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“Have there been any situations where a player has refused to come out for the second half?” asks Peter Clarke. “If so, what retribution was taken by the club or country?”

There are plenty of examples of entire teams refusing to play the second half, the majority in response to racism, but it’s quite rare for an individual player to do so. Let’s start with a famous night in Glasgow:

“Back in February 2000, with John Barnes’s Celtic trailing Caley Thistle 2-1 in a Scottish Cup tie, striker Mark Viduka refused to play the second half,” begins Stephen Toal. “Viduka took offence when he was asked by Barnes’s assistant Eric Black: ‘Is it too cold tonight? Do you not fancy it?’

“Celtic went on to lose 3-1, and within 48 hours Barnes and Black were sacked (Viduka kept his job). Perhaps more significantly, the match spawned the greatest newspaper headline of all time: Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious. You can read about it here.”

In March 2008, the Ivory Coast defender Abdoulaye Méïté was subbed at half-time during Bolton’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester United. The manager Gary Megson later said Méïté had downed tools, though he denied this. “I would never refuse to play without justification,” he said. “Every player wants to play at Old Trafford, but I was struggling in the first half and genuinely felt I would be more of a hindrance if I carried on. “I told the manager this, but he obviously didn’t believe me.”

Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez gets to the ball ahead of Bolton’s Abdoulaye Méïté. Photograph: Tom Purslow/Manchester United/Getty Images

Méïté was sent to train with the reserves. He was back in the first-team squad by the end of the season, having made peace with Megson, but didn’t play for the club again and joined West Brom in the summer.

Another Bolton alumnus, Nicolas Anelka, came off at half-time during France’s defeat against Mexico at the 2010 World Cup. Strictly speaking he didn’t refuse to play, but his reported debrief with the manager Raymond Domenech – “go fuck yourself, you son of a bitch” – wasn’t exactly a study in equivocation.

Mexico’s defender Francisco Rodriguez (right) heads the ball ahead of France’s striker Nicolas Anelka during the 2010 World Cup. Photograph: Valéry Hache/AFP/Getty Images

“When Domenech told him to get changed, he supposedly responded with ‘Yeah, that’s fine’,” writes Tom Reed. “Anelka was sent home and suspended by the French FA for 18 games. France crashed out at the group stage.”

Short gaps between teams who have never met

“Starting with the 20 Premier League clubs how deep into the football pyramid does one need to go to find two teams that have never played against each other? Do any of the other big European leagues have a smaller gap between two teams who have never met?” tweets Chittaranjan.

“None of the three teams in the Premier League title race – Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City - have played against Stevenage, who are currently sixth in League One,” writes Jack Hayward. “As far as I can tell, the shortest gap within the top four divisions of England between teams who have never faced off in a senior competitive match is the five-place gulf – more like a ditch – between Fleetwood Town (22nd in League One) and Wrexham (third in League Two). I’m excited to see what other readers come up with around the globe, though.”

Identical big scorelines in both legs

“In the Women’s Nations League last month, there were two ties in which both legs finished with the same score (Belgium 5-1 Hungary, Sweden 5-0 Bosnia),” notes Jon Taylor. “What’s the highest score to be repeated over two legs in the same tie?”

We really need to start paying Dirk Maas. “I’ve looked at international and continental club competitions and international and continental country tournaments, both men and women, both at professional and youth level and this was the outcome,” he inadvertently guilt-trips. “In men’s football, the answer is a 16-2 aggregate score. In the first round of the 1979-80 European Cup, Ajax beat HJK Helsinki in the away leg 8-1 and repeated this score in the home match.

“If you look at women’s football, the answer is a 18-0 aggregate score. Codru Chişinău reached the group stage of the inaugural edition of the Uefa Women’s Cup (now the Women’s Champons League) in 2001-02 by beating Ilirija 9-0 in both legs of the qualifying round. This was equalled by Arsenal when they played PAOK in the round of 32 of the 2009-10.

Jayne Ludlow scores the eighth goal for Arsenal as they beat PAOK in the 2009-10 Champions League. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC

“There’s always a bigger fish: in February 2024, Morocco beat Niger by an aggregate score 22-0 in the second round of the 2024 African U-17 Women’s World Cup qualification. So, the highest score to be repeated over two legs is 11-0.”

Knowledge archive

“Beitar Jerusalem midfielder Yarden Shua has made 27 league appearances this season, even though Beitar have only played 26 games,” explained Simon Burnton in 2021. “He played two games for Maccabi Haifa before the Israeli league’s lockdown in September, but when he moved to the capital Beitar had only played once. Has anyone previously played more games in a league season than their team?”

“Alan Mullery made 34 appearances for Fulham in 1963-64 before transferring to Tottenham, where he made a further nine appearances,” recalled Mark Kluth. “That gave him a total of 43 in a 42-game season.”

Fixtures were staggered or postponed more often back in the day, which increased the opportunity for players to give more than 100%. “In 1970-71 Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson played 29 games in the First Division for Newcastle,” mailed Andy Kelly. “He then joined West Ham midway through the season and played 14 games for them, so that’s 43 appearances in a 42-game season. Then, in 1974-75, Dick Habbin went one (or maybe five) better. He played 27 games in the Fourth Division for Reading, and then a further 21 games for Rotherham, giving him 48 appearances in a 46-game season.” Happily for him, Rotherham were promoted while Reading missed out (again).

Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson is welcomed to Upton Park by Geoff Hurst in 1971. Photograph: Douglas Miller/Getty Images

That’s impressive, but Richard Hudson could go one better. “Terry Austin played 49 league games in 1978-79: 33 for Walsall and 16 for Mansfield,” wrote Richard. “This was a record as late as the 1990s for single-season league appearances. It may still be.”

And finally, one from the smoke rings of the Knowledge’s mind: Henrik Larsson joined Manchester United on loan from Helsingborgs on 1 January 2007 and made seven league appearances, before returning to his parent club to play a further 22 games, giving him a total of 29 relative to Helsingborgs’ 26, albeit across different leagues.

The Knowledge archive

Can you help?

“England’s No 1 goalkeepers, Mary Earps and Jordan Pickford, were born on the same day a year apart. Are there any other examples of shared birthdays? A deadly striking duo? Solid centre-back pairing? Managerial arch-rivals?” wonders Tim Spargo.

“Andoni Iraola has won at Old Trafford both as a visiting player and manager. Is he the first man to achieve this?” asks James Brett.

Andoni Iraola gives his Bournemouth players some instructions during the victory at Manchester United. Photograph: Paul Currie/Shutterstock

“Six former Chelsea players scored in the Europa League last Thursday. Has a single day of European action ever yielded more of one club’s ‘alumni’ goals?” muses Andrew Boulton.

“In the last two shootouts she’s been involved in for the USWNT, keeper Alyssa Naeher has stepped up to take a penalty before the expected 11th position for a keeper. She was sixth in the World Cup and third in the Concacaf Gold Cup,” notes Harriet Osborn. “Have other keepers made a habit of taking penalties before eligible outfield players? And who did it first?”

“I notice that two points currently separate the team in 17th (Plymouth) and the team in 23rd (Sheffield Wednesday) in the Championship,” notices Crispin Leyser. “In theory, seven teams could go into the final round of matches with the threat of relegation hanging over them. Would that be a record?”

“On Saturday, Raith Rovers beat Dunfermline 2-0. It was Rovers’ 27th league game of the season, and the first which hasn’t been decided by a solitary goal or ended in a draw. Taking into account the final four fixtures of last season – two draws and two one-goal defeats – it brings to an end a run of close results stretching back 30 league games to 11 April 2023. The obvious question to ask … is this a record?” asks Jim Clark.

“Notts County have currently conceded 68 goals in League Two but still have a positive goal difference. Obviously there are a number of games to go, but was is the highest number of goals being conceded by a team who still have a positive goal difference?” wonders Stephen Garbett.

“Which English top-flight season has had the highest number of 1st v 2nd clashes?” wonders Albert in Vienna.

“FK Arkadag was founded by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, the former president of Turkmenistan, on 1 April 2023. On 24 December that year, having already been crowned champions of the country’s top-flight Yokary Liga, they beat Ahal 3-0 in the Turkmenistan Cup final. Has any team won all possible domestic trophies sooner into its existence?” asks Jack Hayward.

“In Norwich’s 5-0 win against Rotherham, all four goal scorers (Sara x2, Sorensen, Sainz, Sargent) and the three players who gave assists (Stacey x3, Sara, Sorensen) had surnames beginning with the letter S. Has someone spotted a similarly satisfactory scoresheet?” says Sean Haines, who should have changed his surname before sending in this question.

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