Plus: have any Nobel Prize winners represented their countries on the pitch?; do Panathinaikos have secret Irish connections?; and Matt Jansen: record holder. Email your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk

"Do many players actually do their military service, in countries that have conscription, of course?" wonders Alex Kakafikas.

While the lack of conscription in Britain these days has saved the likes of Craig Bellamy and Joey Barton from some timely national service, many of the biggest names on the continent haven't been as lucky.

Take those in Serie A, for instance, as our intrepid correspondent James Richardson kindly explains. "Italian stars of a suitable age were indeed part of the 'leva', or conscription," says James. "I myself recall visiting the special Napoli barracks set up to house them and other athletes, and meeting Fabio Galante, Alex Del Piero, Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Delvecchio. I say 'house' but they actually spent comparatively little time there, club commitments calling them away for the majority of the week.

"As I understand it, conscription has now been phased out in Italy, but back in those days the Italian army even had its own football team, who never really won anything - in keeping with local military traditions, one might say. They did stop short of changing sides at half-time, mind."

South Korean footballers are also subject to 26 months of military service along with all able-bodied men under the age of 30. However, after their run to the World Cup semi-finals in 2002, the squad saw their conscription time slashed to just one month. Wolves midfielder Seol Ki-hyeon was among them, but he could have avoided this completely with the help of a tattoo parlour; South Korea's law rules that men with body art are unfit for the military because they cause "abomination among fellow soldiers".

Ronny Merhav notes that Israel's military service is also subject to special dispensation: "Young footballers who play for teams in Israel have a special status; they are described (like other athletes) as 'excelling sportsmen' and as such are allowed to pursue their career. It's not that they aren't drafted - they are - but the army lets them have the cushiest roles imaginable and their boot-camp is very easy as well.

"Obviously, there are many young footballers that don't qualify as an 'excelling sportsman'. Some of them give up their football aspirations, but others dodge the draft. However, those who dodge the draft can't make it on to the Israeli national team later on. For example, Maccabi Haifa's left-back Haim Migarashvilly would certainly get the call, but since he didn't do his military service he does not."

There have also been more high-profile national service escapees. Liverpool's strip-happy John Arne Riise was due to join the Norwegian army, before his agent Einar Baardsen clarified the situation. "As long as you are working or playing football abroad you are automatically excluded from any military service," said Baardsen. "I'm sure the military service would love to have him but it will take many years before they can get him. And if he stays outside the country until he is 28 he will never be drafted."

Shefki Kuqi also steered clear of a tour of duty back home in Finland by means of living abroad. "Fortunately my lawyer sorted it all out and I didn't have to go back - I got away with it because I've been living abroad," he said earlier this summer, after completing a switch to Blackburn. However, new Tottenham signing Teemu Tainio wasn't so lucky; he saw a move to Manchester United scuppered as a teenager when his father ordered him home from an Old Trafford trial to complete his military service. Parents, eh?

BOHR RESTRICTOR

"I seem to remember hearing Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr was capped for Denmark; is this true and have any other Nobel winners played for their countries?" queries Peter Burgess.

"Niels Bohr was indeed a keen football player and was the goalkeeper in the Danish team Akademisk Boldklub in the beginning of the 20th century," says Nicolaj Egerod. "But even though AB [as the club is commonly known] were, at the time, one of the best clubs in Denmark, he never made it to the national team. However, his brother Harald - a well-known scientist in his own right - who also played at AB, played for the Danish national team and was part of the team that won silver at the 1908 London Olympics."

Nils Refsdal suggests a possible reason why Niels never made it to the international stage: "According to AB, in a match against the German side Mittweida, one of the Germans launched a long shot and the physicist leaning against the post did not react, missing an easy save. After the game he admitted to his team-mates his thoughts had been on a mathematical problem that was of more interest to him than the game. He only played for the 1905 season."

Fellow Nobel winner, Albert Camus, was also a goalkeeper for the University of Algiers, but, contrary to popular belief, never represented Algeria after contracting tuberculosis in 1930 to put an end to his on-field career. At least he found the missing link between football and existentialism: "All I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football," he once said.

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE SPECIAL - DO PANATHINAIKOS HAVE SECRET IRISH CONNECTIONS?

"What is the origin of the shamrock on the Panathinaikos crest?" asked Diarmuid O'Brien in 2001. "Is there any overt Irish connection there, given their crest and green strip, or is it, as my mate claimed in the pub during one drunken Champions League viewing, that Greece is the only place outside Ireland where shamrock grows?"

Much as it pains us to say it - for we love a good yarn more than most - neither story is true.

In 1918 Panathinaikos chose the shamrock - or trifylli as it's known in Greece - as their emblem on the suggestion of Mihalis Papazoglou, an athlete from Constantinople who played for Chalkidona, a team which had the same symbol. The idea was accepted by Panathinaikos's council and confirmed as the team's official badge.

As for the colour of the kit, again there's no overtly Irish connection. Green being the colour of the trifylli no doubt had something to do with it, but the choice of kit seems to be partly a practical one too. Until green became the team's official colour, most players turned up and played in different coloured outfits.

MATT JANSEN: RECORD HOLDER?

"Has Matt Jansen scored in every domestic league and cup competition, and if so, is he the youngest to achieve this feat?" enquired Lorcan Connolly back in 2003.

Well, it very much depends on what you mean by "every" domestic league and cup competition, as Jansen has played twice in the LDV Vans Trophy without scoring. However, assuming it's the Premiership, the three different divisions of the Football League, the FA and League Cups you're talking about, then yes he has.

Born on October 20, 1977, Jansen scored his first senior goal for his home-town club Carlisle United as a fresh-faced 19-year-old in a third division fixture in March 1997.

His first League Cup and second division goals followed early the next season (August 1997), prompting a move to then top-flight strugglers Crystal Palace, where Jansen went on to notch up his first Premiership (March 1998) and first division (August 1998) goals.

He completed his impressive domestic set by bagging his first FA Cup goal for his current club Blackburn on January 31, 2000 at the ripe young age of 22 years and 103 days.

There are hundreds more questions and answers in the Knowledge archive, all of which can be accessed by clicking here.

Can you help?

"After Steve Claridge's stunningly-short stint in charge of Millwall, do you know of any other managers to lose their jobs without taking charge of a single competitive game?" queries Ken Power.

"Which English top-flight match holds the record for having the most footballers/coaches/managers who went on to become regular pundits/commentators on TV involved?" asks Patrick McGorman.

"In the first 100 years of their history, from 1888 to 1988, Celtic had only six managers (not including caretakers): Willie Maley, Jimmy McStay, Jimmy McGrory, Jock Stein, Billy McNeill (two spells) and David Hay - has any club had fewer than six managers during the first 100 years of their existence?" wonders Ciarán Carey.

Will Dyer says: "I have a vague memory of sleeping off my jet-lag shortly after arrival in Australia 1996, while watching the TV highlights of a game in which an Australian league team came back from 5-0 down to draw 5-5. Was it a dream, or did it really happen?"

And Dave Hollis wants to know: "Has anyone ever rivalled the great jug-eared Gary Lineker for receiving no bookings in their professional career?"

NEXT WEEK

Scrabble-related Premiership surname fun and much, much more.