European Cup Trivia

[jwdd27]

Pat Crerand would have been the first post Celtic winner.

[blameless]

4th player to win the Europen Cup after leaving Celtic is something of a trick question - Bertie Auld was in his 2nd spell at Parkhead when he was part of Celtic's Lisbon Lions team, so technically he'd left Celtic before winning the thing.

[Alex Anderson]

Well done, troops - blameless getting the first and hardest one.

Bertie Auld; left for Birmingham in 1961, played the home leg for them of that year's Fairs Cup final, then back to Celtic for Lisbon 67 and Milan 70.
Paddy Crerand ;Man U 1968
Kenny Dalglish; Liverpool 1978, 81, 84 & 85
Henrik Larsson; Scored twice for Celtic in 2003 UEFA Cup final, left 2004, came on second half to make the difference for Barcelona in Paris in 2006

[Alex Anderson]

Henrik Larsson is one.

Kenny Dalglish also.

Not sure how many former Rangers players have done it, but Gennaro Gattuso is part of said club. I know, that's of no use to the question.

Helps me though, Denis - cheers.

Gattuso did it after Ibrox. Graeme Souness did it before.

Stefan Klos, Basile Boli and Trevor Francis also did it before but bonus point for anyone who can say what else connects those three in their European Cup/Champions League winningness.

Clue: It would also connect future Rangers defender Sergio Porrini if he hadn't lost playing in the 97 final instead of being an unused sub in Juve's winning team the previous year.

(There's probably more but that's all I can think of right now, while my brain struggles with the fact Scotland won 3-0 in a game they were supposed to win 3-0. It's a lot to take on. Don't really have the mental strategies in place to deal with it)

[blameless]

I'll have to give the Klos-Boli-Francis link some thought, I've never heard of them being connected.

Gio van Bronckhorst (Barcelona) has of course won the Champions League as an ex-Ted.

[jwdd27]

Francis, Boli and Klos all won the cup at Munich Olympiastadion.

[ursus arctos]

Two of them scored headers in 1-0 wins in the Final, but that obviously doesn't work for Klos.

What Klos did along with the other two is win the trophy in the Olympiastdion in Munich.

[Alex Anderson]

Gio! GVB! How could I forget! Him and Larsson were Feyenoord buddies, opposite sides of the Old Firm then won the big one together in 2006 (and I don't mean the CIS Insurance Cup) Nice one? blameless.

[Alex Anderson]

Francis, Boli and Klos all won the cup at Munich Olympiastadion.

Correct, Sir. That's the connection (the one I was looking for anyway). Well done.

Two of them scored headers in 1-0 wins in the Final, but that obviously doesn't work for Klos.

What Klos did along with the other two is win the trophy in the Olympiastdion in Munich.

Also correct, ursus, (not shocked here) and thank you for taking it deeper - smooths the way for me to do this:

Other than the fact we also later signed Robert Prytz (played for Malmo in 1979 final) and Sergio Porrinni (Juventus 1997), the only guys to SCORE in ANY European Cup/UCL final played at the Munich Olympic Stadium who haven't later signed for Rangers are Karl Heinz Riedle, Alex Del Piero and Lars Ricken. Yet Riedle scored the only goal of a Scotland v Germany friendly I attended in March 1993 - at Ibrox - and when Juve pumped Rangers at Ibrox en route to winning the comp in 1995-96, Del Piero opened the scoring.

Ricken played for Dortmund at Ibrox twice (Riedle also scored against us in Dortmund in 95-96) and the season Rangers came closest to reaching the biggest final in club football was 1992-93; It should've, could've, would've been Richard Gough or - I always imagine - John Bomber Brown scoring that winner instead of Big Basile. We drew both games with OM that season. Milan were off in the final. McCoist was injured. We'd've scored from a corner, like OM.And they would've called us the Munich Marvels...

We've all got our hard luck and "what if" stories but - come on - there's clearly a psychic connection here. The fates are clearly going pure Jim Bowen on Rangers, re Munich 93.

Did my pilgrimage in March 2002. Bayern pumped Koln 3 - 0 and I discovered the gorgeous deposit-on-your-plastic-stein fussball drinking experience as well as the beauty of that webbed roof and the freezingness of a Bavarian spring - all while staring at the penalty box in which Der Bomber twisted to score the winner in a World Cup final, the same goal into which Boli scored his winner ... which should've been by Rangers' Bomber... heading home v Milan from a corner. My pals call me Eck - in Munich's olympic stadium a corner is a ball on an "Eck'.

That day I was there, Bayern were reigning champions of Europe. Bloody Munich Marvels.

[denishurley]

This piece of trivia is rather flimsy, I'll admit, but:

- In 2005, Arsenal were eliminated from the Champions League by Bayern Munich on a 3-2 aggregate scoreline, Claudio Pizarro's two goals in the first leg the difference.
- In 2006, Arsenal lost the Champions League final 2-1 to Barcelona, with Juliano Belletti scoring the winner.
- In 2007, Arsenal were eliminated from the Champions League by PSV, with Alex's second-leg equaliser resulting in a 2-1 aggregate

By the start of the 2007-08 season, all three of those players were with Chelsea, along with Wayne Bridge, whose goal knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League in 2004, though of course he was with Chelsea at the time.

[Alex Anderson]

... and where did Chelsea eventually win the Champions League?!

...and when Chelsea lost their first Champions League final, it was to a team from Manchester - and who was playing in a European final in Manchester that very same season?!!

And at the beginning of that 2007-08 season, Chelsea lost a pre-season friendly at Ibrox ... and I was at the Allianz for the 2006 World Cup opening match ... obviously passing the vibes across town from the Olympiastadion ... and I've seen Thomas Mueller scoring at Hampden ... twice ... as many times as I've seen Rangers scoring there in the last 18 months ... and I've just heard Didier Drogba has signed a pre-contract to join Rangers in January... all I'm saying is I heard it - yes, I did! ... you can't tell me what goes on in my head ... I definitely heard it...

"Flimsy", Denis? FLlIMSY??!! You're the one on concrete-solid ground mate...

(Rangers lost their first neutral venue European final to Bayern, in Bavaria ... in fact it was on the ground of the team Bayern played against in their first ever match .... and when we won our only European trophy the big game was the semi-final victory over FC BAVARIA MUNICH, including a 1-1 draw in the old Grunwalder Stadion .... when you think about it, the evidence is overwhelming: Rangers FC, really, actually, in fact, have won the European Cup ... spiritually, I mean. We won it emotionally, our Champions League was on a higher plane than all those tacky, literal, embarrassingly obvious teams who think "lifting the trophy" is the best way of proving you've won it - pah! - fools! ... we know the truth ... we in Govan know the real way to win it ... that's what this thread is all about ... Rangers HAVE been Champions of Europe ... somehow ... some way ... we have, have, have, did - have!!!)

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Should have let you come down the M74 (and A74(M) accordingly) for our football pub quiz Alex, it was more competitive than I expected - the winning team comprised a guy who used to work for Carlisle United and now works for Blackburn, and the pub manager, and they knew their stuff, scoring 83%.

I set half the questions and read them all out - I've only rarely set quizzes but have taken part in enough to know not to include anything ambiguous or that can otherwise be contested. Pleased to report my international / European round proved to be watertight - the two questions I lifted off this thread worked ok eventually after a few readings-out, and when someone declared 'France, cos Marseille were stripped of their win' I was ready with the counter that they were only stripped of the French title, not the European.

Imagine my joy then, when things descended into chaos due to a question my colleague had set, which I hadn't thought to fact-check (and he got it off someone else and didn't check it) - the question was worded, 'which was the last player from Man Utd's treble winning team to still be playing in the Premier League last season'. The answer we had was Wes Brown, and if we'd ended the question at League we might have been ok - but people started pointing out that he didn't play in the Premier League last season as he was at Blackburn, and then went on to declare that the correct answer therefore must be John O'Shea - but, thinking on my feet I countered that O'Shea didn't play in the treble winning season. Phones were brandished and eventually the latter was proved right, and that given that only the inclusion of 'last season' had complicated matters, we were sticking with Wes Brown. It didn't affect the end result thankfully. But still, ffs.

[Alex Anderson]

I don't know how you can do it, Walt. Fair play to ye mate but I can think of nothing worse than being surrounded by a bunch of picky, pedantic football nerds who just regurgitate trivia for its own sake. I mean - get a fekin life, dudes. Go on a holiday - you losers! Man up and actually try to live a little. See the world. Go to ... oh, I dunno - dare to go somewhere foreign even! Get on an actual plane - wooo!!! Get in a big scary aeroplane and fly to Europe ... go somewhere like - erm - I dunno - what do I look like - Allan fucking Wicker?! - go to, say, Germany. Live a little. I've heard Bavaria's nice. In fact I know it's nice. Munich's a big town in Bavaria. They have a few football stadiums even. Go to Munich's football stadiums. Go to the Olympic Stadium. Go and see where Rangers SHOULD HAVE WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL instead of a bunch of convicted match-fixers who couldn't beat us home or away in what was an effective semi-final and ...

Yeah. Just ignore those people, Walt - they need to get a life. And there's nothing quizees love more than a reason to complain about the quizzer. Your mate's given them the perfect night out.

I did mention earlier, in this very thread I'm sure, my horrible experience round the turn of the millennium. Bunch of lads with all sorts of actual knowledge about proper stuff - mates from Uni - dragged me along to the local pub quiz with the first prize of a dozen Stella. They weren't big drinkers. All I knew about was football. Finished joint-first and the tie-breaker was nearest guess to the crowd at the 199... Fifa World Cup final.

All eyes at our table turned to me, the alkey who was only useful for one thing. My eyes and ears turned towards the quizmaster who had fucking MUMBLED the last digit of the year in question. For some reason it absolutely wasn't 1998. I asked him to clarify which year - was it 90 or 94?

"sorry - I cannot repeat the question"

WHAT?!!

Maybe it was the way I asked.

I knew both attendances and, of course, instead of accepting I was in a bind so thinking tactically and going for a number between 74,000 and 94,194, I thought I would look fucking brilliant if, instead of "rounding-up" and "guessing" like some no-mark, I won the night by nailing the exact attendance at the 1994 World Cup final (which is pretty easy to remember for obvious reasons);

He'd said 1990. The other team of primary school teachers and accountants had guessed 85,000 - which was 5,000 more than the whole fucking Olympic Stadium could hold even if it hadn't been stripped of seats for the world media core!! - and I went home a bit earlier and much soberer than I'd wanted, feeling very lonely. When I got in my missus was watching some chat show. Guest? Stuart Pearce.

[Jorge Porbillas]

Four players who have played for Wrexham have also won the European Cup. Three won it before playing for Wrexham and one after playing for Wrexham.

</parochialstats>

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I'm not without sin here, so I'm not going to cast any stones. I'm still fuming from a pop music quiz in 1990. We used to go to it every Sunday night, and despite all being 18 or so we had a fair bit of knowledge between us, and tended to finish in what were not yet known as the Champions League places, but never qualifying for the European Cup (see what I did there to tenuously keep this on topic).

Until one week when we were on course for a 100%er, and got to the final audio question, when laddo asked 'this song is used on a TV advert for which product?' and played The Israelites by Desmond Dekker and the Aces.

IT'S A TRICK QUESTION, I exclaimed to my fellow team members. It was obviously designed so that everyone answered 'Vitalite'. But, I reasoned, that actual song isn't used on the Vitalite advert, they've re-recorded it with different words. The original version of The Israelites was however used on an advert for Maxell cassette tapes at the time, in which a guy stands in the street (pace Subterranean Homesick Blues) with boards showing misheard lyrics culminating in 'me ears are alight', with the punchline being - at least that's what he thinks it says, because he didn't record it on a Maxell tape. So I held my ground and we gambled on it being Maxell tapes, and not Vitalite.

They gave the answer as fucking Vitalite, we lost by half a point, and I argued toe to toe, baseball style, with the quizzer for ten minutes to no avail. Never bought Vitalite or Maxell tapes since.

[Alex Anderson]

... and tended to finish in what were not yet known as the Champions League places, but never qualifying for the European Cup (see what I did there to tenuously keep this on topic) ...

That's the work of an artist, Walt - great to watch and much appreciated by a fat man who just can't afford to lose the one unbroken thread he still has left in life.

And what a blast from the past. Had completely forgotten about that Maxell ad (and you're talking to someone who still regularly blurts out "French polishers? It's just possible you might save my life", "course you can, Malcolm!" and "FRIED ONION RINGS" as if he's never heard of David Brent) and was writing it off til you mentioned "me ears are alight".

Putting me to shame, getting in his face like that - quite right you were too. I just sloped off defeated. All apologies. You've been cheated of that win.

Reminds me of the Marseille match-fixing scandal in 1993 ...

[Alex Anderson]

Four players who have played for Wrexham have also won the European Cup. Three won it before playing for Wrexham and one after playing for Wrexham.

</parochialstats>

I was caught injecting Wikipedia last week so, after my Oprah-style confession on these threads, I'm gonnae have to go in with genuine guesses which will have all Welsh observers pissing themselves at my inadequacies (Quite apt, really, on a night I'm off to Hampden for a World Cup qualifier):

Joey Jones, Ian Rush, Ryan Giggs and, for some reason (desperation mostly), Larry Lloyd

I know, I know - just need to throw in John Charles, JPR Williams and Max Boyce and I'm showing myself up for the rabid ignoramus I clearly am...

[3 Colours Red]

Thing is though, Joey Jones played for us before AND after winning Ol' Big Ears so is he one or two answers?

Rush is correct as well, a one-season goalless spell at the Racecourse in the twilight of his playing career.

Jimmy Case is another one.

[Alex Anderson]

Chuffed to get two, praying for three - come one, Jorge ... I'm Wiki itching, man!

[ursus arctos]

Alan Kennedy

[Jorge Porbillas]

Good point re. Joey 3CR. But as expected UA weighs in with the fourth.
Joey, Case, Kennedy and Rush are our European Cup winners.

[Alex Anderson]

Ursus usually does the heavy-lifting. Nice to see him turn poacher.

This thread more interesting - and busier - than Hampden tonight.

[Felicity, I guess so]

In my long and lonely travels without any ability to post, I have been loving this thread. Just thought I'd say.

[denishurley]

I presume Wembley holds the record for two finals held in the shortest space of time (2011 and '13)?

[Satchmo Distel]

Players to win it after having had a spell in the English fourth tier (I don't know the answer, if any, just throwing it out there).