“Are the 23 red cards shown in the game between Brazilian clubs Cruzeiro and Atlético Mineiro in the Campeonato Mineiro final a record?” asks Tom Reed.
In case you missed it, the Campeonato Mineiro final descended/ascended into a festival of hand-throwing. Cruzeiro won the football match 1-0 and the red card contest 12-11. We had a similar question back in 2002, when the world record was 20 in a Paraguayan league match between Sportivo Ameliano and General Caballero. But modern life is febrile, and that record was obliterated by events in Claypole, Argentina, in February 2011. Don’t take our word for it, read this excerpt from Guinness World Records:
double quotation mark The highest reported number of players sent off in a single football match is 36 in the Argentine Primera D game between Club Atlético Claypole and Victoriano Arenas refereed by Damián Rubino (Argentina) at the Estadio Rodolfo Capocasa, Claypole, Argentina, on 27 February 2011. All 18 players on each side (11 on-field players and seven substitutes) were sent off following what the referee described in his post-match report as a ‘Generalised Brawl’ that seemed to have been the result of a series of confrontations and heavy tackles that had taken place throughout the feisty encounter. The game was the 23rd round of matches in the Primera D, the fifth tier of Argentine football, in what was in theory a regulation league match, there was no historic rivalry between the sides.
While we’re seeing red, let’s revisit an old Knowledge favourite: the players with the most red cards in their career. Sergio Ramos may have his own updating article which is currently at 30, but once again, GWR has delivered the goods:
double quotation mark Over the course of a 20-year playing career from 1995 to 2015, Gerardo ‘the Beast’ Bedoya (Colombia) was sent off 46 times. The tough-tackling defender/defensive midfielder earned 49 caps for his national team. On 24 March 2016, Bedoya made his debut as a coach of Colombian side Independiente Santa Fe during their match against Atlético Junior, and was sent off after 21 minutes for berating the officials.
Learn something new every day
“There seem to be very few players from outside the state system in top-tier British teams now,” emails Mark Burns. “Who was the last British international player that was privately educated?”
Oliver Scott opens the bidding with Frank Lampardwho studied at Brentwood School from 1989-94 and left with 11 GCSEs. But there are more recent examples. “Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would certainly be one of them,” writes Rob Hick. “He attended my school (or I his!), St John’s College, Southsea, Portsmouth, which closed its doors for the final time in 2022, and has subsequently been demolished.”
Chai from Atlanta suggests Rhys Norrington-Davies (Royal Russell School), who made his Wales debut in 2020, and Myles Lewis-Skelly (Aldenham School), who scored on his England debut a year ago. But one of his rivals for the left-back spot is a more recent privately educated debutant.
“You don’t have to look further than one school: St Bede’s College,” writes Stu Banks. “Manchester City have partnered with St Bede’s for over 10 years (current fees are around £17,000 per year) and have up to 100 academy players there. They follow a modified timetable, but they are fully integrated into college life. Notable old boys include Phil Foden, James McAtee, Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho.”
And Nico O’Reilly, who won his first England cap against Serbia in November. O’Reilly also played in England’s most recent international, a 2-0 win against Albania later that month. As Jim Robinson (behave yourself) points out, four privately educated players either started or came on in that game: O’Reilly and Foden (St Bede’s College), Jude Bellingham (Priory School, Edgbaston) and Adam Wharton (Moorland School, Clitheroe). That means that 36% of the team that finished the game had been to private school,” writes Jim, “about five times higher than the 7% of school pupils who go to private school.”
There are fewer privately educated internationals in the Lionesses’ team, presumably because the pathways are not as clearly defined. The Sutton Trust suggested that one of England’s Euro 2025-winning squad was privately educated, which we think refers to Hannah Hampton’s time studying at the British School of Vila-real in Spain, where her parents worked as teachers. WhichSchoolAdvisor says there were no no privately educated players in the squad, but that tallies because it refers to secondary school, where Hampton was state-educated. That would make Hampton the most recent privately educated player to appear for England.
Home is where the help is
“Like many I remember the Channel 4 Italian football days fondly,” recalls Daz Pearce. “One random stat I remembered was that Piacenza went two whole seasons between 1995 and 1997 without winning a single away match, yet managed to survive both on the strength of their home form. What’s the longest such run managed by a team in a major European league?”
Let’s start with the inaugural Premier League season. “Leeds United distinguished themselves in 1992-93 by comfortably avoiding relegation from the top flight despite not winning a single one of 21 away league games,” writes Paul Rogerson, co-author of the outstanding book The Unforgiven. “Not exceptional at first sight – except that Leeds were reigning champions at the time.”
Leeds’ run of 24 away league games without victory finally ended at the Dell in September 1993, when Brian Deane and Gary Speed scored in a 2-0 win. (Fair to say it was not Leeds’ most famous 2-0 win at the Dell in the 1990s.) But their catharsis had nothing on Perugia’s when Renato Buso scored an 88th-minute winner at Empoli on 30 November 1997. His goal gave them their first Serie A victory on the road since their promotion in 1995; it was their 39th attempt. They enjoyed the experience so much that they also won away at Napoli and Lecce that season.
Thirty-eight games without an away win is pretty impressive, but Chris Roe can trump it. “A 3-1 win at West Ham United in the first match of the 1977-78 Division One season gave no indication of the run that was to follow for Norwich City,” writes Chris. “The remaining 20 away matches in that season yielded no wins, likewise the whole of the following season (21 matches). After 41 games, the run was ended with a 4-2 away win in the opening match of the 1979-80 season against Everton. Despite this dismal away form they finished clear of the relegation spots in those seasons.”
Knowledge archive
“Thumbing through the history of Scottish Cup winners the other day, I noticed that no one seemed to have won the trophy in 1909,” wrote Douglas Rawlins in 2007. “Did they have a year off? What really happened?”
Ah, Douglas, you appear to have stumbled upon the story of the Hampden Riot, which resulted in the Scottish Football Association holding back the trophy. Back in 1909, Rangers and Celtic had set up another Old Firm final showdown, which went to a replay after the sides drew 2-2 in a thrilling first game. But rumours began sweeping the city that the SFA had been fixing cup ties in a bid to ensure maximum income from replays, sparking suspicion and mistrust among both sets of supporters.
That sense of paranoia peaked after the replay on 17 April, which finished in a 1-1 draw; as the players left the field an announcement revealed there would be no extra time and the thinning patience of 60,000 supporters finally ran out. Fans from both sides united to invade the pitch for more than 2½ hours, tearing up the goalposts and setting fire to the wooden barricades. Mounted police were fended off with stones and even the goalposts, while the fire brigade was also repelled by missiles and had its hoses cut. Around 50 policemen were injured as the riot eventually left the stadium and moved towards the city centre.
Both clubs petitioned the SFA to have the tie abandoned and their demands were duly met when officials decided the match would not be replayed. The cup and all medals were withheld, although both clubs were compensated to the amount of £150, while Queen’s Park received £500 for the damage. “I would suggest the withdrawal of all policemen from football matches,” wrote one correspondent in the Glasgow Evening Times, “and substitute a regiment of soldiers with fixed bayonets.”
Can you help?
“Unless Hearts win the Scottish Premiership, either Russell Martin or Wilfried Nancy will have played their part in a title-winning campaign,” writes Niall McVeigh. “Excluding caretakers, who are the worst-performing managers to help a team win the championship?”
“During a rather animated discussion at the pub recently, the topic of footballers ‘retiring from international football’ came up,” explains Edd Crick. “We were reminiscing about the days when footballers simply stopped being picked for international games, so who was the first to come out and declare their retirement this way?”
“While browsing Wikipedia, I noticed that Ruel Fox’s only caps came when he called himself up from Montserrat while he was their manager,” writes Daniel Milner. “Has any other manager had these as their only international caps?”
“Having watched Joe Gomez deflect André’s shot into his own net at Molineux, and knowing that he has never scored a senior goal, I wondered how many professional players have ended their senior careers with more own goals than goals for their own team,” writes Peter Clark. “And yes, I do realise that Joe’s lethal strike there was not recorded as an own goal.”
“Vancouver Whitecaps have started this season scoring first 0, then 1, 2, 3 and 4 in their first five games. Has any team ever started with a more impressive rising sequence?” wonders Wayne Ziants.
