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

For this week we welcome back the 'Guess the Identity of the Player' competition.

There will be 1 bonus point for the first person to tell me the name of the player who has played for one or other of each of the clubs in this week's list. You must give the name *with* your selections. Just blurting out, "oh that's so-and-so", gets you nothing and gives the next person to post a major advantage.

The other piece of news is that the thread closes on FRIDAY, 4th Februrary at 7:45pm, as two of the games are being played that evening.

Anyway, here's your, rather substantial, list


Brentford v Milton Keynes Dons
Brighton & Hove Albion v Derby County
Crystal Palace v Bolton
Huddersfield v Luton
Leicester v Crewe
Manchester Utd v Birmingham
Millwall v QPR
Northampton v Cambridge Utd
Port Vale v Bournemouth
Tottenham v Portsmouth
Wolves v Sunderland
Wycombe v Boston Utd


Yes I *know* a couple of the games are from the Premiership, and that I'd said that this season was going to be 'Prem Free'. Don't worry, it's a one off, I won't be making a habit of it

Brentford 1-1 Milton Keynes Dons (Tabb)
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Derby County (Tudgay)
Crystal Palace 0-0 Bolton
Huddersfield 1-3 Luton (Robinson)
Leicester 1-0 Crewe (Scowcroft)
Manchester Utd 2-0 Birmingham (Rooney)
Millwall 0-1 QPR (Furlong)
Northampton 2-1 Cambridge Utd (McGleish)
Port Vale 1-1 Bournemouth (Smith)
Tottenham 2-0 Portsmouth (Defoe)
Wolves 0-3 Sunderland (Stewart)
Wycombe 0-0 Boston Utd

And I believe your mystery man is no other than Steve Claridge.

B

Brentford 1-0 Milton Keynes Dons (Burton)
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 Derby County (Rasiak)
Crystal Palace 0-1 Bolton (Pedersen)
Huddersfield 1-2 Luton (Howard)
Leicester 1-1 Crewe (Connolly)
Manchester Utd 2-1 Birmingham (van Nistelrooy)
Millwall 1-1 QPR (Hayles)
Northampton 2-0 Cambridge Utd (McGleish)
Port Vale 1-2 Bournemouth (Hayter)
Tottenham 1-1 Portsmouth (Yakubu)
Wolves 1-1 Sunderland (Miller)
Wycombe 1-1 Boston Utd (Tyson)


>>>Master B - a beardy chemistry teacher sort of a bloke <<<
Suddenly things become clear.

ITs a biggie ...

Brentford 1 v 0 Milton Keynes Dons - Rhodes
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 v 1 Derby County - Rasiak
Crystal Palace 0 v 2 Bolton - Pedersen
Huddersfield 0 v 2 Luton - Howard
Leicester 1 v 0 Crewe - Connolly
Manchester Utd 2 v 0 Birmingham - Rooney
Millwall 1 v 1 QPR - Hayles
Northampton 3 v 0 Cambridge Utd - McGleish
Port Vale 1 v 2 Bournemouth - Hayter
Tottenham 2 v 0 Portsmouth - Keane
Wolves 0 v 1 Sunderland - Elliot
Wycombe 1 v 2 Boston Utd - Kirk

And the mystery player is none other than Ruud Van Nistelrooy, whose sojurn in the lower leagues playing under the name of Chris Horsefield has been well documented. Though it could have been Steve Claridge.

heartfelt thanks to Master ChemProf for beating McK the D out of that bonus point!

And why are you so sure that he has beaten him to the bonus point?

Because he got the answer right!?

(Not that I've checked - but I never question chemistry teachers - if I do I end up missing the bus home while listening to their explanation...)

My record on this competition is regrettable poor, but I'm pretty sure I've got this one right. There aren't many footballers who have played for 12 clubs.

B

This is indeed true. There are very few players who have played for 12 different teams.

There are even fewer who have played for 15.

In fact I can think of only one...




Steve Claridge

becuz i loooked it up...

What about the goalie - fat bloke - played for everyone - not Rimmer - I've forgotten his name -

John Burridge?

Stuart Elliott is also something of a special case...
http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=9912
Despite being only born in 1977 and therefore still being well under 30, he's already played for 11 league clubs as well as three former ones in Exeter (ha!), Scarborough and Halifax.

He's also the worst player ever to appear at right-back for Plymouth Argyle - we had some pretty terrible players during our low patch in the late 1990s when we were in the bottom division, but he took the biscuit.

Although he's not that likely to add to his 11 league clubs - by the fact that he's now at Harrogate Town, I've deduced that word's probably got about as to how bad he actually is.

He's quite good on Championship Manager.

B

Well in real life he looked like a ginger pillock who'd saved up ten packets of crisps and won a competition to become a professional footballer for a bit.

Looking at soccerbase, I do like the fact that no-one has ever actually paid any money for him.

B

I wonder how he does it, though - I suppose he must be able to perform incredibly well in trial matches to have fooled so many managers into signing him.

Brentford v Milton Keynes Dons 2-1(burton)
Brighton & Hove Albion v Derby County 1-3(rasiak)
Crystal Palace v Bolton 2-2(Johnson)
Huddersfield v Luton 2-1(booth)
Leicester v Crewe 2-1(Hughes)
Manchester Utd v Birmingham 3-1(rooney)
Millwall v QPR 1-2(furlong)
Northampton v Cambridge Utd 3-1(mcgleish)
Port Vale v Bournemouth 2-1(paynter)
Tottenham v Portsmouth 3-2(defoe)
Wolves v Sunderland 2-3(ince)
Wycombe v Boston Utd 2-0(birchall)

andy

Brentford 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons - Burton
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 Derby County - Rasiak
Crystal Palace 1-1 Bolton - Pederson
Huddersfield 1-1 Luton - Abbott
Leicester 2-1 Crewe - Connolly
Manchester Utd 2-0 Birmingham - Rooney
Millwall 1-0 QPR - Hayles
Northampton 2-0 Cambridge Utd - McGleish
Port Vale 0-1 Bournemouth - Hayter
Tottenham 1-0 Portsmouth - Defoe
Wolves 1-2 Sunderland - Elliott
Wycombe 1-0 Boston Utd - Tyson

Bottletop

Brentford 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons (Salako)
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Derby County (Rasiak)
Crystal Palace 2-2 Bolton (Davies)
Huddersfield 1-4 Luton (Abbott)
Leicester 2-2 Crewe (Rivers)
Manchester Utd 3-0 Birmingham (Giggs)
Millwall 1-1 QPR (Dichio)
Northampton 3-0 Cambridge Utd (McGleish)
Port Vale 1-1 Bournemouth (Hayter)
Tottenham 2-0 Portsmouth (Keane)
Wolves 0-2 Sunderland (Elliott)
Wycombe 2-0 Boston Utd (Claridge )

Brentford 3-1 Milton Keynes Dons (Burton)
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Derby County (Rasiak)
Crystal Palace 0-2 Bolton (Diouf)
Huddersfield 1-2 Luton (Howard)
Leicester 1-1 Crewe (Ashton)
Manchester Utd 3-0 Birmingham (Rooney)
Millwall 2-2 QPR (Furlong)
Northampton 2-0 Cambridge Utd (McGleish)
Port Vale 1-2 Bournemouth (Hayter)
Tottenham 1-0 Portsmouth (Defoe)
Wolves 1-2 Sunderland (Stewart)
Wycombe 1-1 Boston Utd (Kirk)