Knowledge Unlimited

Could you tell me the name of the last Manchester City player to score 30 or more goals in a season; and whether the club has previously achieved back-to-back promotions at any point in its history? asks Richard Sealby

Francis Lee is your man - he was the top scorer in the old First Division with 33 league goals in 1971-2. His total included 13 penalties, the most ever scored by a player in a single league season. Just for the record, City's top league haul was achieved by Tommy Johnson, who netted 38 top-flight goals in 1928-9. And to think he's still banging them in for Celtic.

As for back-to-back promotions - seeing last season's sojurn into the Second Division was the first time City have sunk so low, they've never before needed to climb more than one division to reach the top flight. So if they manage a second promotion in a row this season it'll be a Maine Road first.

Did Nobby Stiles ever score for England? asks Carl Keszei

Yes he did. Nobby played 28 times for England but only scored one goal, which came against West Germany in a friendly at Wembley in February 1966. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was a scrambled affair from close range, although it did bring England a 1-0 win against their future World Cup final opponents.

The former Manchester United star is now earning a living on the lucrative after-dinner circuit, where he appears with Tommy Smith MBE and Norman Hunter under the banner 'The Hardmen of Soccer.' The players are also available for office and store openings and charity dinners. Anyone wanting further details should contact MBN promotions on http://www.mbnpromotions.co.uk/speakers.htm.

Mark Hughes will become the third on Friday, but can you name the only other two current Premiership players to have played in both a Merseyside and a Manchester derby? asks Charlotte Freemantle

In fact there are three current Premiership players who have had a derby run-out in the colours of both Everton and Manchester City. Peter Beagrie of Bradford and Sheffield Wednesday's Andy Hinchcliffe are two. And did you know that Middlesbrough's Paul Ince once played for both Manchester United and Liverpool?

I have heard it said that the 1966 World Cup should have seen England playing their semi-final at Villa Park as opposed to Wembley, the host nation thereby stopped from playing all games at 'home.' The fan that informed me of this fact had actually booked the tickets in advance but ended up watching USSR v.W.Germany. Is this true? asks a demanding Richard Sealby

Your friend is certainly on the right lines. According to the book England: The Quest for the World Cup by Clive Leatherdale, "Controversy attended the choice of venue for the semi-final. The pre-tournament blurb stated that this particular semi-final, irrespective of who would contest it, would be staged at Goodison.Park.

Some punters had bought tickets in advance in the expectation that if England were still in the running they would be heading for Merseyside. Fifa's organising committee now insisted that it had all along reserved the right to reallocate the semi-final venues.

Portugal had been based in the north-west zone and had beaten Brazil and North Korea at Everton. England, on the other hand, had yet to move from Wembley. Understandably, neither team was enthusiastic about switching. Wembley was eventually selected on the grounds that the national stadium could accommodate more spectators than Goodison."

Last week we asked for your help with the following question: 'What comes onto the pitch at half time, and doesn't leave until after the game on a Saturday, and not until the next day on a Wednesday?'

Thanks for all your replies. Most of them were suitably inventive (groundsmen, floodlights, the shadow of the stadium) but none seemed quite right. Then we had a couple of emails from our American readers, who said the question was a trick one devised by Lionel Bienvenu, the presenter of Fox TV's soccer programme and much beloved by the Fiver. Unfortunately there is no correct answer.

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