Avoiding the Drop

Estas botas pertenecen a David Villa

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, one of the best parts of putting together the Thursday Challenge every week is seeing the commenters come up with answers (and correct ones at that!) that I never anticipated.  This week was no exception.  Not only did Andrew M. and Dennis W. both answer all of the questions correctly, they also added quite a bit of new information as well.  Click through and we’ll take a look at my answers as well as those that Andrew and Dennis discovered.

1. Dundee United F.C.’s Tannadice Park and Dundee F.C.’s Dens Park are located .17 miles apart, but they are only the second closest derby rivals- who are the first?

MTK Budapest F.C.’s Stadion Hidegkuti Nandor and BKV Előre S.C.’s Sport Utcai Stadion are directly across the street from each other. Stadion Hidegkuti Nandor was used in the classic football movie Victory.

Andrew suggested Notts County F.C. and Nottingham Forest F.C., but they have a city block and the River Trent between them.

2. Name three stadiums whose capacity is larger than the population of the city/town in which they are located?

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim old stadium, Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion held 5,000 supporters and their new stadium, Rhein-Necker-Arena (located in nearby Sinsheim), holds over 30,000 supporters. Hoffenheim has a population of less than 3,500.

Stade Felix-Bollaert, home of R.C. Lens holds over 41,000 supporters, the city’s population is around 36,000.

Finally, Ross County F.C.’s Victoria Park has a capacity of 6,300, while the town of Dingwall has a population of 5,000.

Andrew added Guingamp’s Stade Roudourou.

Dennis added Brora F.C.’s Dudgeon Park.

3. What current world class player once used his influence to block a transfer that would have made his younger brother his teammate?

While at Real Madrid Wesley Sneijder prevented his younger brother Rodney from moving to Real Madrid from Ajax.

4. What footballer’s Adidas F50 boots are personalized with the flags of Spain and Asturias as well as the name of his first child?

Barcelona’s David Villa.

5. Whose record for “longest clean sheet” in a single season was broken by Ediwn van Der Sar in 2009?

Former Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Abel Resino.

6. What recently retired player- not a goalkeeper- made over 1,000 appearances for club and country?

Defender Paolo Maldini played 902 times for A.C. Milan and 126 times for Italy.

Andrew pointed out a player that I should have known about myself- in addition to playing 955 league matches (mostly for Preston North End), Graham Alexander also had 40 caps for Scotland.  Alexander is still active as PNE’s player-manager, so it’s conceivable that he could pass Maldini’s total early next season.

7. What former player and current manager was granted a hereditary title by his monarch in 2011?

Juan Carlos II of Spain made national team manager Vincente del Bosque the Ilustrísimo Señor Marqués de Del Bosque (“The Most Illustrious The Marquis of Del Bosque”).

8. What distinction do David James and Robbie Fowler hold?

They are the only members of Liverpool’s “Spice Boys” who are still playing.

Thanks again to Dennis and Andrew for chiming in with their answers.

I’m back tomorrow with a new challenge.