Who holds the record for the longest cup run ever?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/21/who-holds-the-record-for-the-longest-cup-run-ever

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“Which team has successfully negotiated the most number of rounds on a single run in the FA Cup, or any cup competition,” wonders Chris Lloyd.

In 2007-08, Chasetown FC’s victory over Padby Town in the preliminary round was the start of an astonishing run. Rocester were beaten in the first qualifying round, then Cambridge City (via a replay) in the second. Rainworth Miners Welfare and Nuneaton Borough also went under the wheels of the Chasetown juggernaut and the team from the Southern League Division One (Midlands) had reached the first round proper. Team Bath were beaten 2-0 then Port Vale stunned in a replay and it was Cardiff City who finally brought the Scholars’ run to an end with a 3-1 third-round victory. All in all it was an eight-round (and nine-match) run and Chasetown remain the lowest ranked team ever to reach the third round.

The record for the most number of games played in a single FA Cup competition, however, belongs to Bideford, although they only actually played in five rounds in the 1973-74 edition. Their run from the first qualifying round to the first round proper took in three replays against Trowbridge Town and four replays against Falmouth so in all they played 13 games in the competition despite reaching only round one.

The true marathon men of knockout competition, though, are the Bordeaux side of 1995-96. A Girondins team featuring Zinedine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu, and Christophe Dugarry had a 20-game European campaign. Here’s their run in full:

Bordeaux 6-2 Norrkoping (Intertoto Cup group stage)

Bohemian 0-2 Bordeaux (Intertoto Cup group stage)

Bordeaux 4-0 Odense (Intertoto Cup group stage)

HJK Helsinki 1-1 Bordeaux (Intertoto Cup group stage)

Bordeaux 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt (Intertoto Cup round of 16)

Bordeaux 2-0 Heerenveen (Intertoto Cup quarter-finals)

Karlsruhe 0-2 Bordeaux (Intertoto Cup semi-final, first leg)

Bordeaux 2-2 Karlsruhe (Intertoto Cup semi-final, second leg)

Vardar 0-2 Bordeaux (Uefa Cup first round, first leg)

Bordeaux 1-1 Vardar (Uefa Cup first round, second leg)

Bordeaux 2-1 Rotor Volgograd (Uefa Cup second round, first leg)

Rotor Volgograd 0-1 Bordeaux (Uefa Cup second round, second leg)

Bordeaux 2-0 Real Betis (Uefa Cup third round, first leg)

Real Betis 2-1 Bordeaux (Uefa Cup third round, second leg)

Milan 2-0 Bordeaux (Uefa Cup quarter-final, first leg)

Bordeaux 3-0 Milan (Uefa Cup quarter-final, second leg)

Slavia Prague 0-1 Bordeaux (Uefa Cup semi-final, first leg)

Bordeaux 1-0 Slavia Prague (Uefa Cup semi-final, second leg)

Bayern Munich 2-0 Bordeaux (Uefa Cup final, first leg)

Bordeaux 1-3 Bayern Munich (Uefa Cup final, second leg)

OFF, ON, OFF, ON, OFF ON

“Recently, Burnley made all three substitutions against Newcastle in the first 37 minutes,” observes Peter Goldstein. “What’s the record for the earliest three substitutions?”

Here’s Bevan Lal: “The Football League have protected the integrity and quality (ahem) of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy with rules designed to stop sides fielding the Under-13s. At the time that Gary Megson’s Sheffield Wednesday were drawn away to Bradford in the 2011-12 season each manager had to put out six first-team regulars (who had either started the previous game or a percentage of games across the season).

“Megson had no time for that, in a season he knew had to end in promotion for the club or the sack for him. (Happily for football, it turned out we got both – a Megson-less Wednesday surging past a Ched Evans-less Sheffield United in the last week of the season after Megson had been left in post as a dead man walking for a crucial derby game. He won it, and was sacked by ruthless chairman Milan Mandaric in the following days.)

“Anyway, in the JPT in August, Megson named the requisite number of first-teamers along with a couple of players who were making their only ever professional appearance. Then came the jiggery pokery. After a minute, Nicky Weaver was subbed from the Wednesday goal and replaced with the young back-up Richard O’Donnell. Then, after 18 minutes, the centre-midfield pairing of David Prutton and Jose Semedo were hooked and Giles Coke and another young player who has since drifted out of the game, Cecil Nyoni, were sent on instead. Wednesday somehow failed to concede a goal and the game went to penalties. Megson was seen laughing as three of four spot-kicks were missed, sending Bradford through.”

RECORD BREAKING BENCH WARMERS

“Who holds the record for the most unused substitute appearances in the Premier League?” tweets John Briggs.

“I saw John Briggs question and one position sprung to mind: goalkeeper,” begins Jozef Brodala. “Second-choice keepers are usually unused so I thought it must be a goalkeeper. Having established that there was surely only one man, everyone’s favourite second keeper: Steve Harper. He spent 20 years at Newcastle and was nearly always second choice, he made only 112 Premier League appearances out of a possible 684 (he spent some time out on loan.)

“Having dug around, I found stats for Harper from 2001 onwards which shows him as an unused sub an amazing 367 times in the Premier League for Hull and Newcastle. Considering that is since 2001 and he has been on Newcastle’s books since 1992 I cannot see anyone beating that.”

Any more for any more? Send your thoughts to the usual address: knowledge@theguardian.com

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

“Is it true that Falkirk (or another Scottish side) were once shipwrecked on the way to a game?” wondered Dan Palmer back in 2012.

It is indeed, Dan, but the side who took a dip in the briny deep came from further down the Firth of Forth. Kirkcaldy’s Raith Rovers can justifiably claim to be pioneers of the Scottish game – they had enjoyed a successful trip to Copenhagen in the summer of 1922 and fancied repeating the trick at the end of the following season, but this time taking in the sunnier climes of the Canary Islands. So in the summer of 1923 they boarded the Highland Loch, which was calling in at the Canaries en route to Buenos Aires with its cargo of passengers and, apparently, chilled meat.

The Stark’s Park party had reached northern Spain and were off the coast of Galicia, negotiating Cape Finisterre, in violent weather when the ship ran aground. The players and other passengers were roused from their beds, lifeboats were manned and the group was towed to the village of Vilagarcía by local fishermen.

The following day a passing liner bound for the Canaries picked up the 20-strong Rovers squad and were, according to Rovers player Tom Jennings, invited to eat at the captain’s table because of their chivalrous behaviour during the rain-swept abandoning of the Highland Loch. A few days later they were safely deposited at their destination – and the traumatic journey did not seem to adversely effect the players. They won all four games on the tour, although history does not report another European adventure in 1924 …

CAN YOU HELP?

“Recently I have been enjoying the BBC’s revival of the classic sitcom Open All Hours,” begins Stu Joslin inauspiciously before going on to ask the question of the week: “In this series, Barry Elliott (better known as the senior of the Chuckle Brothers) plays a customer called Mr Marshall, who dons a Doncaster Rovers jacket and scarf. Bearing in mind that it is well documented that the Chuckle Brothers are both in fact ardent Rotherham United fans, I was wondering if any other famous football fans have had to take to the stage or screen wearing the colours of a rival team for the sake of the part?”

“I’ve noticed that Arsenal have a number of first-choice players in the 12-22 shirt range, eg Giroud 12, Ospina 13, Oxlade-Chamberlain 15, Sanchez 17, etc,” writes Jamie Thompson. “Since the introduction of squad numbers, have any teams lined up 12-22? And what is the highest shirt number ‘flush’ that an XI have worn?”

“Watching a game the other day I witnessed a crestfallen player slowly hobbling off the field, hopes and dreams of being the hero shattered as he rubbed his hamstring,” begins James Senior. “He passed the dugout and touched hands with the exuberant player taking his place. The substitute sprinted on ready to give 100%. My question is are there any examples of an substitute sprinting on to the pitch to replace an injured teammate but pulling up as they sprint on to the pitch with a hamstring injury or similar then heading the same way as the player they replaced, straight off the pitch?”

“In the Arsenal-Stoke matchup this past weekend, Mathieu Debuchy went down with an injury in the 11th minute, and was replaced a relatively quick 1.5 minutes later (give or take a handful of seconds),” writes Steve Mintz. “Which led me to wonder, what is the greatest length of time that a team, having available substitutes on its bench, elected to play down a man before bringing on a substitute?”

“When I was a wee nipper playing football down the park with jumpers for goalposts, it was customary when, having rounded the keeper with no other player nearby, to get down on one’s hands and knees and knock the ball into the empty goal with one’s head to further humiliate the opposition,” writes Brian Tunney. “Has anybody ever been so bold as to pull of this glorious move in a professional game?”

“Charlton started this season with an 11-game unbeaten run, yet now they are sliding down the table and look like becoming embroiled in a relegation battle,” writes Chris Lutton. “My question is, what is the longest unbeaten run at the start of a season that has ended in relegation?”

“I am currently reading a biography of the former Labour leader Michael Foot,” begins Simon Alvey. “Early in the book there is a mention of how Foot’s lifelong love of Plymouth Argyle started. It tells how as a young, and seemingly lonely, man he went to see Plymouth play Tottenham on Christmas Day 1935. It then said that the reverse fixture was played in Plymouth on Boxing Day. Festive fixture congestion is not a new phenomenon it appears! Does anyone know what the reason was for having these games between the same sides played on consecutive days, and when did an English League club last play games on consecutive days?”

• Send your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com