Knowledge Unlimited (original) (raw)

"I am aware that Manchester is divided on sectarian lines: United are catholic; City are protestant. Are there any other such divisions in the English leagues?" asked cbobt last week.

"Manchester divided on sectarian lines?" fumes an unconvinced Stephen O'Malley. "I don't bloody think so. As a (lapsed) catholic Manchester United fan, I can assure Mr Bott that the Mancunian United fans (which there are quite a few of us) do not hold with the religious bigotry shown in Glasgow. The last time Celtic played at Old Trafford, the Celtic fans started a sectarian chant, which was shouted down by all United fans - much to Celtic's displeasure."

So where does the rumour come from? "If you know your history, United's supposed Catholicism comes from the fact that the 'father' of United, Louis Rocca, was an immigrant Italian who employed a network of catholic priests to scout for boys to play for United," says Stephen. "Matt Busby's appointment continued the Catholic link, but it died out in the seventies."

Liverpool is another city "definitely" divided on sectarian lines, claims Lee Calvert, who says that historically it is the only place in England that holds Orange Parades. However he reckons the oft-made assumption that Liverpool are the catholic team while Everton are protestant is wide of the mark.

"Goodison Park is built next to a catholic church, which would seem to suggest that from way back they were a catholic team. However they have always had strong links with Glasgow Rangers (kit, Mo Johnstone, Walter Smith, Duncan Ferguson) and Everton Valley in Liverpool is a deeply protestant area.

"Liverpool on the other hand seem to have stronger links with Celtic (Dalglish), but their directors are protestant and it is noticeable that Ulster protestants support them along with Rangers. As you can see it is a tricky one, but I am sure that Everton are in fact the Catholic team." Does anyone disagree?

"Thanks for your explanation of why the Italian kit is blue. Can anyone then explain why the German away strip is green?" asked Clayton Fossett.

We've had the biggest response ever to Knowledge Unlimited for this question. All of you agree that it dates back to a friendly between Ireland and Germany shortly after the second world war.

As Enda Kelly tells it: "After world war II, the Republic of Ireland was the first country to play Germany. Naturally the teams changed shirts after the match. One version of the story says that the Germans were so poor (I hasten to add financially, just in case there's any confusion with the present team), that they could not afford an away strip for their next match, and thus used the Irish shirts with the crest replaced. Thus began the tradition."

The second version, which Enda thinks is more likely - and is supported by everyone else - is that Germany was a bit of a pariah nation at the time, "and to show their gratitude to the Irish for bringing them back into the international football scene they chose green as their away strip."

Where can I find a full table of Premiership fixtures for next season? asked so many of you that we're not going to mention names.

Just click on the following link: (http://www.fa-premier.com/home.html)

After hours of heated debate my friends and I are still in disagreement on this one. Who was the first East German to represent the unified team? I think it may be Thomas Doll but a lot of people tell me that it'sMatthias Sammer and others have been mentioned. Can anyone help? asks Martin Widdicks.

Yes they can Martin. Thomas Snelker and others - including the rather improbably named Hal E. Lujah - all say it was definitely Matthias Sammer. The then VfB Stuttgart player was the only East German in the starting line-up for the unified Germany's first game, against Switzerland in Stuttgart on the 19th December 1990.

He played until the 74th minute, when he was replaced by another East German Andreas Thom - who went on to score the third goal in Germany's 4-0 victory. Meanwhile Thomas Doll didn't make his debut for the unified team until their next game, a 2-1 win over Russia on the 27th March 1991.

Can you help?

On the subject of national team colours: Why have England traditionally played in white shirts and blue shorts, when the flag of St. George is white and red? asks a puzzled Rob Hancock.

"I have a vivid memory of Socrates taking a penalty and bursting the net. Did it ever happen - or was it just the work of an over excited brain whilst sleeping? And if Socrates did not burst the net with one of his penalty kicks, has anyone else achieved such a feat?" wonders Jonathon Norman.

Any questions?

Send your football asks tothe.boss@theguardian.com the.boss@theguardian.com and we'll do our best to give you some answers.