Stuart Goodwin poses the intriguing question, “After the Son, Haaland, and Ferguson treble of trebles in the Premier League, which is the highest number of hat-tricks scored in one division on one day?” This query raises the curiosity of football enthusiasts.
On Saturday 2 September, only six out of the 10 Premier League fixtures were played, yet Son Heung-min, Erling Haaland, and Evan Ferguson all managed to score hat-tricks. This remarkable feat marked only the second time in the Premier League era that three hat-tricks were recorded on the same day. The initial occurrence took place on 23 September 1995. Robbie Fowler’s stunning performance led Liverpool to a 5-2 victory over Bolton, where he netted an impressive four goals. Meanwhile, Alan Shearer displayed his prowess by scoring three goals, all assisted by Mike Newell, during Blackburn’s 5-1 triumph over Coventry. However, the most captivating hat-trick of the day unfolded at Selhurst Park, where Tony Yeboah orchestrated Leeds’ remarkable 4-2 win over Wimbledon.
The record for hat-tricks recorded on the same day in Serie A stands at three, which was last achieved on 5 May 2013. Miroslav Klose scored for Lazio in a 6-0 victory over Bologna, Edinson Cavani netted three goals for Napoli in a 3-1 win against Inter, and Gonzalo Bergessio contributed a hat-trick as Catania defeated Siena 3-0.
Ligue 1 witnessed four hat-tricks on 5 February 1961, with three of them occurring in the same game: Troyes’ 7-3 victory over Sedan. Antoine Keller etched his name in the history books by netting all three of Troyes’ goals, while Yannick Lebert and Maxime Fulgenzi scored six out of Sedan’s seven goals. Additionally, Jacques Meyer showcased his brilliance by securing a hat-trick in Rouen’s dominant 7-0 win against Toulouse.
However, even those impressive records pale in comparison to the opening day of the 1955-56 La Liga season. In just eight games, a staggering 46 goals were scored, including a remarkable six hat-tricks. Julian Arcas scored four goals for Espanyol in their 4-3 victory over Valladolid, Eneko Arieta contributed a hat-trick in Athletic Bilbao’s 6-1 win against Sevilla, Adrian Escudero and Francisco Molina both recorded hat-tricks in Atlético Madrid’s emphatic 9-0 triumph over Hercules, José Gallardo secured a hat-trick as Murcia defeated Deportivo La Coruña in a thrilling 5-4 contest, and Pahino also claimed a hat-trick in Murcia’s victory.
However, the most astonishing fact is that this is not the highest record of hat-tricks scored in a single division on one day. On November 22, 1930, an incredible seven hat-tricks were recorded in the English First Division, including a pair in the Blackburn v Huddersfield match.
Moving on to a different topic, the latest England squad comprises players from five different leagues, including England itself, Germany (Kane), Spain (Bellingham), Italy (Tomori), and Saudi Arabia (Henderson). This raises the question of whether there has ever been an England squad with representation from so many national leagues. The answer lies within the small print of Gary Lineker’s contract with Nagoya Grampus Eight. In a warm-up match before the 1992 European Championship against Finland, the England squad featured players from at least four different leagues: England, Scotland (Gary Stevens from Rangers, who unfortunately missed the tournament due to an injury), France (Trevor Steven from Marseille), and Italy (David Platt from Bari). It is worth noting that Lineker retired from international football after Euro 92 and joined J.League’s Nagoya Grampus Eight more than a year later when the league was launched. The exact date Lineker officially became a Grampus Eight player is unclear, but reports suggest that his contract began in February 1993. Despite this ambiguity, it seems that this is the closest England has come to having representation from five different leagues in the same squad. However, the Euro 88 squad had players from four different leagues, including England, Scotland (Chris Woods from Rangers), Spain (Gary Lineker from Barcelona), and France (Glenn Hoddle and Mark Hateley from Marseille). Unfortunately, Serie A player Paul Elliott, who was with Pisa at the time, did not receive the call to join the squad.
In the previous edition of the Knowledge, we explored players who were left out after scoring hat-tricks. Adding to that list are two more instances. During the 2011-12 season, Edin Dzeko remarkably scored four goals for Manchester City against Tottenham at White Hart Lane but found himself dropped for the next league game against Wigan. Carlos Tevez made a start in the Wigan game instead of Dzeko, who remained on the bench throughout City’s 3-0 victory as Sergio Agüero took over with a memorable hat-trick. Another recent example occurred in August, where Jan Silný, a striker for SK Prostejov, scored an incredible 11 goals in a cup match but was subsequently benched. However, this decision may have been influenced by Silný’s red card in the second match of the season. Since then, he has played for a total of 224 minutes without scoring a goal.
Shifting focus to woeful starts, Cheltenham currently holds the unfortunate position of being at the bottom of League One without scoring a single goal in their first six matches. This raises the question of the longest run without a goal at the start of a season for a team in the top four divisions in England. Crystal Palace fans might find themselves recalling the dreadful start of the 2017-18 season. Palace lost their first seven Premier League games, failing to score a goal in any of them. Finally, in their eighth game, they managed to break the drought when Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta scored an own goal in the 11th minute. Palace went on to defeat Chelsea 2-1 and finished the season in 11th place. Excluding added time, Palace took a total of 641 minutes to score their first league goal. In 1990-91, Halifax Town, a Division Four club, went a staggering 729 minutes without scoring a goal at the start of the season. However, it is worth noting that during this period, they managed to score against Manchester United in both legs of the League Cup. Finally, on 16 October 1990, Billy Barr broke the dry spell by scoring in the ninth minute of Halifax’s match against Carlisle, leading them to a 3-0 victory. Ultimately, Halifax finished 22nd out of 24 teams, with a total of 59 goals in 46 games, a mere nine fewer than champions Darlington.
As for the question of the worst finalist in football, posed by Josh Davis, it remains an intriguing and ongoing quest for football enthusiasts.
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