I’m sure in the late-80s I saw Watford’s Neil Redfearn score with the Hornets’ first touch of the game at Vicarage Road. I don’t recall the opponents but seem to remember they kicked off and somehow immediately conceded a free-kick just outside their own box. Redfearn stepped up and duly dispatched the ball into the top corner. Can anyone verify I actually witnessed this?”

Richard Scrimshaw has his hand up. “I can confirm the event,” he writes. “It was an FA Cup third-round replay against Newcastle United on 10 January 1989. They kicked off and passed back to Dave Beasant, who handled the ball outside his area (for reasons I can’t recall). Neil Redfearn did indeed put the free-kick into the top corner, but the game finished 2-2. After another replay (a second 0-0 draw at St James’s Park), Watford won the fourth match 1-0 thanks to a spectacular own goal by Glenn Roeder, who went on to manage both clubs. The first replay, including the free-kick but not its award, can be seen here.”

Knowledge archive

“My wedding is booked at the London Wetland Centre at the end of May, and all four of the Craven Cottage floodlights are clearly visible from the main ornithology viewing observatory, which is also the room where the ceremony will take place,” wrote Mark Haines in 2011. “In fact, that was a significant reason for choosing this location. Where else, other than in the stadium itself, is it possible to exchange wedding vows in full view of a ground?”

“I’d like to propose a church in Belgrade where my cousin was married several years ago,” suggested Ivan Grujin. “Though it doesn’t quite fulfil Mr Haines’ criteria of an unobstructed line of sight (mostly due to the Serbian Orthodox Churchs’ obstinate stance on transparent walls), it is located across the street from Partizan Stadium. I think it merits consideration since the wedding party and all the guests parked in the stadium parking lot, and since the North Stand is the first thing you see upon exiting the church.” It’s the blue-green building you can see close to the stadium here.

But the place to get married if the key aspect of your nuptials is not the correct shade of red for your napkins but the ability to see as many football grounds as possible, seems to be the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster. “I was married at the Ashton Memorial,” began Alan Lamb. “From there you can see Lancaster City’s Giant Axe. I’ve not been up to check, but I reckon you would also be able to see Morecambe’s Globe Arena and Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road. There’s also a fair chance of seeing the floodlights at Barrow’s Holker Street and Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium. With sufficiently powerful binoculars.”

Can you help?

“After taking over as caretaker manager, Craig Shakespeare led Leicester to victory over Liverpool on 27 February 2017,” begins Chai. “This was a whopping 3,787 days after he had led West Brom to victory over Crystal Palace on 17 October 2006. Is this the longest a manager has had to wait between two consecutive victories? Or to manage their next game?”

“With just a handful of games in charge, is Craig Shakespeare about to become the least experienced person to manage a side in the Champions League quarter-final?” muses Luke Jackson.

“What is the record percentage of managers to lose their jobs in a single division over one season?” asks Jake Lynch.

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“André Ayew made his Swansea debut against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 2015 and 12 months later he made his debut for West Ham against the same opponents in the same ground,” notes Aanu Adeoye. “Has any other player made more debuts against the same club?”

“What is the biggest points total ever amassed by a professional football team?” asks James Bucknall. “The English league record is 106 points held by Reading. According to Uefa, Barry Town have the top-flight record, amassing 105 and 104 points in consecutive seasons. Are there more successful teams outside the top flight, or can Reading claim a global record? With a season lasting 46 games, it seems possible!”

“Earlier this season, Bury achieved 12 consecutive League One defeats, and yet they are in serious danger of avoiding relegation,” writes an astounded Dale Pyatt. “What is the longest such sequence without the club involved being relegated?”



“While watching Bury v Bristol Rovers, Pirates player Stuart Sinclair was sent off for two yellow cards for diving,” reports Michael Woulfe. “I have never seen or heard this being done before and after a cursory bit of research can’t find any evidence for it. Am I being naive?”

“The Saturday before last, six of Leyton Orient’s starting players were younger in years than the numbers on their back (the only substitution was too, so seven of the 12 players who played),” writes Ken Shadlen. “That must be a record in senior football?”

