by “Idrissa Gueye’s red card for slapping Michael Keane at Old Trafford made me wonder: what other players have shaken hands with a team-mate during a game?” asks Conor Humphries.
We covered this in a question back in 2004 – but 21 years is a long time in football, not to mention violence between teams, so an upgrade is due. First, a quick summary of those we mentioned in the 2004 article.
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Derek Hales and Mike Flanagan, Charlton v Maidstone, FA Cup, 1978-79
While Charlton chased a winning goal against Maidstone, a third division side, in the third round of the FA Cup, there was simmering tension between their strike duo Hales (nickname: Killer) and Flanagan. Hales felt that Flanagan was reluctant, if at all, to pass on to him, “so I said a word and gave him one!” Flanagan retaliated and the pair were sent off.
Craig Levein and Graeme Hogg, Hearts v Raith Rovers, 1994-95
Hearts’ defenders were sent off after an altercation broke out when Raith’s Gordon Dalziel almost scored Early season friendly. Hogg threw the first punch, Levein the last. “Levein threw two haymakers, which I can only describe as a great performance that Mike Tyson would have been proud of,” Dalziel said. “I was killing myself laughing and jokingly counted Hogg to 10 as he went full throttle. I was unaware of the severity of the blow or the fact that Levein had actually broken Hogg’s nose.”
Graeme Le Saux and David Batty, Spartak Moscow v Blackburn, 1995-96
Blackburn’s miserable Champions League season rocked the depths in Moscow when Batty and Le Saux argued after collecting the same ball. Le Saux tried to hit Batty in the neck before Tim Sherwood intervened. The referee took no action.
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Jens Lehmann and Marcio Amoroso, Schalke vs. Dortmund, 2002–03
In his final season at Dortmund, the usually mild-mannered Lehmann reacted badly to a Schalke goal by attempting to strangle his teammate Amoroso. It was a strange development that the goal that so enraged Lehmann was disallowed for offside. But the violence still counted: Lehmann was sent off.
Now onto the more recent incidents and one we forgot to mention last time. Dark comedy lovers will never forget it Lee Bowyer And Kieron Dyer He suffered physical strain during Newcastle’s 3-0 home defeat by Aston Villa in April 2005.
In December 2008, Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller was sent off for hitting his captain Andy Griffin. Bowyer, Dyer, Fuller and Gueye are the only players in the Premier League era to receive a red card for violent behavior towards a teammate.
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There was an infamous exchange of views between them Bruce Grobbelaar And Steve McManaman when Everton took the lead against Liverpool at Goodison Park in September 1993; None of the players were booked, but by today’s standards they might have gone out. Aston Villas Anwar El Ghazi was not sanctioned as he scratched his head down Tyrone Mings‘Forehead in a game against West Ham in September 2019.
Two years later Galatasaray Marcao started a new Süper Lig season in style by giving his teammate a head start Kerem Akturkoglu in the opening game against Giresunspor. For the avoidance of doubt, Marcão then attempted to land several haymakers before being sent off.
The longest waiting time
“By the time the World Cup comes, Craig Gordon will be 43 years old and it will have been 22 years since his Scotland debut.” writes Mick McMenemie. “Is that the longest time between making his international debut and playing in a World Cup? And would he be the oldest player in his first World Cup?”
Should Gordon feature in the 2026 World Cup, his finals debut would likely be 22 years and a month since he beat Scotland in a 4-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago at Easter Road in May 2004. “It’s taken an awfully long time, over 20 years in this camp trying to get there, some failures along the way, some bad nights out there, but I don’t think I’ll ever achieve such good success.” Be a part of it,” he told BBC Scotland enthusiastically after the dramatic win over Denmark. “I almost retired in the summer.”
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One player can outshine Gordon on both fronts, but there are a few other notable names in terms of the first part. Since the first Women’s World Cup took place in 1991, there have been contenders for debutants before that, including Pia Sundhage. She made her international debut for Sweden as a 15-year-old in 1975 and helped them to a third-place finish in China 16 years later. That is clear, however
Atiba Hutchinson He made his Canada debut in January 2003 against the United States. It wasn’t until November 2022 that he finally made the big appearance, in the 1-0 loss to Belgium, a game in which he was the only Canadian player alive, the last time the country competed in a men’s World Cup.
These names seem too shy in comparison Essam El Hadary. The Egyptian made his international debut in March 1996 against South Korea, but it took 22 years and three months before he was between the posts at a World Cup, playing in Egypt’s third and final game against Saudi Arabia at the 2018 finals in Volgograd. It would be the third of three defeats, but El-Hadary’s performance was unforgettable: he saved a penalty, becoming the first African player to do so at a World Cup finals.
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Beat up the champions
“How does Liverpool’s 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest rank on the list of heaviest home defeats suffered by the reigning Premier League champions?” asks Peter Barker.
Forest’s fine win at Anfield was one of the most eye-catching results of the season, but the reigning Premier League champions have suffered heavier defeats. The biggest and most famous event occurred on August 23, 2011 at Old Trafford when Manchester City raged in the final minutes and beat Manchester United 6-1. Spurs beat Leicester by the same result in May 2017, with Harry Kane scoring four of their goals.
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Here’s the full list, only from the Premier League era.
1-6
Manchester United vs Manchester City, 2011-12
Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur, 2016-17
0-4
Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur, 2024-25
1-4
Leeds United v Nottingham Forest, 1992-93
Manchester United vs Liverpool, 2008–09
Liverpool vs Manchester City, 2020-21
With that in mind, Forest’s win at Leeds in December 1992 was even more improbable than Saturday’s result – it was the only league game Leeds lost at home in 1991/92 (when they were champions) or 1992/93. Forest had only won one of their last 16 league games and ended up bottom of the table.
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0-3
Blackburn v Everton, 1995-96
Manchester United vs Chelsea, 2001–02
Chelsea v Sunderland, 2010-11
Manchester United vs Liverpool, 2013-14
Manchester United vs Manchester City, 2013-14
Chelsea vs Manchester City, 2015-16
Leicester vs Chelsea, 2016-17
Leicester vs Manchester United, 2016-17
Chelsea v Bournemouth, 2017-18
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest, 2025-26
Knowledge archive
“Huddersfield were promoted to the Premier League with a negative goal difference” noted Dave Langley in 2017. “But has a team ever won the title despite conceding more goals than they scored?”
The first example that came to mind came from Brazil. Coritiba became champions in 1985 with a negative goal difference, scoring 25 goals in 29 games. This was partly due to the typically complicated system, which requires a PhD to understand.
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In the first phase there were four groups, each playing two mini-leagues. The teams that finished first in each league qualified for the next phase along with the two remaining teams with the best overall record. Coritiba finished eighth out of ten in the first round, losing six of their ten games, but finished first in the second round. So, despite finishing seventh in the overall qualification table, they were one of four teams to advance to the next round.
They then won their second group stage, beating Atlético Mineiro 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals and defeating Bangu on penalties in the final. Their overall record this season was: P29 W12 D7 L10 F25 A27. Second-placed Bangu won 20 of their 31 games (their mini-leagues had 11 games each, so they played two more than Coritiba), topped all league tables and finished with a goal difference of +32. But the book will always say that Coritiba were champions.
The heroic folks at RSSSF found a few other examples – including the POSCO Atoms, who became South Korean champions in 1986 despite losing more games than they won and finishing with a goal difference of -2.
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Can you help?
“Looking at Scotland’s World Cup wiki page, I see that in 1950 they declined to take part in the finals because they came second in the home championship (which doubled as World Cup qualifiers), even though they said they would only appear if they won it,” writes Roger Kirkby. “Is this the only time a country has declined to take part in the World Cup based on its qualification result?”
“Was a substituted player shown a second yellow card for improperly leaving the pitch?” asks Ken Foster.
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“After little Curaçao qualified for the World Cup under Dick Advocaat, I have to think about it… Are there any other team/manager combinations that qualify for a place in the World Cup but also qualify for a place on the international cocktail list?” reflects Raymond Hogg.
“Othmane Maamma’s first start of the season for Watford on Saturday meant that every member of the front three had a double ace to their name: Maamme, Kjerrumgaard, Baah. Are there any other interesting examples of these ‘triple doubles’, as I will call them, in attack or defense, that readers are aware of?” asks Aidan Watts-Fawkes. “Let’s set the bar high and exclude any Icelandic or Scandinavian ‘son’ trios, of which I believe there are many.”
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