The players who've been sent off playing for England: who are they, when were they sent off, and why? asks Derek Baldwinson
Alan Mullery was the first player to be sent off playing for England. The Spurs player was sent packing for two terrible challenges on Yugoslavian hard man Dobrivoje Trivic in England's 1968 European championship semi-final defeat.
A late-tackling, ranting Alan Ball was the next to go five years later, for two bookable offences against Poland, and in 1977, Trevor Cherry was similarly dismissed against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Only one English international would be dismissed during the next 21 years, when Ray Wilkins lost his cool under the Monterrey sun, threw the ball at the referee after being pulled up for a dubious foul, and saw his Mexico 86 campaign come to a premature end.
It was 12 years until a fifth England international saw red - you'll possibly remember David Beckham's petulant kick at Argentina's Diego Simeone in France 98 - but only one more match until a sixth one did, when Paul Ince took an early bath in Sweden for two trademark late tackles.
The following June, Paul Scholes went against Sweden for two bookable challenges, although he should have walked for hacking Stefan Schwarz's leg to shreds with the first one. David Batty is the last player to have been sent off in the white shirt (so far) - he was dismissed against Poland towards the end of last year, presumably just for being David Batty.
Tommy Gemmell of Celtic has scored goals in more than one European Cup final. I suspect other players have also achieved this feat - do you have details? asks Des Callaghan
Nine other men have managed this. (For the record, Gemmell scored in Celtic's win over Internazionale in 1967 and their defeat against Feyenoord in 1970.)
By far and away the greatest goalscorer in European Cup finals was Real Madrid's Alfredo Di Stefano, who scored in the first five finals, beginning in 1955 and saving the best for last with a hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. Di Stefano was incredibly outscored in that classic match by his team-mate Ferenc Puskas, who got the other four in Real's 7-3 victory. Puskas didn't do so well in Real's 1962 defeat at the hands of Benfica, mind you - he only managed a hat-trick.
Di Stefano and Puskas weren't the only Real players to achieve this feat during Real's late-50s pomp, either. Rial (two goals in 1956, one in 1959) and Gento (in 1957 and 1958) also managed it.
As for other teams? Two Benfica players managed it during their club's early-60s heyday: Aguas scored in the 1961 and 1962 finals; the great Eusebio notched two in 1962 and another a year later. Internazionale's Alessandro Mazzola, who scored but came away a loser against Celtic, had better luck in 1964 with a winning hat-trick against Real Madrid. And Franz Roth hit the net in consecutive finals during the mid-70s for Bayern Munich.
The last player to score in two finals is also the only other British player to do so. Phil Neal converted a penalty in Liverpool's first European Cup success (against Borussia Monchengladbach in 1977) and scored the opener in their last (against Roma in 1984). Will Teddy Sheringham or Steve McManaman join Neal and Gemmell's elite British club next May?
Somewhere in the back of my brain, I seem to recall Chris Nicholl scoring all four goals in a 2-2 draw between Aston Villa and Leicester City. Is my memory failing me? asked Nick Evans.
Martin Blogg writes: "Chris Nicholl did score all four goals in a 2-2 draw between Leicester and Villa at Filbert Street, on 20th March 1976. I remember seeing a picture of him being congratulated by, I think, Andy Gray, following his second equaliser for Villa."
Last week we set out on the trail of vegetarian footballers and you've served up a few more suggestions.
Stephen Ryan thinks Robbie Earle of Wimbledon lives his life meat-free, and Terry Land is sure West Ham's Ian Pearce's vegetarianism has been "documented in several articles in programmes and magazines". Meanwhile, Aiden Glendinning writes: "I thought Les Ferdinand was a veggie. But I haven't read his autobiography, as everyone says it's crap."
Can you help?
"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?" asks cbobt.
"Thanks for your explanation of why the Italian kit is blue [see last week's Knowledge]. Can anyone then explain why the German away strip is green?" asks Clayton Fossett.
Any questions?
Send your football asks to the.boss@theguardian.com and we'll do our best to give you some answers.
