NEW YEAR'S DAY CELEBRATION-BREAK A LEG

January 1st 1966 was not a happy New Year Day for Chester FC, when they entertained Aldershot in a Division 4 league game at Sealand Road. Both Chester full backs, Ray Jones and Bryn Jones (not related either)-ended up in hospital with a broken leg each, from separate incidents in the match. Chester won 3-2!!

The pair missed the remainder of the season as Chester fell out of promotion contention, coming 7th in the division, with Ray not returning to action until October. Ray remained at the club until the end of the 1968-9 season. That was to be the last FL match played by Ray Jones, as he joined non–league side Runcorn. He followed it up by playing for Oswestry Town, Bethseda Athletic and Colwyn Bay, where he became player–manager. He went on to have spells as manager of Rhyl, where he achieved three promotions and Connah's Quay, truly North Wales' clubs. Away from football he worked as an engineer- of course, many "lower" league players needed an alternative career. Jones died in July 2007 at the Hospice of the Good Shepherd, near Chester,

Bryn Jones played his first football for non-league side Holywell Town until joining Division Three side Watford in January 1963. However, he made just two league appearances before he returned north, joining Chester in August 1964. He made his Chester debut during the same month, but added just one more appearance during the season.

The following campaign saw him emerging as a regular at left back with namesake, Ray Jones, playing in the right back slot. 

Bryn joined Chester as a schoolboy, making his first-team debut in a 1–0 win over Hartlepool Utd on 7 December 1962 in the number 2 shirt. By the 1964-5 season, Jones was a regular in the side, performing well especially when asked to mark George Best in an FA Cup tie against Manchester United on January 9th 1965. 

40,000 watched Best and Albert Kinsey score a goal each in a 2-0 win. Kinsey, a forward, made his one and only appearance for United, after joining from school in June 1961. He moved to Wrexham in March 1966.

Chester went into their home game against Aldershot on 1 January 1966, in second place in the Fourth Division, but both Bryn and Ray suffered broken legs in the 3–2 victory (below). The pair missed the remainder of the season as Chester finished in seventh place. Bryn recovered to play 11 games the following season, before dropping out of the Football League and joining New Brighton.

On the same day, but in 2015, Arsenal's Wojciech Szczesny was not very happy with his new year day's work when the Polish goalkeeper was at fault for both goals, in the Gunners 0-2 defeat at St Mary's in the Premier League. After the match he consoled himself with a ciggy in the showers, "teacher" found him and fined the naughty boy, £20,000....club rules! Ouch!

HARRY KANE AGAIN

If you have been to the same school as David Beckham, then you might have a football pedigree? Harry Kane went to Golden Balls' school, the Chingford Foundation School in Essex. Kane played with Ridgeway Rovers and then Arsenal as a junior from 2001, trialled at Watford in 2004 and then Spurs found him in 2004-09, when he went "senior". Unsure about him he was loaned out to Millwall, Norwich and Leicester until he made his mark with the Spurs. In 2010 he made his debut for England U17s and was a full international in 2015.

Kane's involvement at Tottenham began to increase following the arrival of Pochettino, as head coach in 2014. In his first full season at the club, Kane scored 31 goals in 51 matches, across all competitions, was the Premier League's second-highest goalscorer, and was named PFA Young Player of the Year.

In the 2015-16 (58 apps/28 goals) and 2016-17 (38 apps/35) seasons, Kane finished as the league's top goalscorer. In the latter campaign, he helped Tottenham finish as the competition's runners-up and won the PFA Young Fans' Player of the Year award. Kane registered his best campaign statistically to date in the 2017-18, with 41 goals scored in 48 games, across all competitions and in the following season he finished as a runner-up in the UEFA Champions League. 

In 2018-19  24 goals in 40 apps: 2019-20 24 in 34 apps: 

In February 2021, he became Tottenham's second-highest all-time scorer in official competitions. He ended the 2020-21 season as the top goalscorer (33 goals in 49 apps) and top assist provider in the league.

Kane has scored 48 goals in 67 games for England. He appeared and scored at every youth level, and made a goalscoring debut with the senior team in March 2015, aged 21. Kane featured and scored during England's successful UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifying and represented the country at "Finals" He was made the squad's captain from May 2018, before the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. In that tournament Kane finished as the World Cup's top goalscorer, winning the Golden Boot, leading England to fourth place, their highest finish since 1990. He also led England to second place at UEFA Euro 2020, marking their first appearance in a final at the tournament and their first major final since 1966.

He was the first Premier League player to score 6 hat tricks in a calendar year. His treble strikes include 3 against Burnley and 3 against Southampton and is looking for a third in succession, a feat not done since Jack Balmer of Liverpool (cartoon below), who scored hat tricks against Portsmouth, Derby and Arsenal in succession during November 1946, helping Liverpool to the First Division Championship. Balmer was an Evertonian and was expected to succeed Dixie Dean, but ended up signing for the rivals who had a better pay offer for him! Note how Dean gets involved in the Kane story.

I might add that Scot, Billy Liddell (of Liddellpool!!!!) was a major goal scorer in the Liverpool side. He played 492 league games and was later a youth worker, accountant, lay preacher and a JP before he retired. Harry? Up to you! here he is.....................



Premier League scorers who nearly match Harry's strike rate are:
Alan Shearer 36 in 42 in 1995 and 30 in 37 in 1994. Robin van Persie 35 in 36 2011. Thierry Henry 34 in 39 2004. Les Ferdinand 30 in 34 1995. 
Didier Drogba almost did this at Chelsea but have scored two successive hat tricks, he failed to get the third in a 6-0 defeat against Wigan in 2010.

THE FIRST MATCH

Football of a kind had been played in Sheffield from around 1855, as a winter fitness exercise for local cricket club. A meeting for locals took place in 1857 to discuss rules and the first official match between the Sheffield football club and neighbours Hallam FC took place on December 26th 1860. 

Although Sheffield FC existed from 1857, Hallam was not formed until 1860. On December 29th 1862 although cricket was the usual attraction at Bramall Lane, Sheffield; (you know the famous summer venue for Yorkshire and local teams), the ground's committee decided that to boost their coffers, they should host a "first" official football match between local rivals, Sheffield FC and Hallam FC. 

As well as making money in the winter, the proposal was to bring another sport to the Sheffield fraternity, providing an entertainment of skill, sportmanship and to provide an introduction to a sport historically regarded as "undignified" on the experience of the famed traditional "mob" games. Sheffield and its surrounding settlements, as well as in other parts of the country, hosted a number of annual "matches" between local villages, which often ended up in fights, death and revellry.

Reports of this first football match referred to "the day the waistcoats came off and the fighting began".

The match, played to local rules, was organised by the locals to raise money for local soldiers who had fought in the American Civil War. The mood on the pitch was far from charitable and just after half time, the Sheffield club's founder and star player, Nathaniel Creswick (an army Major), had a bit of a "do" with Hallam's William Waterfall. Creswick appears to have won the ball fairly but ended up walloping Waterfall, who was holding him back. The Sheffield paper, The Independent, reported that Waterfall approached Creswick "in the most irritable manner and struck him several times". Hallam FC wrote to the paper to say that this was not fair or accurate and noted that Waterfall had charged Major Creswick and the Major had retaliated, threatening to strike him again if the same happened. 

Shortly after, when the referees were discussing another issue, the Major stripped the ball from an opposition's hands and booted it towards the opposing goal. Waterfall then charged the Major, who struck Waterfall in the face and Waterfall returned the compliment!

Apparently apart from this, there was little to animate the crowd and after three hours of rough mauls, rucks and some dribbles and kicks, there was no score. The crowd left unimpressed.

The Sheffield FA was founded in 1867, encouraged by the English FA, formed in 1863.

The derby is currently not a regular fixture, as Sheffield are In the NPL Division One, while Hallam are in the NCEL Division 1, two tiers below. However, the teams do regularly meet for pre-season friendlies and occasionally in cup ties.The last meeting between the two sides was a 3–2 win for Sheffield on 9 October 2012 in the Senior Cup.

The First English Football Match To Be Mentioned in a Newspaper Report – Sheffield FC v Hallam FC, 29 December 1862 is below.....

"The match between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC at Bramall Lane Cricket Ground on 29 December 1862. Played according to ‘Sheffield Rules’, the match sounds like it might have been a little rough in places, with ‘waistcoats’ being thrown off, as the intensity of the match heightened. It seems that the long interval at half-time also caused some raised eyebrows among some of the players. There also seems to have been a large travelling support for Hallam, with loud cheers being heard whenever one of their players downed a Sheffield man. Just for the record, the final score was 0-0, with the report stating that ‘neither a goal (through two posts) nor a rouge’ [was] scored by either party’ .  A rouge was when the ball was taken over the "back line", rather like a try in rugby." Sheffield Independent | 30 December 1862.

https://sheffieldfc.com/the-worlds-first/history   a very good link to the history of the game.

CALLING GOALKEEPERS NAMES

When Australia were beaten 17-0 by a touring English FA XI in 1951, their goalkeeper was one Norman Conquest. 

In 1958, Danish side Frem Copenhagen had a goalkeeper called Bent Koch on their books.

In 2005, Nottingham Forest signed a young goalkeeper by the name of Paddy Gamble. 

Has there ever been a more apt name for a Scottish goalkeeper than Dundee United's Hamish McAlpine?

Shrewsbury Town once had a goalkeeper by the name of Dick Brush. 

French side Bordeaux have the unique distinction of having not one but two goalkeepers called Dropsy on their books - former French international Dominique Dropsy and his son Damien.

Back in the 1980s, schoolboys around England had a good laugh or two at the expense of Brighton & Hove Albion's Perry Digweed and Crystal Palace's Perry Suckling. 

Egypt's goalkeeper in their only game of the 1934 World Cup was Mustafa Kamel Mansour, who later played for Queen's Park while studying in Scotland.

In 1964 Darlington signed the delightfully named Ray Snowball from non-league Crook Town. 

Keeping with the winter theme, York City signed Jack Frost from Grimsby Town in 1948 after he was "frozen out" at Blundell Park.

AND don't forget Fatty Foulke who made a name for himself in several ways...well you wouldn't argue with him! http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/who-ate-all-pies.html  been done before.....

Port Vale and Middlesbrough had a goalkeeper on their books called Joe Frail, who was once suspended by Vale after he missed a train to a match against Rotherham United and failed to give a suitable reason as to why. 

Chelsea once signed a goalkeeper called Les Fridge, who only played once for the Blues in a 5-1 defeat against Watford. He later enjoyed a career north of the boarder with St. Mirren and Clyde among others.

A CHRISTMAS BUNDLE ON THE 26-27th DECEMBER

26 December 1860: Sheffield FC 

won the first match played between two different clubs, beating Hallam FC 0-2. Formed in 1857, as a way to keep cricketers fit in the winter, Sheffield became the world's first football club. For their first three years, they had no opponents, so were limited to playing intra-club games. That changed in 1860 with the establishment of a second Sheffield club, Hallam FC.

Hallam hosted that first game at Sandygate Road, though the teams used Sheffield FC's set of rules, leading to the rivalry taking the name "the Rules Derby". Hallam also had a extra player, fielding fourteen men against Sheffield's thirteen. But the man advantage gave way to experience as the visitors ended up 0-2 winners.

Although the two teams currently compete in different levels of the English football pyramid, they keep the rivalry alive with friendlies, including a recent friendly in July 2013 that Sheffield won 4-2.

and on December 27th 1946: Joe Kinnear was born - former Newcastle, Wimbledon and Luton manager. AND OTHER ANNIVERSARIES on this day:

1949: A record 1,269,934 were in attendance for the Football League programme - an average of 28,862 spectators at each game. The previous record had stood for only 24 hours, 1,226,098 having turned up for the Boxing Day fixtures.

1966: Ballon d'Or: Manchester United midfielder Bobby Charlton wins award for best European football player; wins by a single point ahead of  Portuguese and Benfica striker Eusébio. Remember him in "our" World Cup 1966?

1971: Duncan Ferguson born this day- former Dundee United, Rangers, Everton, Newcastle and Scotland striker, now part of Everton's coaching team.  Here he is celebrating with his chum, Martin Keown.

1977: Ballon d'Or awarded to Dane, Allan Simonsen of Borussia Monchengladbach, best in Europe, that season ahead of Michel Platini (Nancy FC) and Kevin Keegan (Hamburg).

1980: Birmingham goalkeeper, Tony Coton, saved a penalty 90 seconds into his debut, in a 3-2 win over Sunderland at home. The 19-year-old was only told he would be replacing regular keeper, Jeff Wealands, 30 minutes before the kick-off. Not giving Coton much time to think about the enormity of what was about to happen might have helped him, but if he wanted a gentle introduction he was out of luck. Sunderland attacked from the start and when Joe Gallagher conceded a penalty, John Hawley had the chance to give the visitors an early lead from the spot. Coton had not even touched the match ball before he was faced with the very real prospect of picking it out of the net. Coton saved Hawley’s attempt, 54 seconds into his career. Birmingham won 3-2 in a match which Coton still views as his favourite game in league football.

2014: Neil Warnock was sacked as Crystal Palace manager. 

2017: Liverpool announced they had agreed a deal to sign Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton. The deal was understood to be worth £75million, a world-record fee for a defender.

BOXING DAY SCORES AND MORE

 

Fulham met Ipswich Town twice over the Christmas in 1963 - at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day with the return at Portman Road on Saturday 28th December. The programme notes in the second match stated - 'I can only hope that Ipswich kept up the good work against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day. I am afraid that these notes had to be completed long before the result of that match was known so I can only keep my fingers crossed.' That didn't work, Fulham had won that first match 10-1, which was the last time that a club had scored double figures in the top flight.

On Christmas Day 1935, Oldham Athletic beat Tranmere Rovers 4-1 in a Third Division (North) fixture. On Boxing Day the two met again in the return fixture at Prenton Park and this time Tranmere got the better of the game - they won 13-4!17 goals is still a record aggregate score for a League match and the 9 goals scored by Robert 'Bunny' Bell for the home side was also a new Football League record. And he missed a penalty.  

Boxing Day 26th December 1920:The Dick Kerr’s Ladies Football team, formed in a Preston munitions factory in the First World War, played St Helens Ladies in front of a capacity 53,000 crowd at Goodison Park with over 10,000 locked out. This was one of the first all women matches and certainly the first "official" one. The "men-only" Football Association "bods" were not too happy…..

Boxing Day1927: It's never over until the final whistle blows. Syd Reid had scored 4 goals to help Luton Town to a 5-1 half-time lead in the Third Division (South) match at the County Ground against Northampton Town on Boxing Day 1927. But at the final whistle Northampton were the victors 6-5.

Boxing Day 1963: A record number of goals were scored in one day in the top division – 66 goals in 10 matches in the old First Division. That figure included 11 at Craven Cottage – Fulham 10 Ipswich Town 1 – which was the last time a club scored double-figures in a top flight match. Hangover?

Boxing Day 1979: For the first time the two Sheffield clubs found themselves playing each other in the Third Division. Boxing Day saw the first of those matches, Wednesday beating United 4-0 at Hillsborough in front of a Third Division record crowd – still – of 49,309.

Boxing Day1999: There was a time when a 'foreign' player in the League was from Scotland, Ireland or Wales but on Boxing Day 1999 Chelsea fielded the first team in the League to consist entirely of non-British players. They won 2-1 at Southampton in the Premier League with a starting line-up of - Ed de Goey (Netherlands), Albert Ferrer (Spain), Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria), Emerson Thome (Brazil), Franck Leboeuf (France), Dan Petrescu (Romania), Didier Deschamps (France), Roberto di Matteo (Italy), Gabriele Ambrosetti (Italy), Gus Poyet (Uruguay), and Tore Andre Flo (Norway). Their manager was Gianluca Vialli of Italy but at least they had English subs that day! Below, put names to faces....

Boxing Day 2008: When Hull City found themselves 4-0 down at half-time away to Manchester City in a Boxing Day Premier League fixture Tigers manager Phil Brown was not chuffed. He likened Hull's efforts as a 'Sunday League performance' and with his Christmas spirit absent he refused to allow his players to return to the dressing room during the half-time break. Instead he sat them on the pitch in front of the 5500 travelling fans and gave the players a bollocking! Hull eventually lost the match 5-1 but that meant they had drawn the second half 1-1!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G8Gl-Fx_ek the original and Steve Bullard's micky take.....

MERRY CHRISTMAS-FOR SOME

 For football fans, the Christmas period serves up a real festive feast, with fixtures stuffed into the calendar like sage and onion into a turkey’s nether regions. Christmas Day, however, is a football-free zone, with supporters left to sit indoors and endure the Queen’s speech, over excited kids, cracker jokes and kisses from elderly relatives.

This wasn’t always the case, though – historically, until the 1950s, football was traditionally played on Christmas Day. This made a lot of sense, particularly in the early years. Christmas Day was a rare public holiday and football was one of the few entertainments available. In the days before television, it wasn’t possible to slump on the sofa in front of the EastEnders Christmas special, so folk wrapped up in new hats and scarves from Santa Claus and went out to watch football instead. Spurs went away to Manchester City on Christmas Day, (30,000 watched at Hyde Road). On December 25th 1912 and drew 2-2. ONE day later they hosted City (20,000 in crowd) and won 4-0 on Boxing Day. James Cantrell scored a hat trick. Below...snow during the fixture, not at Christmas!

Today, clubs are complaining about the overload of fixtures on this Christmas holiday. In the past, there would be a full programme of fixtures on Christmas Day and usually, another full programme on Boxing Day. In the Victorian era, when many of the festive traditions we enjoy today were introduced, football was very much a part of Christmas. Two days, three games!!! 

A 1980s revival brought Christmas Day matches back to the nation, which ended in failure. Brentford planned to play Wimbledon in a Third Division game kicking off at 11am. Both sets of fans protested about the ridiculous timing and the match was played on Christmas Eve instead.

In 1888, Everton played two matches on Christmas Day, then another on Boxing Day. All three matches took place at Everton’s pre-Goodison home – Anfield. On Christmas morning they played a Lancashire Cup tie against Blackburn Park Road, coming from behind to win 3-2. Then in the afternoon they played an annual exhibition match against Ulster FC, winning 3-0, with goalkeeper Charles Jolliffe scoring the third goal to the great amusement of the 2,000 spectators – a large crowd for the time. The Boxing Day match against Bootle was less amusing, being played in a shower of hailstones, and ending as a goalless draw.

The first Football League match to be played on Christmas Day was Preston North End versus Aston Villa in 1889. Preston’s 'Invincibles' were the reigning league champions, but Villa had won the previous meeting between England’s top two sides. This was a real Christmas cracker and 9,000 spectators postponed their turkey dinners to see it, making it one of the highest-attended games the fledgling league had seen. Man of the match was Preston’s Nick Ross, the fearsome defender-turned-forward who terrified opponents by hissing at them through a crooked set of rotten teeth. Ross gave Preston an early lead, but Villa hit back with two goals before half-time. In the second half, Ross hit a long-range equaliser and then claimed his hat-trick with a “lightning shot”. A hard-fought game ended 3-2 to Preston, who went on to win the league for the second season running.

Clubs often played derby matches on Christmas Day, and one of football’s biggest early derbies was Blackburn Rovers versus Darwen. In 1890, a match between the sides at Ewood Park ended in a Christmas Day riot, with very little seasonal goodwill on display.

Rovers, saving their best players for a Boxing Day match at Wolves, fielded a reserve side. An aggrieved Darwen initially refused to play, before eventually offering up their own scratch XI. At this point, several thousand short-changed supporters of both sides united to show their displeasure. “The impatient crowd burst on the field, smashed the goalposts, and damaged the stands,” reported the Birmingham Daily Post. “No game took place, therefore.” 

Abstaining on religious grounds Even though local derbies were often scheduled for Christmas, the demanding schedule put a strain on the players with all the travelling that would have been involved.If a club misses a game today severe penalties can be administered, but FA rules at the time stated “no club shall be compelled to play any match on Good Friday or Christmas Day”.

Swindon Town’s Harold Fleming (who played from 1907 to 1924) and Sunderland’s Arthur Bridgett below, (1902 to 1924) were high profile England International players, who refused to play on Christmas Day on religious grounds.

The Steel and Sons Cup (also referred to as the Steel Cup was presented by David Steel on behalf of his metal and jewellery company), founded in 1895, is an intermediate football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North East Ulster FA.

The competition culminates in the final which has traditionally been played on 25 December (except when this date falls on a Sunday). Current holders are Linfield Swifts and Glentoran the most winners.

LIVERPOOL'S RECORDS AND SOME OTHERS

We honour the latest record for consecutive matches in which Liverpool have scored a goal: 33 (from 19 April 2021 to 19 December 2021). ALSO to record consecutive matches without conceding a goal: 11 (from 29 October 2005 to 18 December 2005).

Liverpool have broken that record after their 2-0 win over Porto in the Champions recently. Jurgen Klopp's side maintained their 100 percent record in the competition this season with a win over the Portuguese side. Thiago opened the scoring early in the second-half with a fantastic effort on the half-volley before Mohamed Salah sent a trademark left-footed strike beyond Diogo Costa. 

The Reds became the first side to score two or more goals in 16 consecutive games in all competitions in 82 years. 

Klopp’s men maintained an outstanding record in league football during December, their last top-flight loss during the month coming in 2016 (27 wins, seven draws).

Thursday’s comeback victory over Newcastle Utd, The Magpies, brought up a magnificent milestone for Liverpool: the 2,000th top-flight win in the club’s history. 

The Reds are the first English team ever to reach that landmark, which came in their 4,227th such match (1,047 draws and 1,180 defeats).

There was an additional flourish for manager Klopp, specifically in the form of his 150th league win since taking charge of the club in October 2015.

Reflecting his side’s relentlessness in the division for the majority of his tenure, Klopp has brought up that total in 12 games fewer than any of his predecessors in the dugout, bettering Sir Kenny Dalglish, who got to the mark in 2011.

Liverpool’s No.11, Salah, has now scored or assisted a goal in each of his last 15 Premier League appearances and thereby equalled the record set by Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy in 2015.

Watch the video.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-break-astonishing-82-year-2226850

The last side to do so was Wolverhampton Wanderers as World War 2 broke out, while the only team to have a longer run was Sunderland in 1927 with 17 games. 

Liverpool's run started back in September with a 3-0 win over Leeds United at Elland Road. It includes victories over the likes of AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester United. Despite three draws in that time against Brentford, Manchester City and Brighton, the Reds have managed to find the back of the net at least twice in each of those games. The defeat to West Ham is also included, but the two goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Divock Origi in the 3-2 loss at the London Stadium kept the run alive. Klopp's record-breaking side have the chance to match Sunderland's record against Southampton thisweekend.

YES, I know you know that I get my "blog stuff" from the world wide web. Hey ho....This table of records is worth a look at and you might need to move "table" to see all its records. Very good for that Christmas quiz. There's a lot of stuff here and don't be frightened to use the sliding bar below.

Goals and goalscoring records

Record	Player	Nationality	Year(s)	Details	Ref	Image
'Highest goal-scoring goalkeeper of all time '	Rogério Ceni	Brazil	1990–2015	132 goals in 1,237 games	[1]
'Player who has scored the most official goals for a single club'	Lionel Messi	Argentina	2005–2021	672 goals for Barcelona	[2] [3]
'The world's all-time goalscorer according to the Guinness Book of World Records and FIFA'	Pelé	Brazil	1953–1977	1284 goals in 1,315 games	[4] [5]
'The world's all-time undocumented goalscorer according to the Guinness Book of World Records'	Arthur Friedenreich	Brazil	1909–1935	1,329 undocumented goals. His feat is not recognised by FIFA.
'The world's all-time goalscorer according to RSSSF (official matches) '	Erwin Helmchen	Germany	1926–1952	981+ goals in 595 games	[6]
'The world's all-time goalscorer according to RSSSF (all matches) '	Lajos Tichy	Hungary	1953–1971	1912 goals in 1,301 games	[7]
'All-time league goalscorer according to RSSSF (all leagues including regional/reserve leagues and final tournaments) '	Erwin Helmchen	Germany	1926–1952	720+ goals	[8]
'All-time first division goalscorer according to RSSSF '	Josef Bican	Austria  Czechoslovakia	1931–1955	526 goals	[8]
'All-time best club goalscorer according to IFFHS' '	Romário	Brazil	1985–2009	689 goals	[9]
'Player to score most goals in international club competitions'	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	2004–present	150 goals: Cristiano scored 141 goals in UEFA Champions League, 7 in FIFA Club World Cup and 2 in UEFA Super Cup.
'Player to win top-scorer awards in third, second and first division '	Dario Hubner	Italy	1987–2011	1992 Italian third division, 1996 second division and 2002 first division.
'Only player to win top-scorer awards in third, second, first division and international competitions '	Robert Lewandowski	Poland	2005–present	2007 Polish third division, 2008 second division and 2010 first division. Also Bundesliga top-scorer in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2020 UEFA Champions League.
'Only player to win top-scorer awards in three different continents '	Isidro Lángara	Spain	1930-1948	He won the award with Real Club España in Mexico (CONCACAF zone) in 1944, 1946, Real Oviedo in Spain (UEFA) in 1934, 1935, 1936 and San Lorenzo in Argentina (CONMEBOL) in 1940.
'Player to win most FIFA World's Best player awards'	Lionel Messi	Argentina	2009–2019	6 awards. Messi won the The Best FIFA Men's Player in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019
'Highest goal-scoring defender of all time'	Ronald Koeman	Netherlands	1980–1997	207 goals in 581 games. Average of 1 goal every 2.8 games	[10]
'Player with most domestic top-scorer awards according to IFFHS'	Josef Bican	Austria  Czechoslovakia	1931–1955	12 wins: Czechoslovakian league 1938, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1950 - Austrian league 1934 - Bohemian/Moravian league 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 - Czechoslovakian second division 1949
'All-time international goalscorer (national team)'	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	2004–	115 goals in 184 games.
'Youngest international goalscorer (national team)'	Aung Kyaw Tun	Myanmar	2000	On 6 November 2000, Aung Kyaw Tun scored for Myanmar in the 2000 AFF Championship match against Thailand (3-1 defeat) at the age of 14 years and 93 days.
'All-time national team goalscorer in all football-related sports (association football, futsal, beach soccer and indoor soccer) '	Falcão (Futsal)	Brazil	1998–2018	401 goals for Brazil (futsal)	[11]
'Player scored most official goals in a calendar year'	Leo Messi	Argentina	2012	91 goals in all competitions	[12]
'Only player to have scored more than 50 goals in 6 consecutive seasons'	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	2010–2016		[13]
'Only player to have scored more than 40 goals in 10 consecutive seasons'	Lionel Messi	Argentina	2009–2019		[14]
'First goalkeeper to score a hat-trick'	Ilija Pantelic	Yugoslavia	1963	Ilija Pantelic, a penalty specialist became the first goalkeeper to score a hat-trick in the match NK Trešnjevka - FK Vojvodina 0-3 in the Yugoslav first division.
'Only goalkeeper to score a hat-trick of penalties'	José Luis Chilavert	Paraguay	1999	On 28 November 1999, Paraguayan goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert scored a hat-trick of penalties for Vélez Sársfield in a 6–1 victory against Ferro Carril Oeste.	[15][16]
'Player with the most goals scored in an international match'	Archie Thompson	Australia	2001	On 11 April 2001, Archie Thompson scored 13 goals, in the Australia 31–0 American Samoa match as a part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.	[17]
'Player with most goals scored in a league match'	Panagiotis Pontikos	Cyprus	2007	On 7 May 2007, Panagiotis Pontikos scored 16 goals in the match Olympos Xylofagou - SEK Agiou Athanasiou 24–3, in the Cyprus third division.	[18]
'Player with the most goals scored in a domestic cup match'	Stefan Dembicki	France	1942	In the preliminary round of the 1942-43 French Cup, Stefan Dembicki scored 16 goals in the RC Lens - Auby Asturies match (32-0). He broke the previous record of 12 September 1885, when Jocky Petrie scored 13 goals in the Arbroath - Bon Accord match (36-0), in the Scottish Cup.	[19]
'Fastest goal in history'	Vuk Bakić	Serbia	2012	On 25 September 2012, Vuk Bakić scored after two seconds for the Serbian junior championship between GSP Polet and Dorcol	[20]
'Youngest player to score a hat trick'	Ntinos Pontikas	Greece	1996	On 21 September 1996, Ntinos Pontikas in his debut, aged 14 and 198 days, scored his team's all 3 goals in the Ampelokipoi-Haravgi match (4-3), in the fifth division of the Greek championship.	[21][22]
'Most consecutive hat-tricks in history'	Stjepan Lucijanic	Croatia	2016	On 9 November 2016, Stjepan Lucijanic scored his fifth consecutive hat-trick during the NK Dracice Dakovo - NK Zrinski Drenje match (10-0) in the Croatian seventh division. He tallied 20 goals in those five games, breaking an 18-year-old record held by Japanese forward Masashi Nakayama, set between 15 and 29 April in 1998.	[23]
'Player who scored the most official hat-tricks'	Pelé	Brazil	1957–1977	96 in total	[24][25]
'Player who scored at least one hat-trick in most competitions'	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	2002–present	10 competitions: Cristiano Ronaldo scored at least one hat-trick in the Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Serie A, Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Champions League, World Cup Qualification, European Qualification, Nations League and FIFA World Cup.	[26]
'Fastest hat-trick in history (men)'	Alex Torr	England	2013	On 4 May 2013, 20-year old Alex Torr scored a hat-trick in 70 seconds during the match between Rawson Springs and Meadowhall (7-1), in the English Sunday league of Sheffield. He broke Tommy Ross' record which was set in 1964 when he scored a hat-trick in 90 seconds for Ross County against Nairn in the Scottish fifth division.	[27]
'Fastest hat-trick in history (women)'	Fabienne Humm	Switzerland	2015	On 12 May 2015, Swiss player Fabienne Humm scored the fastest hat-trick in women's football, scoring three goals in five minutes in Switzerland's 10–1 drubbing of Ecuador, during the FIFA Women's World Cup	[28]
'Fastest international hat-trick (national team)'	Willie Hall	England	1938	On 16 November 1938, during the friendly between England and Northern Ireland in Manchester (7-0), Willie Hall of Tottenham Hotspur, scored 3 goals in three and a half minutes. In that game Hall scored five goals during a 30-minute period either side of half-time.	[29]
'Player to score 2 goals in less than a minute'	Ignacio Scocco	Argentina	2013	On 15 August 2013, during the game between Botafogo and Internacional in the Brasileirão, Scocco scored two goals in the 33rd minute, with a difference of 49 seconds between goals.	[30]
'Most goals scored by a substitute in a single game'	Robert Lewandowski	Poland	2015	On 24 September 2015, during a Bundesliga game between Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg (5-1), Lewandowski came on as a substitute on the second half and scored five goals in nine minutes. 4 of them were scored within five minutes and 42 seconds.	[31]
'Fastest 4 goals in a single game'
'Goalkeeper who scored the most goals from non-set pieces'	Jorge Campos	Mexico	1988–2004	35 goals. He would often play as a forward during some games.
'Player who scored the most bicycle kicks in history'	Hugo Sánchez	Mexico	1972–1997	10+ bicycle kick goals	[32]
'Player who scored the most Olympic goals (direct corner kick goals) of all time'	Şükrü Gülesin	Turkey	1940–1955	32 goals	[33][34]
'Player who scored the most free-kick goals'	Zico	Brazil	1971–1994	101 free-kick goals. 62 for Flamengo, 17 for Udinese, 15 for Caxima, and 7 for Brazil.	[35]
'Player who scored the most penalty kicks'	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	2002–present	140 penalties: Cristiano Ronaldo converted 140 out of 168 penalties.	[36]
'Player with the best scoring penalty kick ratio'	Ledio Pano	Albania  Greece	1986–2002	100%: Ledio Pano scored 50 penalties in 50 attempts during his career in Albania and Greece.	[37]
'Longest headed goal scored'	Jone Samuelsen	Norway	2011	On 25 September 2011, Jone Samuelsen scored a header from a 58.13 m (190 ft 8.58 in) distance during the ODD Grenland-Tromsø Idrettslag match (3-1), in the Norwegian first division.
'Longest distance goal scored'	Ubirajara Alcântara	Brazil	1970	On 19 September 1970, Flamengo goalkeeper Ubirajara Alcântara scored against Madureira Esporte Clube in the Campeonato Carioca from his goal area to the other end, a distance of 91.9 meters. The field at the time was 120 meters, the longest distance accepted by FIFA.	[38]
'Longest distance goal scored according to the Guinness Book of World Records'	Tom King	Wales	2021	On 21 January 2021, goalkeeper Tom King scored from own six-yard box, a distance of 96.01 meters (105 yds) for Newport County in the 1–1 draw with Cheltenham Town, in the League Two.	[39]
'Players who scored in all possible minutes of a game'	Cristiano Ronaldo / Zlatan Ibrahimović	Portugal /  Sweden	2002–present 1999–present	Ronaldo and Ibrahimović are the only two players to score in every minute of a match	[40]
'Player who scored in most competitions in one season'	Fernando Torres	Spain	2012–2013	7 competitions: Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Euros.	[41]

Appearances records[edit]

Record	Player	Nationality	Year(s)	Details	Ref	Image
'Player with the most seasons as captain for one club'	Francesco Totti	Italy	1998–2017	19 seasons: Totti captained Roma from 1998 until his retirement in 2017
'Player with the most matches as captain for one club'	Rogério Ceni	Brazil	2001 - 2015	982 games: Rogério Ceni captained São Paulo from 2001 until 2015
'Player who played the most games for one club'			2015	1237 games
'Player who played the most official games in history'	Peter Shilton	England	1966–1997	1,390 games over 31 seasons.
'Player with the most international club competition appearances in history'	Iker Casillas	Spain	1999–2019	192 appearances: 188 UEFA club competitions, 2 in Intercontinental Cup, 2 in FIFA World Club Cup.
'Player with the most international caps in history'	Soh Chin Ann	Malaysia	1969–1984	219 caps.
'Player that spent the most years on top of the international caps record list'	Billy Wright	England	1957–1970	13 years: Billy Wright broke Ferenc Puskas' record in 1957 but his 105 cap record was surpassed in 1970 by Bobby Charlton.
'Player with the most international caps for an amateur national team'	Billy Neil	Scotland	1957–1969	45 caps for the Scotland national amateur football team.
'Player with most international goals for an amateur national team'	Vivian Woodward	England	1906–1914	57 goals for the England national amateur football team.
'Youngest footballer to play in a professional league'	Mauricio Baldivieso	Bolivia	2009	On 19 July 2009, Bolivian Mauricio Baldivieso aged 12, debuted as a substitute in the Bolivian first division for Club Aurora in their away match against La Paz F.C. (Aurora lost 1–0).
'Oldest professional football player (longest career span)'	Kazuyoshi Miura	Japan	1986–present	Japanese striker Kazu Miura continues playing football for Yokohama FC having almost reached the age of 54.
'Oldest footballer according to the Guinness Book of World Records'	Ezzeldin Bahader	Egypt	2020	On 6 October 2020, 74-year old Ezzeldin Bahader became the oldest footballer in history featuring in his team's match against El Ayat Sports (defeat by 3–2) in the Egyptian third division. He broke Israeli goalkeeper Isaak Hayik's record who had become the oldest on 5 April 2019 at the age of 73, when he played for Ironi Or Yehuda in the south group of the Israeli third division.
'Oldest (veteran football) player'	Dickie Borthwick	England	1957–2019	85-year old Dickie Borthwick made 1,600 appearances over the course of a 72-year career, scoring over 400 goals, and previously played for Ross County and Invergordon Town in the Scottish highlands before moving to Dorset, where he played for 11 non-league clubs.

Other records[edit]

Record	Player	Nationality	Year(s)	Details	Ref	Image
'Most decorated player of all-time'	Ángel Romano	Uruguay	1910–1930	50 titles won: 21 domestic and 8 international with Nacional Montevideo, 21 country trophies with Uruguay.
'Most decorated player (official titles)'	Dani Alves	Brazil	2001–present	43 titles won
'Player who won most league titles in history'	Roar Strand	Norway	1989–2017	16 Norwegian league titles with Rosenborg BK in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2010.
'Player with the most world titles in history'	Toni Kroos	Germany	2013–2018	6 world titles: 1 FIFA World Cup (2014) and 5 FIFA Club World Cups (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)
'Goalkeeper who saved most penalties in history according to FIFA'	Lev Yashin	Soviet Union	1950–1970	150+ penalties: Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin saved a world-record 150-plus penalties for Dynamo Moscow and Soviet Union.
'Goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in history'	Lev Yashin	Soviet Union	1949–1971	270 matches without a goal
'Goalkeeper with the most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal'	Mazaropi	Brazil	1977–1978	1816 minutes without a goal
'First goalkeeper in history to score a goal'	Jaguare Bezerra de Vasconcelos	Brazil	1938	On June 22, 1938, in the final of the French Cup scored the winning goal by a penalty in Olympique Marseille's 2-1 victory over Metz.
'Only player who missed a hat-trick of penalties in one game'	Martín Palermo	Argentina	1999	On 4 July 1999, Martin Palermo missed 3 penalties during the Copa America match between Argentina and Colombia (0-3).
'Player most sent-off by the referee during his career'	Gerardo Bedoya	Colombia	1995–2015	46 red cards in total
'Heaviest football player in history'	William Foulke	England	1908	William Foulke was 2.01 m tall, weighed 141 kg when he started, but at the end of his career he was weighing 165 kg.
'Tallest professional football player in history'	Simon Bloch Jørgensen	Denmark	2010–present	2.10 m (6 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
'Shortest professional football player in history'	Bimbinha	Brazil		1.47 m (4 ft 10 in)
'Player who played for most clubs during his professional professional career'	Sebastián Abreu	Uruguay	1993–present	31 clubs
'Player who played in every continent during his professional career'	Lutz Pfannenstiel	Germany	1991–2011	Goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel is the only player in history to have played for clubs in Africa, Central America, North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. He played for 27 clubs during his career including 2 as a youth player.
'Player who played in most divisions with one club'	Nathan Pond	England		Played for Fleetwood Town in 7 divisions of English football: North West Counties League, Northern Premier League Division 1 North, Northern Premier League Premier Division, Conference North, Conference Premier, Football League 2 and Football League 1.
'Footballer to play both an international and a domestic game on the same day'	Juninho Paulista	Brazil	1994	On 16 November 1994, Juninho Paulista played two games for São Paulo. The first was during the first leg of the Copa Conmebol quarter-finals against Sporting Cristal from Peru (3-1 win) with São Paulo using their the reserve team. In the second, he come on as a second half substitute against Gremio Porto Alegre in the Brazilian Championship (also with a 3–1 win).

Coaches[edit]

Coaches in bold are still active.

See also: List of world champion football club winning managers

Record	Manager	Nationality	Details	Ref	Image
'Only manager in history to win all six European titles in one calendar year'	Pep Guardiola	Spain	In his first season in charge, Pep Guardiola completed a historic double treble, winning the Copa del Rey, La Liga, the Champions League, the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA World Club Cup: six trophies out of six in the 2010 calendar year.
'Longest-serving manager in history'	Amadeu Teixeira	Brazil	Amadeu Teixeira was in charge of América Futebol Clube-Amazonas for 53 years (1955-2008), and he was also one of the founders of the club in 1939.
'Most successful manager'	Alex Ferguson	Scotland	He won 49 titles, including 13 from the Premier League, two from the UEFA Champions League Cup and one FIFA World Cup.
'Manager who won the most league titles'	Bill Struth	Scotland	18 league titles: he won the Scottish first division with Rangers in 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1947, 1949, 1950, and 1953.
'Most short-lived coach in a club'	Leroy Rosenior	England	Ten minutes in charge of Torquay United

Clubs

Record	Club	Nationality	Year(s)	Details	Ref	Image
'Club that has scored the most goals in history'	Santos	Brazil		12,500 (up to 2018), Source: FIFA
'Club with most international trophies won'	Real Madrid	Spain		26 trophies
'Club with the most consecutive continental club titles'	Auckland City FC	New Zealand	2011-2017	7 OFC Champions League titles in a row
'Club with most trophies won'	Linfield	Northern Ireland		271 trophies
'Club with most titles in the same competition'	ABC	Brazil		56 Campeonato Potiguar titles.
'Club with most national league titles'	Glasgow Rangers	Scotland		55 Scottish Premier League titles.
'Club with the most national championships won in a row'	Tafea	Vanuatu	1994 to 2008-09	15 consecutive titles.
'Club with most domestic titles in history'	Linfield	Northern Ireland		95 national titles won.
'Oldest football club that is still active'	Bochum	Germany		Since 1848
'Longest winning streak for a first division club (Men)'	The New Saints	Wales	2016-2017	27 consecutive wins. It broke Ajax's record with 26 consecutive wins which lasted from 3 October 1971 to 29 March 1972.
'Longest winning streak for a first division club (Women)'	Corinthians Feminino	Brazil	2019	34 consecutive wins
'Longest streak for a club scoring at least 1 goal'	River Plate	Argentina	1936 - 1939	96 consecutive games

Championships / Cups[edit]

Record	Competition	Country	Year(s)	Details	Ref	Image
'Competition with most clubs participated in total'	French Cup	France		7422 different clubs
'Shortest National Championship'	Greenlandic Football Championship	Greenland		7 days
'Oldest national championship'	English Football League	England		First edition held in 1888
'Oldest football competition'	FA Cup	England		First edition held in 1871

World Competitions[edit]

FIFA World Cup[edit]

Players and coaches in bold are still active.

Main article: FIFA World Cup records

Record	Name	Nationality	Year(s)	Details	Ref	Image
'Sportsman who won most World Cups as player or manager (men)'	Mário Zagallo	Brazil	1958, 1962, 1970, 1994	As a Player in 1958 and 1962; as a coach in 1970; as an Assistant coach in 1994.
'World Cup's all-time goalscorer (men)'	Miroslav Klose	Germany	2002 - 2014	16 goals in 4 editions: 5 goals at the 2002 World Cup, 5 goals in 2006, 4 goals in 2010, 2 goals in 2014.
'World Cup's all-time goalscorer (women)'	Marta	Brazil	2003 -2019	17 goals in 5 editions: 3 goals at the 2003 World Cup, 7 goals at the 2007 World Cup, 4 goals in 2011, 1 goal in the 2015, 2 goals in 2019.
'Player scored most goals in a single edition'	Just Fontaine	France	1958	13 goals.
'Player who played the most World Cup finals in a row'	Cafu	Brazil	1994, 1998, 2002	3 finals: he won 1994 and 2002
'Player who played most World Cup matches'	Lothar Matthäus	Germany	1982 - 1998	25 matches (2,052 min.)
'Oldest player to score in a World Cup'	Roger Milla	Cameroon	1994	42 years and 39 days
'Youngest player to score in a World Cup'	Pele	Brazil	1958	17 years and 239 days.
'Youngest player to play in a World Cup'	Norman Whiteside	Northern Ireland	1982	17 years and 41 days.
'Youngest player to score hat-trick in a World Cup'	Pele	Brazil	1958	On 24 June 1958, Pele scored a hat-trick in the 1958 semifinal against France (5-2) at 17 years and 244 days.
'Manager with most games in charge of the same national team in the World Cup'	Óscar Tabárez	Uruguay	1990 - 2018	20 matches in 4 World Cups for Uruguay: 1990, 2010, 2014 and 2018.	[74]
'Player who won most World Cup matches'	Miroslav Klose	Germany	2002 - 2014	17 matches in 4 world cups
'National team that scored the most goals in a single World Cup'	Hungary national football team	Hungary	1954	27 goals

Olympic Games[edit]

Players in bold are still active.

See also: Football at the Summer Olympics

Record	Name	Nationality	Year(s)	Details	Ref	Image
'Most goals in an Olympic tournament (Men)'	Ferenc Bene	Hungary	1964	12 goals	[75]
'Most goals in an Olympic tournament (Women)'	Cristiane	Brazil	2012	12 goals
'Fastest goal in Olympic Games (Men)'	Neymar	Brazil	2016	In the semi-final of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016 against the Honduras National Team, Neymar opened the scoring a14 seconds into the game
'Oldest scorer/ Oldest player in Olympic Games'	Ryan Giggs	United Kingdom	2012	On July 29, Welsh Ryan Giggs, aged 39, a member of the British National Team, set two records: the oldest player to compete in the Olympic football tournament and the oldest to score a goal in that competition, in the match against the United Arab Emirates.
'National team with most Olympic achievements (Men's Football)'	Brazil	Brazil	2020, 2016, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2008, 2012	7 Olympic Medals: 2 Gold (2016 and 2020), 3 Silver (1984, 1988 and 2012) and 2 Bronzes (1996 and 2008)
'National team that scored the most goals in a single edition of the Olympic Games (Men's)'	Denmark / Yugoslavia	Denmark/ Yugoslavia	1908 / 1952	26 goals
'Only team to win the gold medal with a 100% record and without conceding a goal (Men's)'	Argentina	Argentina	2004	Gold medal: 6 wins in 6 games, 17 goals scored and no goals conceded