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“Is Ange Postecoglou’s 40-day spell at Nottingham Forest the shortest for a full-time manager in the English top flight?” asks Donna Stevens.
Any Nottingham Forest manager aspires to emulate the achievements of Brian Clough at the City Ground, or at least pay some kind of success-based tribute. Alas, Ange Postecoglou’s spell at Forest was more reminiscent of Clough’s time at Leeds – short and sour.
Clough lasted 44 days when he took over the reigning champions Leeds in 1974, a story so fascinating that somebody really should make a film about it. Another managerial great, Jock Stein, was at Leeds for 45 days in 1978 before the offer of managing Scotland proved irresistible.
Postecoglou’s 40-day stay is the shortest of the Premier League era, beating Charlton’s Les Reed by a day. But Tommy Docherty trumped the lot of them with a 28-day spell as QPR manager in 1968. Docherty took over from Bill Dodgin Jr, who had lasted only three months himself, with Rangers struggling at the bottom of the old Division One. After three games in charge, Docherty resigned “on a matter of principle” when the Rangers chairman vetoed a deal to sign the Rotherham defender Brian Tiler for £35,000.
These are the five shortest tenures we could find in the English top flight. The list isn’t comprehensive, so drop us a line if we’ve missed anybody.
28 days
Tommy Docherty Queens Park Rangers, Nov-Dec 1968
Record in all competitions: P3 W1 D0 L2
40 days
Ange Postecoglou Nottingham Forest, Sept-Oct 2025
P8 W0 D2 L6
41 days
Les Reed Charlton Athletic, Nov-Dec 2006
P8 W1 D1 L6
44 days
Brian Clough Leeds United, July-Sept 1974
P8 W1 D4 L3
45 days
Jock Stein Leeds United, Aug-Oct 1978
P10 W4 D3 L3
(NB: Some reports said Postecoglou was Forest manager for 39 days. We’ve counted the day he was appointed, 9 September, and the day he was sacked, 18 October, as two separate days of employment rather than one. That’s why the overall figure is 40 days rather than 39. The same formula was used for Brian Clough’s famous 44 days at Leeds, 31 July to 12 September 1974)
A full house of goals and assists
“In Austria’s 10-0 demolition of San Marino, every outfield player who started got a goal, an assist or both. Has any other team managed this?” asks Paul Savage.
“This was discussed in the the Facebook group The English Football Record,” writes Daniel Hill. “Rob Hick pointed us to Liverpool’s 11-0 demolition of Strømsgodset in the first round of the 1974-75 Cup Winners’ Cup, a match that featured nine different scorers – all players who started the game.
“The only fly in the ointment is that one starting outfield player, Brian Hall, didn’t get a goal or an assist. But the goalkeeper Ray Clemence set up the ninth goal for Tommy Smith, so 10 of the starting XI made a goal contribution. In that respect it equals Austria’s record.”
Free-kick purple patches (revisited)
In last week’s Knowledge we looked at players who had enjoyed purple patches of scoring direct free-kicks. Dimitri Payet, David Beckham and James Ward-Prowse were very good; a once infamous Dutchman was even better.
“Pierre van Hooijdonk’s record of 18 direct free-kicks in 18 months between October 2001 and March 2003 is quite a bit better than poor old Dimitri Payet’s form,” writes Bouke Wiersma. “Some of them were amazing, particularly away to Freiburg and in the 2002 Uefa Cup final against Dortmund. The Feyenoord tactic at the time was pretty much: lump it up to Pierre, who waits for contact with the centre-back in the aerial duel and then scores the subsequent free-kick. He was simply unstoppable!”
Knowledge archive
“Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored four goals and was sent off in Gabon’s 4-3 win over Gambia earlier this month,” writes Seb in Berlin. “Which other players have seen red after scoring at least three goals?”
We thought this would be a niche topic; that there were no early baths on cloud nine. And we were completely wrong, because several players have achieved football’s best and worst individual feats in the same game.
“A recent example came last Friday on the final night of the League of Ireland First Division,” writes Colm Kearns, “when Bray Wanderers’ 17-year-old Billy O’Neill banged in four against Kerry FC before being sent off for a (still mysterious) verbal dispute with referee Alan Patchell.”
We had this question back in 2019, but it was only a short answer so here’s a slightly fuller and entirely up-to-date list. Thanks to everyone who sent in answers for this one.
John Murray, Bury 5-0 Doncaster, Division Four, March 1973
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Ron Futcher, Charlton 5-3 Barnsley, Division Two, March 1985
Futcher’s hat-trick put Barnsley 3-0 ahead; he was then sent off with the score 3-3 before Charlton completed a spectacular comeback. -
Hristo Stoichkov, Atlético Madrid 1-4 Barcelona, La Liga, September 1992
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Benni McCarthy, Porto 5-3 Santa Clara, Primeira Liga, April 2002
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Marco Gabbiadini, Sunderland 4-0 Ipswich, Division Two, March 1989
Quite an achievement, this one – after 87 minutes Gabbiadini had scored only one goal. He added two more in the 88th and 89th before being sent off in the 90th for an alleged right-hander. -
Chris Iwelumo, Preston 1-3 Wolves, Championship, September 2008
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Hugo Almeida, Werder Bremen 3-0 St Pauli, Bundesliga, November 2010
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Medi Dresevic, Norrby IF 6-1 Tvååker, Ettan Sodra, September 2016
And you thought Enzo Maresca was harshly treated after Chelsea’s winner against Liverpool.
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Samuel Asamoah, Sint-Truiden 5-2 Kas Eupen, Juliper League, February 2020
“Remarkable for anyone, let alone a defensive midfielder,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Asamoah suffered a horrific neck injury the weekend before last playing for Guangxi Pingguo in the Chinese second division, and I can’t but wish him a quick recovery.” -
Billy O’Neill, Bray Wanderers 5-1 Kerry, League of Ireland First Division, 17 October 2025
Can you help?
“Estonia have played against Sweden on 23 occasions without winning a single game – is this an unwanted record?” asks Cameron McGlone.
“Seven of Celta Vigo’s nine league games this season have ended 1-1,” writes Eugene Francis. “What’s the highest percentage of identical scorelines over the course of a season?”
“My beleaguered Tranmere played Barnet on Saturday,” begins James. “I was amazed that this was the first ever meeting before two clubs who have spent so much time in the Football League. It made me wonder: what is the most surprising or eyecatching fixture in English club football that has never been played?”
“Last Friday, Athlone Town’s men’s team finished bottom of the League of Ireland second tier,” writes Colm Kearns. “Two days later their women’s team completed the double by winning the FAI Cup final against Bohemians. Is there a biggest disparity in fortunes between a club’s men’s and women’s sides within a single season?”
“Four-time winners Bolton Wanderers have drawn Huddersfield Town, who won the trophy back in 1922, in the first round of this year’s FA Cup. Have two former winners ever met at such an early stage before?” asks Philip Rebbeck.
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Mail us with your questions and answers
