1. who was stripped of his captaincy of Eire in 96 for going on holiday without informing his boss?

2. what fa cup final tradition was altered in 1992?

3. despite never winning the FA Cup or Championship, how come Leicester competed for and won the 1971 charity shield?

4. in 1885, what famously happened in a Birmingham Shop?

5. which is the largest football stadium in the British Isles?

6. which derby was England’s first ever live TV match in September 1960?

Come on GEORGE you can do it

I missed one out

which Scottish Club used to be called Excelsior?

3. despite never winning the FA Cup or Championship, how come Leicester competed for and won the 1971 charity shield? Arsenal won the double, Liverpool lost the FA Cup, and Leicester City were Division 2 Champions. This is the "closest" explanation:

In reply to:

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Double-winners Arsenal declined to enter - for reasons unknown even to the FA's historians - and so losing Cup finalists Liverpool visited Filbert Street for what looked like an easy tie for them on paper. But in Jimmy Bloomfield's first game in charge of the Foxes, Bill Shankly's men went down to a 1-0 defeat.
The Guardian

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I might have better luck with some books at home from the early 70s which may give a better contemporaneoous explanation, but they're still in boxes (we haven't finished unpacking, five months after moving) .

for the last one, the only thing I could find was that Airdrieonians played in the Excelsior stadium. If you're stuck maybe that could be a good guess? Sorry, not much help.

No 4 has got me curious ... could you come back with the answer if no one gets it?

4. in 1885, what famously happened in a Birmingham Shop?

Is there a typo in the question? The FA Cup was stolen from a shop in Birmingham after the 1895 FA Cup Final.

I found the Airdrieonians link but wasn't convinced.

I certainly will let you know the answer to #4 if George doesn't come up with it first

2. what fa cup final tradition was altered in 1992?

nothing but a wag at the moment .. the losers always collected their medals first, before the winners went up the Wembley steps to collect theirs. I usually fall asleep watching the Cup Final as it ends just before 2am downhere. Who collected their medals first during the late 1990s, before Wembley was demolished?
The answer could be in the RFYB 92-93 edition, if we're lucky, and if I can find it tonight.

copago's right with Airdieonians

6. In what year was the club formed? 1878.
7. What was the first name of the club? EXCELSIOR FOOTBALL CLUB.
8. Their first recorded match ends in a 7-2 win over which club? GREENBANK RUTHERGLEN.
9. In what year did their name change to Airdrieonians Football Club? 1881
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~carlholl/airdrieonian.htm

Uncanny.......I was just coming here to say the same thing about the date given

I came up with that answer too, but couldn't find any confirmation on it.

Don't go putting yourself out George, as we both came up with that answer I think it's worth a stab.

I've found number 6.

Blackpool 0-1 Bolton

5. which is the largest football stadium in the British Isles?

take your pick, it could me a matter of defining "largest" . I always thought that Hampden Park in Scotland was the largest .. there were 130 odd thousand there in 1970 when Celtic entertained Leeds in their EC semi-final .. Charlton also had a huge home ground

Cardiff, Millenium Stadium 72,500 www.eurostadiums.com/countries.php?co=wales
Edinburgh, Murrayfield Stadium 67,500 www.eurostadiums.com/countries.php?co=scotland
Manchester, Old Trafford 67,000 www.eurostadiums.com/countries.php?co=england

across the water: Dublin, Croke Park 79,500

I found #1 now. It was Roy Keane.

I think that's the lot unless you find any confirmation about the 1992 one.

Thanks for the help.

further to Q2 ... when was the last time there was a replay of the FA Cup Final? 1992 might be the year that a penalty shoot-out replaced the replaying of a drawn final.

nope, there was a replayed Cup Final in 1993

Q2 again .. the FA were under pressure in the late 80s to allow the cup to be sponsored, like the League Cup, but refused, as they didn't want to change the cup's name .. when were Littlewoods appointed sponsors? The cup didn't become "The FA Cup - Sponsored by AXA" until the late 1990s.

mate, I found the RFYB boxes in the garage
the Rothmans Football Yearbook 1992-93, which reviewed the 1991-92 season and the 1992 FA Cup .. ah, wasn't that a great season, ManU fell over in the last weeks and Leeds United were crowned Champions!

28th June 1991 the FA announced that "FA Cup ties that ended in a draw after the first replay are to be decided on penalties"
26th November 1991 Rotherham United make FA Cup history as "the first side to win a tie on penalties, beating Scunthorpe United 7-6 after their 1st-round replay is drawn 3-3"

maybe this is the answer to Q2:-
the 1992 FA Cup Final was the first in which penalties would decide the winner if a replay ended in a draw

In reply to:

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2. what fa cup final tradition was altered in 1992?

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Sparkz...........

Wouldn't call this 'tradition' as such, but Scouse and Sunderland were competing for a brand new FA Cup Trophy, the previous one having been retired after 81 years?

I think George's probably sussed it, but here's a potted summary of the match itself. It may hold some more clues?

wez

The answer to Q2 was the order they went up the steps

Two more for you to have a bash at.

1. Heart of Midlothian is named after which legal institution?

2. Which player was injured by a plate of chicken in 1996?


My info tells me that Hearts was named after a dance hall in the Royal Mile of Edinburgh.
Can you find different.

CHEERS CHAPS!!!

I forgot one again

3. Which Scottish club was formed by Irish workers in 1877?

I think it was Motherwell, but would like a second opinion, or correcting.

Hi, sparky

1. It looks as though your information is correct, according to their official website, Hearts were named after a dance hall in Edinburgh that the team frequented. Hearts website

3. Which Scottish club was formed by Irish workers in 1877?

According to the 2002-03 RFYB: the only Scottish League club that I can find which was formed in 1877 was St.Mirren. Digging around the web this came closest to defining how they were formed, which doesn't look promising: www.gally87.freeserve.co.uk/page8.html .. and some sites say the club was formed in 1875 as a rugby club (and 1877 was when the football club was formed).

Cheers guys.

#2 is doing my box in

I think I've got it sparky. When he was in charge of Grimsby Town in 1996, Brian Laws fractured the cheekbone of Ivano Bonetti - now the manager of Dundee - after the Italian threw a chicken leg at him following a 3-2 defeat by Luton Town.

http://www.scfc.co.uk/press164.html