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Kevin Doran points out: “Port Vale have faced Everton at Priory Road, Anfield, Goodison Park, and now the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Has any other team played the same opponent at four or more different home grounds?”
Philip Davis suggests a possible example: “Brighton & Hove Albion have had four home grounds since 1902. After the Goldstone Ground (1902-97), they ground-shared at Gillingham’s Priestfield for two seasons (1997-99) in the fourth tier. They then spent 12 years at the Withdean Stadium (1999-2011) before moving to the Amex.
Five clubs—Hull City, Cardiff, Swansea, Doncaster, and Brentford—played Brighton in Division Three at Priestfield and also at the Goldstone, Withdean, and Amex. Millwall also faced Brighton at all four grounds, including a 1998-99 Football League Trophy match at Gillingham.”
Ken Foster shifts focus to Bristol: “Grimsby Town, York City, and Portsmouth have played Bristol Rovers at four different venues. Rovers were based at Eastville Stadium (1887-1996), then Twerton Park (1996-2006), and later the Memorial Ground.
Ken adds: “After a fire at Eastville in 1980-81, Rovers played five games at Bristol City’s Ashton Gate. Grimsby, York, and Portsmouth were among the visitors—though only Grimsby’s match was a league game; the others were League Cup ties. Oldham and Newcastle also played there but never at Twerton Park.” Both Bristol clubs were relegated that season.
Tottenham have hosted Southampton and Arsenal at four different grounds: Northumberland Park, White Hart Lane, Wembley, and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In the Women’s Super League, Liverpool and Everton have faced off at The Halton Stadium, Prenton Park, Anfield, and the Totally Wicked Stadium—and possibly even earlier at West Lancashire College before 2012.
Can any team top four away grounds? It’s tricky. Wimbledon FC used three venues—Plough Lane, Selhurst Park, and Milton Keynes’ National Hockey Stadium (2003-04). After becoming MK Dons, they dropped their claim to Wimbledon’s history in 2006.
AFC Wimbledon, founded in 2002 and promoted to the EFL in 2011, consider themselves the original club’s successors. They’ve played at Kingsmeadow and the new Plough Lane (opened 2020). If we treat both Wimbledons as one club, nine teams have played them at all five grounds:
– League matches at all five: Bradford City, Gillingham, Rotherham, Sunderland, Walsall.
– Cup ties completing the set: Coventry (2023 League Cup), Crewe (1997 FA Cup replay), Ipswich (1990 Zenith Data Systems Cup), Wigan (2000 League Cup).
Eight more teams—Blackpool, Bolton, Charlton, Grimsby, Notts County, Portsmouth, Swindon, and Tranmere—have played Wimbledon at four different grounds. Blackpool, for example, faced AFC Wimbledon at Loftus Road in 2020-21.
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Before moving into the new Plough Lane, they played four games at QPR’s ground—all behind closed doors. Can you think of better examples of teams playing at multiple home grounds? If so, let us know.
The offside goalkeeper
“We all love seeing a goalkeeper come up for a last-minute set piece,” said Simon Buckton. “But has a keeper ever been flagged for offside—or even had a goal disallowed for it?”
Thanks to the many readers who reminded us of a famous example. Duncan Jones was first to respond: “Peter Schmeichel scored a stunning overhead kick in an FA Cup replay against Wimbledon in 1997, only for it to be ruled out. He was barely offside—maybe three or four feet—and, in true ’90s fashion, Andy Cole was also offside for good measure.”
[Image: Peter Schmeichel of Manchester United during the 1997 match against Wimbledon, where his overhead kick was disallowed for offside.]
A long way to go
“Truro City, starting their first National League season this weekend, face some grueling trips,” wrote Mel Slattery. “Their stadium is 457 miles from Gateshead’s. Have two English clubs ever played each other from even farther apart—competitively or otherwise?”
Andy Clark replied: “Yes! My local team, Whitley Bay, traveled to Truro for an FA Vase last-16 tie in 2008—six miles farther, according to Google. All the players were part-time. Whitley won 3-0, lost to Lowestoft Town in the next round, then won the Vase for the next three seasons. Unlike many of their later opponents, they haven’t been promoted since.”
Chris Roe couldn’t find a Football League fixture with a greater straight-line distance between home grounds. Fourteen matchups have exceeded 300 miles, with Newcastle United vs. Plymouth Argyle being the farthest apart. Here’s Chris’s table of those games—Plymouth feature eight times:
[Image: Longest-distance Football League fixtures.]
Knowledge archive
“As an Arsenal fan, I’ve noticed that whenever we win the Community Shield, we don’t win the league,” Matt Tread asked in 2005. “Is there a curse?”
Since the Charity Shield began in 1908, only 14 teams had won both it and the league. At the time, no side had done so since Manchester United beat Newcastle 4-0 in 1996. Arsenal had won 13 league titles, but only three followed Charity Shield wins (1930, 1933, 1934). They lifted the Shield in 1998, 1999, and 2002—only for United to take the title each time.
2025 update: With Liverpool facing Crystal Palace this Sunday, what’s changed in 20 years? Five of six Shield winners between 2005-2010 went on to win the league (United three times, Chelsea twice). Since then, only Manchester City (2018-19) have done the double. Arsenal have won five Community Shields since 2005—and zero league titles.
Can you help?
“Salford debutant Kadeem Harris scored at both ends within 16 minutes against Crewe. Has anyone ever scored an own goal and a proper goal faster?”
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Richard Wilson asks:
Has anyone ever scored a goal combo either a) at the start of a season, b) on their debut, or c) in any match?
George Jones asks:
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has just joined his third club that plays in blue. Which player (excluding loans) has played for the most clubs wearing the same color shirt? And has any player—who isn’t a one-club legend—gone their entire career wearing only one color?
Mark Moran shares:
I recently stumbled across one of football’s stranger stories: Michael Reddy, a former Sunderland prospect. Multiple sources (fan sites, the Northern Echo, even Transfermarkt) claim he left Grimsby in 2007 for Greenland’s FC Malamuk, then moved to Port Stanley Albion after meeting a Falkland Islander at a fish festival. Surely this is more myth than truth?
Will Unwin writes (with self-aware flair):
I just heard CMAT’s song Vincent Kompany—because I’m cool, young, and relevant, obviously. Got me wondering: are there any other songs named after players, beyond just mentioning them in lyrics?
Got a question or answer? Send it our way!
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