Stats – Weird And Wonderful (71-80)
I bloody love a good random football fact. It’s what at least half of my brain space is taken up with on a daily basis. And so for this post I figured I would try to research and discover some of the most unusual facts, stats and stories from the footballing world.
Despite my best efforts to factcheck all these nuggets of information, I cannot guarantee their validity 100%, however if you want to correct me, why not send me a nicely worded tweet. And should you decide to share any of these with your friends down at the pub… remember nobody likes a know-it-all, as I’ve been told many times before.
Enjoy!
1. In 2016, the now former Leeds United manager, Marcelo Bielsa, took charge of Italian side Lazio in a stint that lasted just 2 days. His reign began on July 6th 2016 and ended July 8th 2016 as the Argentine resigned after the club broke several transfer promises they had made to him on arrival. The club were so annoyed they attempted a lawsuit to suit Bielsa for 50million Euros.
2. If you thought that stint was short-lived, the shortest managerial job in English football belongs to Leroy Rosenior, who lasted just 10 minutes in charge of Torquay United. Taking charge as a favour to the previous owner during a takeover, the new consortium taking charge told Rosenior that he wouldn’t be required and he was out of the job. *For a visual representation, see the Grandpa Simpson GIF*.
3. In August 1997, Arsenal striker Dennis Bergkamp won the Premier League goal of the month award. You might think that’s not too impressive, however he also came 2nd and 3rd in this vote in the same month.
4. In the last 10 years, Watford FC have changed their manager 19 times. Each manager on average being given 6.3 months in their role.
5. With this years’ victory, Carlo Ancelotti became the manager with the most Champions League/European Cup titles, taking his tally to 4 with Real Madrid beating Liverpool in Paris. Of the 4, 2 were for AC Milan and 2 for Real Madrid. He also picked up 2 titles as a player for AC Milan in the late 1980s.
6. Speaking of Ancelotti, his La Liga title this season meant he finally had the record of winning all 5 of Europe’s top divisions (Premier League – Chelsea, La Liga – Real Madrid, Bundesliga – Bayern Munich, Serie A – AC Milan, Ligue 1 – PSG).
7. Ronald Koeman holds the world record for the highest scoring defender of all-time. In his career, Koeman netted 207 in 581 games at an average of 0.36 goals per game. With numbers that some strikers don’t even get to, his goal contributions at both ends may well be massively underrated.
8. In 2016, Stjepan Lucijanic scored 5 consecutive hattricks in 5 games. In the Croatian 7th tier, he netted a total of 20 goals across the 5 games and earnt himself a place in the history books.
9. While we are on hattrick records, the fastest ever recorded hattrick belongs to Alex Torr, who netted 3 goals in just 70 seconds as his side played in the English Sunday League of Sheffield. This took place in May 2013 and he managed to bag all 3 goals quicker than we could even write this fact.
10. To finish up with, the pinnacle journeyman Lutz Pfannenstiel managed to play for a club in every continent during his professional career. With a total of 27 clubs on his CV, the German keeper certainly got about during his 20 year career.
If you have any weird or wonderful football stats you want to share with the world, get in touch @NextGoalWinBlog on Twitter, or @NextGoalWin on Instagram.