Who was the last goalkeeper to legally pick up a backpass?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/18/knowledge-last-goalkeeper-legally-pick-up-backpass

Version 0 of 1.

THE NOBLE BACK PASS

“Watching a game recently with a slightly laboured shout for a back-pass being picked up by the goalkeeper and it got me a-thinking: who was the last goalkeeper to pick up a back-pass legally?” wondered Chris Thomas last week. “To make things a bit easier, how about we limit that to the major footballing nations and/or internationals? Can’t say fairer than that?”

Ah, the back pass. Brought in partly as a reaction to some negative use of the tactic at the 1990 World Cup, the outlawing of the intentional kicked back pass was introduced in the summer of 1992, meaning an entire generation has grown up not experiencing the simple pleasure of a defender running out of ideas, then rolling it back to his goalkeeper who picks it up for as long as he wanted, encumbered only by the number of ‘steps’ he could take with it in his hands (four, in case you were wondering/had forgotten). Even though the rule has been in place for the best part of 25 years now, it’s still hugely enjoyable to hear applause and a hum of appreciation when something ‘inventive’ like a header or a chest back to the keeper is carried out by some cunning defender. If you’re after a trip down this particularly niche memory lane, have a read of Adam Hurrey’s appreciation of this lost and simple art.

As for what was the final back pass, Marcos Garcia has done the heavy lifting for us here: “The back pass rule was first used in the 1992 Olympics with the first game to feature it being Italy v USA on July 24th. The last high-profile game played before this date was the CONCACAF Central American Zone World Cup qualifier between El Salvador and Nicaragua on the 23rd July, which El Salvador won 5-1, so it would appear that the last legal back pass probably took place during this game.

“However, if we limit our selection to the major footballing nations as Chris Thomas suggested, it appears the last legal back pass made was West Germany’s Stefan Reuter passing back to his keeper Bodo Illgner seconds before the final whistle in the 1992 European Championship final.”

If you’re interested in when the last one in top-level English football was (with apologies to the playoff finals), somewhat appropriately given their reputation for liberal use of the noble back pass, made by Liverpool in the final moments of their FA Cup final win over Sunderland. Steve Nicol passed back to Bruce Grobelaar, who presumably clutched it sorrowfully to his chest, knowing this would be the final time, although rather annoyingly the camera cut away at the crucial moment, leaving this epochal moment in English football history unrecorded.

HAS A KEEPER EVER SAVED THREE PENALTIES IN A GAME?

“Back in the day I saw the Blackpool goalkeeper Tony Waiters save two penalties whilst losing 3-0 at Leeds,” said Peter Clarke. “Do records exist of a keeper saving three penalties in a match? Misses of course do not count.”

Plenty of you got in touch about this one, and mostly to suggest a heroic effort by Manchester United’s Gary Bailey, who stopped three from the spot against Ipswich back in 1980. Although, without wishing to diminish Bailey’s contribution at all, all three were pretty dreadful penalties. Frans Thijssen was first up, obligingly side-footing the ball just to Bailey’s left, the keeper diving on the thing gratefully. Shortly afterwards, Jimmy Nicholl chopped down Paul Mariner, and this time the responsibility was passed to Kevin Beattie, but his effort, while a little stronger, was still pretty close to and saved by Bailey. But wait! The referee decided (very harshly, looking at the footage) that Bailey had moved too soon on that occasion, and ordered the kick to be retaken, only for Beattie to step up again, cunningly choosing the exact same spot, but the keeper would not be fooled and he saved once again, giving the pernickity official what for afterwards.

Of course, this would all have perhaps been a bit more notable had Bailey been as impenetrable from open play as he was from 12 yards, but alas not, as even with those three penalty saves Ipswich danced to a 6-0 victory, Mariner bagging a hat-trick while Thijssen made amends for his miss and Alan Brazil grabbed a brace. It wasn’t all down to Bailey, of course, with the Guardian’s David Lacey likening United’s defence to ‘those haphazard, free-scoring days immediately after the change of the offside law in 1925’, and that their tactics to try and stop the Ipswich attack were ‘akin to trying to stop the Seventh Cavalry by hiding their bugle.’

Alun Thomas offers a couple more suggestions, pointing out that ‘Walter Scott saved three penalties for Grimsby against Burnley in 1909/10...as did Matt Glennon for Huddersfield against Crewe in 2006/07.’ Although, David Ward informs us that: ‘Scott’s achievement, though remarkable, feels unsatisfactory in this context, as Burnley had four penalties that day, and scored from the third.’ Burnley won that game 2-0.

Still, it should be noted that Glennon’s efforts, as with Bailey, featured a retake. That’s still three spot-kicks saved, so perhaps we should not be churlish here and take away from some expert penalty-stopping, but as Bailey was (perhaps unfairly) penalised for encroaching, should it count? Is this the equivalent of a striker having a goal disallowed for offside?

Debate! Emails to knowledge@theguardian.com

HOW MANY WINS DOES IT TAKE TO SURVIVE?

“I notice that in the current standings of the Portuguese Primera Liga, Academica Coimbra have only managed one win from their first 19 games,” asked David Williamson. “However despite this they are still outside the relegation places in 16th spot. My question is what is the fewest amount of wins a team has needed to stay up?”

We’ll start with the English top flight. Firstly, we should probably discount all of the seasons before 1905/06, largely because before that seasons lasted fewer games (1905/06 was the first of 38 games), so anything less than that would tend to skew things rather. We should also say that the league place required to survive of course differed from season to season, depending on how the league was being configured at the time.

So, with that in mind, the simple answer to the question is ‘six’, a number of wins achieved by four teams down the years – West Brom in 2004/05, Southampton and Crystal Palace in 1969/70 and Sheffield United in 1920/21. Obviously, because nothing in this life is simple, there are caveats, notably that of course these totals were achieved in seasons with different numbers of games – 38 in 2004/05 and 42 in the other three seasons, while West Brom had the benefit of being awarded three points for each of their sextet of victories, while the others had to settle for a mere two. Indeed, if three points for a win was in place in 1970, Southampton would have still survived but Palace would have dropped on goal average, Sheffield Wednesday being the reprieved team. Another notable contributor in this field was Norwich in 1978/79, who stayed up rather handily in 16th place (out of 22) despite winning just seven games, their points tally boosted by a whopping 23 draws over the season.

Let us move ‘abroad’ now. Here are the fewest games won by teams that survived (without the assorted caveats listed for the English top flight, for there are only so many hours in the day), for the seasons where clubs were relegated, in Scotland (in football terms, it’s abroad), France, Italy, Germany and Spain:

• Scotland: Five - Stirling Albion 1966/67 and East Fife 1971/72

• France: Six – Rouen 1938/39 (Martigues won just five in 1993/94, although they only survived due to Marseille’s improprieties)

• Italy: Three – Fiorentina, 1971/72

• Germany (since the establishment of the Bundesliga in 1963): Six – Fortuna Dusselforf, 1981/82

• Spain: Four – Valencia, 1932/33 (in an 18-game season)

Finally, moving to Portugal, Nuno Ferreira writes: As far as the Portuguese League goes, the record is four, possibly three. I say possibly because in the 86/87 season Elvas, in sixteenth place, registered three wins, eight draws, and 19 losses (14 points). The problem, however, is that Elvas was in the last place: it was not relegated because the following year the competition expanded from 16 to 20 teams. Other than that the record is four, and it has been achieved on three separate occasions: Seixal in 63/64, 12th out of 14 teams with 14 pts (4-6-16); Sanjoanense in 66/67, 12th out of 14 teams with 19 pts (4-11-11), and, more recently, Leixões in 2007/08, 14th out of 16 teams with 26 pts (4-14-12).

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

“Has a goalkeeper ever received two yellow cards in the same game for time wasting?” tweeted RD1133 in 2012.

You’d have to push your luck to achieve such an ignominious dismissal, but Ljungskile goalkeeper Michal Slawuta managed it in an away game at Trelleborg that back in April 2008.

“With Ljungskile leading 2-1 in the 90th minute, he took too long during a goal kick and was booked,” writes David Ekstrand. “He then went over to the other post to drink water, and was promptly booked again. According to Slawuta himself, he just happened to be thirsty, and the water bottle just happened to be on the other side of the goal.”

The referee felt that heading off for a drink was “incredibly unsportsmanlike conduct”. Slawuta, though, was unrepentant: “If I end up in a similar situation, I will do the same again,” he told the Expressen newspaper. “At least we won three important points so I am satisfied anyway. Shit happens.”

For many more questions and answers, kick back, make a brew and take a leisurely browse of the Knowledge archives...

CAN YOU HELP?

“I was just wondering,” wonders Shaun Tooze, “In the last two or three seasons Bradford City have overcome the following opposition in cup competitions - despite all of these sides (I think) being from a higher league (and in most cases, even two leagues above): Watford, Wigan, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Leeds Utd, Millwall, Sunderland, Chelsea and now Sunderland. Has any other lower league side ever enjoyed such a purple patch of brilliant results against higher league opposition?”

“Watching Nick Easter become England’s Oldest Ever Try Scorer made me ask my dog ‘Who is professional football’s oldest ever goalscorer?’ She didn’t know or isn’t telling, but do you?” asks David Templeman.

“Arguments during games between opposing dug-outs are ten a penny,” begins Malcolm McFeat. “But are there any memorable examples where it’s all kicked off within the one technical area? For example a manager and his assistant coming to blows.”

Send your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com