Welcome to the fourth, and final, quiz for this season which does not have the usual seven decades format. Both Stevenage (Borough) and Burton Albion have defeated me I’m afraid in that I found it impossible to compile a quiz in the normal format for them. Therefore, once again, I’ll ask questions where either the subject of or the answer to the question will begin with the letters in the club name, so this time there will be six questions based on the word Albion – the answers will be posted on here on Sunday.
As for Burton Albion 25/26, their position of twentieth is about where most pundits had them finishing when pre season predictions were being made and their current run of five league defeats in six is just what you’d expect from a struggling club, but, dig a little deeper, and their results are an odd mix.
Burton’s stand out result for the season so far has to be their 1-0 win here in September. I think luck was on their side somewhat that night, but, nevertheless, it was still a superb win for them in which they defended with great discipline and doggedness and caused problems on their occasional visits to our penalty area. They’ve also won at Bradford and drawn at Huddersfield and based on what I saw of their 2-1 loss at Lincoln a week ago they were a little unlucky to lose, while it took an injury time goal to beat them by the same score on Tuesday at Bolton.
However, in the game before they beat us, Burton had been beaten 4-0 at home by Plymouth and while they’ve had notable home wins over Bolton (3-0) and Huddersfield (3-1), there’s also been further heavy losses to Luton (0-3) and Leyton Orient (0-4) on their own pitch.
On the face of it. City should be able to go to Burton and win just like they did on the opening day of a promotion season when Kenneth Zohore’s late goal decided the game in 2017. However, just under a year earlier, they’d beaten us 2-0 at home in a game which signalled the end of Paul Trollope’s brief time as City manager and a few weeks after our win there in 2017, they came to Cardiff City Stadium and beat us in League Cup game. So, like so many teams in this league, you underestimate Burton at your peril.
A. Which ex City player completes a trio which also includes George Best and John Fitzpatrick? The missing player was the youngest of the three when he made his debut in first team football and he also became the first player at Manchester United to do something which is considered very much the norm these days.
L. As far as I know, he was the only one out of the thirteen children in his family who went on to play professional football. He started off playing for a club in the county of his birth and played a part in what were probably the best times so far in their existence. He left after playing just under three hundred games for his first club and moved south to join much bigger animals in white for a couple of seasons, before coming to Cardiff to be a physiotherapist under one of his former managers. However, a combination of injuries and the poor form of others saw him playing seven games for us in all competitions before he left after a season. In later life, he ran the only nightclub in the town of his birth and it won an award for being the “Best Bar None” during his time in charge. Who am I describing?
B. Can you identify this player from this list of his former clubs;-
Spurs, Palace, Wimbledon, Bristol City, Newport County, Cardiff City and Swansea City?
I. Although he didn’t get on to the pitch, he was a substitute in the Final for a Cup winning side this season. He’s made twenty one appearances for his current club, which plays in the top flight of the country’s league system, this season. He’s also been a Gypsy in his time as well as being a regular in the midfield of the team representing a city famous for its crystal and he’s also played in the EFL for a team which conceded five last weekend. Besides that, Wikipedia says that he was on City’s books briefly during. this decade, but who is he?
O. Royal in, for example, City’s midfield. (4,5)
N. According to my research, 37.5 per cent of all footballers through the history of the professional game in this country with this surname have played for Cardiff City. What is the surname and who are the City players concerned?
Answers
A. (Willie) Anderson, John Fitzpatrick and George Best were the only players to be offered professional contracts by Manchester United in their year of apprentices taken on by the club in their teens. Although Anderson ended up playing fewer times for United than Fitzpatrick and Best, he was the first to make a senior debut for the club despite being the youngest of the three. Anderson also became the first substitute to be used by Manchester United when he came on in the 1965 Charity Shield game against Liverpool.
L. Oswestry born (Carleton) Leonard played for Shrewsbury and Hereford before reuniting with Alan Durban at City for the 85/86 season.
B. (Terry) Boyle.
I. Apparently, (Roland) Idowu was at Southampton’s Academy and then joined us during the 20/21 season. After leaving us, he returned to Dublin, the city he was born in, to play for Bohemians (the Gypsies) and then Waterford before moving to Shrewsbury Town and then, after an initial loan spell with them, to Saint Mirren. Id0wu was an unused sub in St Mirren’s League Cup victory over Celtic last month and has been a fairly regular member of their team this season.
O. (Gary) O’Neil.
N. Three of the eight footballers with the surname Nugent who have played professional football in the Football League have played for City – Cliff, Kevin and Ben.
