h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Alas, Erwin Schrodinger is no longer with us.
Probably.

"Same" is "ditto", often shortened to do. Repeat it and you get dodo. I can see a potential for irony in something that's gone on and on, but otherwise it don't do much for me.

Dodo and the reasoning leading up to it bring us no nearer to an approximation of the answer.

So far we have an event which occurred in England, ironically after a war given the recipients of the outcome of the event, that would have been deserved more by others who were ignored.

And that it is not as important as life or death when related to a Bill, is a seriously obvious clue to anyone for whom it is a seriously obvious clue.

Anything to do with lend-lease? Where us impoverished Britons kept paying huge loads of money to affluent US to thank them for joining in with the second war thing, and kept on paying them until, oh, a few years ago?

One might say that the war referenced would be the last, had it lived up to its name

Would be the last, must be the first.

Could it be the soldiers who stayed on service after the First World War, and thus went back where they as part of the BEF.

Here's a try out of left field

Didn't someone say something like "Football is not a matter of life and death - it's more important than that!"

I don't know who, or even if it's relevant - its something that gets thrown at me by a friend when I whinge about football.

arsenal were originally woolwhich arsenal and only moved due to being right next to a massive ammo storage facility during the war

>>There were others far more deserving of reward but they took advantage and have stayed on and on and on. And after a war it was a little ironic.
<<

So far, it looks like WW I, (the war to end all wars)...

>There were others far more deserving of reward<
A herring. Red.

>they took advantage and have stayed on and on and on<
Krupps & the like - German munitions companies.

>after a war it was a little ironic<
They did very well out of the war their country lost.
At least some went on to do the same 20 years later.
Some are still in business.

?

hygienicdispenser:
"must be the first" DGI+1

Feisor:
Left field is always worth a try! Football is the area we are in. DGI+1

The quote is from Bill Shankly, legendary manager of Liverpool FC
There are a number of his famous quotes much loved by football fans. He was once asked by a reporter if it was true that he had taken his wife to see Rochdale play on their wedding anniversary. He replied, "don't be silly laddie, I would never have got married during the football season. It was her birthday and it wasn't Rochdale it was Rochdale reserves."

One other favourite alludes to the rivalry between the two major clubs in the city, Liverpool and Everton. Bill once said, "there are two great teams in this city, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves."

Taff:
Correct for the who. +3

Arsenal were founded as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south-east London. The club's relative geographic isolation resulted in lower attendances than those of other clubs, which led to the club becoming mired in financial problems and effectively bankrupt by 1910, when they were taken over by local businessman Henry Norris. Norris sought to move the club elsewhere, and in 1913 Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, North London.

DGI +1 for heading towards the irony. As the above extract shows, they were named after the Arsenal in Woolwich but they moved north in 1913 for economic reasons not for safety.

Rodthebrit:

Mostly way off, except for WW1 so a DGI+1 for specifically naming it as the war to end all wars.
"There were others far more deserving of reward" Definitely not a red herring!


So the answers left are something that happened to Arsenal FC after the first world war despite others being far more deserving, and the irony "on the card".

No games were played for an entire season, and Arsenal were judged to have won the league because they were top of the list alphabetically

No games were played for an entire season, and Arsenal were judged to have won the league because they were top of the list alphabetically
....................................................................

Seems fair to me . The football league restarted in September 1919 after the last season had ended in 1915.

Arsenal finished in 10th place out of the 22 teams.

This one appears to be dying:

The answers left are something that happened to Arsenal FC after the first world war despite others being far more deserving, and the irony "on the card".

I will close in 48 hours unless there are signs of life.

they won something despite no games being played simply because they were top of the list alphabetically

they got it up the ars-an-all

they won something despite no games being played simply because they were top of the list alphabetically.

that was post 51 and its still not right

they got it up the ars-an-all

The exact opposite; in fact three other clubs were shafted.

did the arsenall stop its players from joining up while all the other clubs encouraged it as a patriotic duty so arsenal ended up with better players and a full team while the other sides couldn't field a team

How very dare you Sir! Nothing to do with patriotism.

The undeserved reward is possibly unguessable unless you have a interest in Football.

If you follow English professional football on a regular basis you might be in a position to consider the possible rewards and why in one case they would be considered undeserved, even by the most myopic Arsenal supporter.

I have no interest in (or knowledge of) football at all and so, for the sake of this exercise, I'm going to assume that it is a kind of uninteresting version of cricket.

What would be a great reward for a cricketer? If we take it as read that the Louis Vuitton contract is already fixed, it must be to play for one's country.

So, was the entire Arsenal team picked to be the England team? Did someone have the bright idea of fielding, as a national team, a group who were already used to playing together?

Not the answer although the record for the number of players from the same club to play in an England team is held by Arsenal. Seven players from Arsenal FC were selected to play for England against Italy in November 1934 in a match that was played at Arsenal's home ground and became known as the "Battle of Highbury" due to the extreme violence meted out by players on both sides. Injuries included a broken foot, a broken arm, and a broken nose.

Play up, play up, and play the game.

Football at international level cannot be equated with cricket as none of the England football team were born in South Africa,

There were others far more deserving of reward but they took advantage and have stayed on and on and on. And after a war it was a little ironic.

After the first world war it was decided to increase the number of clubs in the English first division from 20 to 22. The easiest (and probably fairest) way to do this would have been to retain the relegated clubs from 1915 with the addition of the two clubs who won promotion from division two in that last season.

So what happened? The two bottom clubs in 1915 were Chelsea and Spurs, and the two top clubs in division two were Derby County and Preston North End. Derby and Preston were duly added to division one and Chelsea were also invited to remain in the top tier, but, weirdly, Spurs were not!

To make up the numbers it was decided to replace Spurs with another club from division two. You would expect that to be the club finishing third? Think again, Barnsley finished third, Wolves finished fourth. The club actually invited to join division one was the fifth placed club.............Arsenal.

Why Arsenal? Legend has it that the Arsenal board argued that it was right that Arsenal should be invited as they had been members of the league since 1894, whereas Spurs (1909) and Barnsley (1898) were "newcomers".

A brilliant argument completely ignoring the fact that Wolves had been founder members in 1888.

Having been "unjustly" rewarded, Arsenal have remained in the top division of English football ever since.

Their nickname (from their origins as a works team from Woolwich Arsenal) is the Gunners hence the irony reference.

Scores:
Taff Agent of Kaos: total -1
german or italian prisoners of war Klaxon -5
Arsenal was the who. correct+3
heading towards the irony DGI +1

hygienicdispenser: +1
"must be the first" DGI+1

Feisor: +1
Football is the area we are in. DGI+1

Rodthebrit: +1
DGI+1 for specifically naming it as the war to end all wars

Pebblederook +2