"There was a great hullabaloo over Obafemi Martins' goal against Spurs last month, timed at 84mph, with Telegraph journalist Henry Winter speculating that it could take the crown," writes Archi Campbell. "However, I remember a goal by David Trezeguet for Monaco against Man Utd in the Champions League quarter-finals of 1998 that was timed at 96mph. This would also be faster than Nicky Summerbee's 87mph shot on Record Breakers, which is often given as the fastest shot ever. Was Trezeguet's shot really that fast, and if so, why does everyone seem to ignore it?"
"There's no official record," explained the Football Association's historian David Barber when quizzed, but we knew our readers weren't going to be palmed off so easily. Therefore, armed with a toothcomb, our archives and a handy list of humdingers measured on the Sky Sports Replay 2000 tracking machine, we can provide you with the most authentic - if unofficial - list of heavy hitters at our disposal.
First off, three things: Martins' goal is only the ninth hardest shot recorded; Summerbee's effort was obviously not in a competitive match so we'll ignore it; and Trezeguet's thunderbolt at Old Trafford can only have been ignored because it was in European competition - but it was recorded at 96mph, putting him third on our list.
Pipping Trezeguet, however, is David Beckham (the only player to appear twice in our top 10), who smashed home a 97.9mph effort of his own against Chelsea on February 22 1997. That might top our list of powerful goals, but there is one harder shot - recorded by Sky's fancy device - that puts it well and truly in the shade. Step forward ... Sheffield Wednesday's David Hirst, who drilled a 14.8-yard howitzer against the crossbar at a whopping 114mph during a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal on September 16 1996. Therefore, our top 10, as it stands, is ...
1) David Hirst - 114mph (for Sheffield Wednesday @ Arsenal on September 16 1996)
2) David Beckham - 97.9mph (for Man Utd v Chelsea on February 22 1997)
3) David Trezeguet - 96mph (for Monaco @ Man Utd on March 19 1998)
4) Richie Humphreys - 95.9mph (for Sheffield Wednesday v Aston Villa on August 17 1996)
5) Matt Le Tissier - 86.8mph (for Southampton v Newcastle on January 18 1997)
6) Alan Shearer - 85.8mph (for Newcastle v Leicester on February 2 1997)
7) Roberto Carlos - 85.2mph (for Brazil v France on June 3 1997)
8) Tugay - 84.2mph (for Blackburn @ Southampton on November 3 2001)
9) Obafemi Martins - 84mph (for Newcastle @ Tottenham on January 14 2007)
10) David Beckham - 80.5mph (for Man Utd @ Derby on September 4 1996)
If you have any evidence so that we can update the list, let us know at knowledge@theguardian.com.
I'LL HAVE THE SAME AT THE FRONT AND THE BACK, PLEASE
"Which two Premiership players have had their surnames on both sides of their shirts (ie sponsor being the same as their surname)?" asks Alastair Francis.
The devil is in the detail here, Alastair, and despite a number of very near misses, it appears the twosome simply don't exist. Ian Walker (when playing for Leicester) and Lee Sharpe (when playing for Manchester United) were the most popular suggestions from readers, but neither of these is actually correct. Walker arrived at Leicester in the summer of 2001, the same summer that the Foxes abandoned Walker's crisps as a sponsor and replaced it with LG Electronics, so he never actually wore a shirt with his name on both sides in the Premiership. Sharpe, meanwhile, did play for United during Sharp Electronics' lengthy association with Sir Alex Ferguson's team, but if we're being pedantic (and what else is this column for?) the spellings are different, thus ruling him out too.
Viv Anderson also came close, playing for Sheffield Wednesday in the first year of the Premiership - when their sponsor was Sanderson (which does, technically, feature his entire surname). Surnames on the backs of shirts, however, were not introduced until the Premiership's second season, meaning that Viv never played a Premiership game with his surname on both sides of his shirt. Names were used on shirts in both the League Cup and FA Cup finals that year, however, and since Wednesday reached both of those, Anderson did play two games in such a strip. Stepping outside the Premiership, Mitch Ward had his name on display (albeit with an 's' on the end) when he played for Sheffield United - sponsored by Wards Breweries - in the mid-90s. David Phillips also came close playing for Philips-sponsored Manchester City in the mid-80s, though in those days there were no player names on the back of shirts.
The one case we did track down of a player having his name correctly written on both sides of his shirt was in fact former Middlesbrough striker Hamilton Ricard, who had been playing for Danubio in Uruguay before he was sentenced last month to three years in prison for killing a man in a car accident. Danubio are sponsored by Ricard - a brand of chocolates - and although player names are not printed on shirts in Uruguay, the sponsor's logo is blazoned across both the chest and back of Danubio's strip, meaning that Ricard's name is, indeed, on both sides of his shirt.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO RORY ALLEN?
"I seem to recall that the last us Pompey fans ever saw of Rory Allen was during a tame home defeat to QPR on the last day of the 99-00 season. Given his fitness record, he didn't appear the next season and then mysteriously disappeared amidst rumours of heading Down Under to watch the Ashes. Can anyone shed any light on the missing years?" wonders a concerned Simon Humber.
You remember well, Simon. Rory actually scored Pompey's only goal in the game you mention (his third in 16 appearances for the club) - a resounding 3-1 defeat to round off a miserable season in the bottom half of the table. He subsequently remained on Portsmouth's books until November 2002, when he decided to retire at the age of 25, having already undergone eight operations to his ankles and knees over the course of his career. Allen's next stop was indeed the 2002-03 Ashes, where he saw all five matches. "It was an amazing experience," he recalls. "Despite the scoreline (England lost 4-1)!"
Then Weymouth player-manager Steve Claridge claimed in 2004 that a man claiming to be Rory Allen had contacted him to arrange a trial and failed to turn up, but Allen denies that he ever made any attempt to return to football. Instead he spent some time "travelling and enjoying life" before eventually moving into a new career with the foreign office, where he still works today. "I miss the dressing-room camararderie sometimes, but not the football," he says. "I have never thought about getting back into it. I much prefer playing cricket in the summer and being lazy - in sporting terms - in the winter!"
KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE
"Did Pele and Di Stefano ever play in the same match, either on the same or opposing sides?" asked Alan Sheridan in 2001.
Yes they did, Alan - on the opposite sides of a friendly match between Real Madrid and Santos which took place on June 17 1959 in the Santiago Bernabéu. At the time Alfredo Di Stefano, aged 32, was at his peak of his powers having just led Real Madrid to their fourth European Cup in a row. Pele, meanwhile, was just 18 - although he was already a star after scoring six goals in the World Cup the previous year.
In the end, experience triumphed over youth as Madrid won 5-3 with goals from Mateos (3), Gento and Puskas. However Pelé did manage to get on the score sheet for the Brazilians, along with Pepe and Coutinho. "I'm not 100% sure but that may be the only time they coincided in a football field," said Antonio Gonzalez.
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Can you help?
"Has a player ever been stretchered off more times than Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes has been this season?" wonders Tim McDonnell.
"Following Jens Lehmann's fifth booking of the season, I wondered who, red- and yellow-card-wise, is the worst disciplined goalkeeper ever?" asks Tamsin Rogers.
"On Sunday I noticed Lehmann was chewing gum during the match. Have there been any instances of goalies conceding because they were choking?" enquires Andrew Benton.
"The famous 1966 World Cup Final commentary by Kenneth Wolstenholme 'some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over ...' - does anyone know who the people on the pitch were? Have they ever been identified?" asks Philip Green.
"I remember watching MotD about 30 or more years ago, when there was a technical hitch and the pictures from the match ended abruptly," recalls Bill Wilson. "The camera instantly defaulted to a relaxed Jimmy Hill in the studio with his feet on a desk, smoking a pipe, reading a broadsheet. He obviously wasn't expecting it! Can you or anybody remember the game/date/etc. And does any video exist of the event?"
Email all your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com.
