PHIL NEAL - RECORD HOLDER?
"Has Phil Neal won the most European Cup medals in football?" asks madhouse.36
No he hasn't, but he comes surprisingly close. It's easily forgotten - especially as these days Neal has become a figure of fun after his disastrous spells as manager of Coventry and Manchester City and his constant twittering of "yes, boss" to Graham Taylor - that he was a decent player. During his time at Liverpool, Neal won four European Cup medals (76-7, 77-8, 80-1, 83-4) and one Uefa Cup (75-6), as well as eight League Championship medals and 20 England caps.
But Neal's achievements are blown away by Real Madrid legend Francisco Gento, who won six European Cup winners' medals (55-6, 56-77, 57-8, 58-9, 59-60, 65-6) and two runners-up medals (61-2, 63-4) in a 800-game career. He was also awarded 43 Spanish caps, playing in both the 1962 and 1966 World Cups.
ENGLISH TEAMS WITH AN ALL FOREIGN XI
"What is the greatest number of Scots to turn out for a single English club match, either league or cup? Has an English club, in any match ever come close to fielding an all-Scottish eleven?" asks Alan Sheridan.
Yes they have, Alan. Liverpool fielded an all-Scottish eleven in their first-ever match in 1892 (after forming when Everton quit Anfield for Goodison Park earlier that year).
According to the official Liverpool FC website: "It was virtually unheard of at the time for a city to have more than one professional football team, and people naturally wondered where on earth Liverpool's players would come from. John McKenna, the club's first manager, provided the answer: Scotland. All eleven players of the Liverpool team that played its first-ever competitive match, against Higher Walton on September 3 1892, were Scottish."
More recently, Liverpool famously fielded a non-English XI for the 1986 FA Cup final against Everton: Grobbelaar, Lawrenson, Beglin, Nicol, Whelan, Hansen, Dalglish, Johnston, Rush, Mølby and MacDonald came from behind to win 3-1.
And if you want any further evidence that foreign can be fantastic, look at Chelsea. On December 26 1999, they played Southampton with 11 overseas players - the first time an English league side had fielded a starting line-up without a single British player.
With Graeme Le Saux injured, Chris Sutton suffering from flu, and Dennis Wise's wife due to give birth, Gianluca Vialli started with De Goey, Ferrar, Babayaro, Thome, Leboeuf, Petrescu, Poyet, Deschamps, Di Matteo, Flo and Ambrosetti. And the players did Vialli proud, with two first-half goals from Flo helping Chelsea to victory.
ANOTHER PUB TALE PROVED WRONG
"Is it true that Notts County don't have to wear an away kit if they choose not to as they were the first football league team," asks Joe Coffey. "I heard that they didn't on some TV programme once."
According to Notts County, the story is hokum. Club secretary Tony Cuthbert told Guardian Unlimited: "I've never heard of that before. And there's nothing in the football league regulations about it either."
HOOP NIGHTMARES
"Why do football teams tend to play in stripes whereas rugby teams play in hoops? Why do Celtic, then, play in hoops? What other teams break this trend?" asks Richard Tonkin.
Hoops make players look bigger. Stripes make players look taller. Being squat and bulky is a distinct advantage in rugby, a sport where having a neck wider than your head is de rigueur. But footballers like to look tall and slim, so stripes it is.
Why Celtic chose green-and-white hoops as opposed to stripes nobody seems sure. They started life playing in all-white shirts, then changed to a vertical green-and-white-striped affair before "evolving" into the famous hoops in time for the 1903-4 season. Perhaps the team was just too tall and wispy for their own good.
Of course, this is the final season the famous hoops will be seen at Celtic Park. The club's new strip has two white panels under each arm, breaking both hoop and supporters' hearts. A "Hands off the Hoops" campaign hopes to put a stop to this heresy, although as the new strip has already achieved "higher sales than any other shirt", this seems unlikely.
But you'll still be able to see hoops elsewhere. Morton, Queen's Park Rangers and Reading play in blue-and-white hoops, Darlington and Queen's Park play in black-and-white hoops, while the Hamilton Accies play in red-and-white hoops. Sadly, if you still desire that Celtic aesthetic, you'll have to go to watch Rapid Vienna, Shamrock Rovers or Sporting Lisbon play.
BBC SPORT: ALL MANCHESTER UNITED SUPPORTERS?
"Are all the BBC's radio sports correspondents Manchester United fans? I know that Mark Chapman is on Radio 1 as is Fergus Sweeney on Radio 5, however as these are the only radio stations I listen to. I am at a loss as to whether the rest could be the same. Nonetheless with Greg Dyke in charge is there some sinister plot to redden the BBC or simply shared interests that guarantee promotion to top sports jobs?" asks Andy Peacock.
"Does the man not pay attention?" asks Steve Edgington. "Adrian Chiles, a fantastic correspondent who covers the 606 programme amongst other BBC programmes, is a fan of the greatest club in the world. That's West Bromwich Albion, of course."
CAN YOU HELP?
"Who was the first footballer ever to be sent off with the red card?" asks R Richards.
"Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a record at Manchester United of 76 goals in 202 appearances or one goal every 2.66 matches. Not bad at all, I think we can all agree. However, what I want to know is, bearing in mind how often he has been used as a substitute, how many goals does he score for every 90 minutes he is on the pitch? Does anyone else have a better ratio of goals per 90 minutes? And who has the best goals per 90 international minutes ratio? I am guessing it is Gerd Muller with 68 goals in 62 caps. His club record should also beat Solskjaer, I think, standing at 447 goals in 490 games. Can anyone else help?" asks Benjamin Hardy.
Email the.boss@theguardian.com if you know the answers.