Bizarre ink: which footballers have got tattoos of other footballers?

“Finland’s Topi Keskinen has several tattoos, including one of Wayne Rooney,” begins Anna Mayors. “Are any other footballers inked with other players?”

The young Finnish winger Topi Keskinen, who joined Aberdeen in August, has some artwork of Wayne Rooney casting a fishing rod on his arm. Hold the hifalutin analysis, don’t stroke that chin: there’s a simple explanation. “I’ve been a Wayne Rooney fan since I was a little kid and I love fishing also,” he said. “If I get tattoos I want them to mean something!”

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Footballers have paid tribute to their peers and predecessors in multiple ways: shirt numbers, celebrations – and ink, lots of ink. One Marmitic genius has been a particular inspiration.

“A more interesting question might be: ‘Who is the footballer most inked on other footballers?’” begins Tim Dockery. “And to that question, I think the answer has to be Diego Armando Maradona. Here are the first 10 players that I came across.”

Tim has kindly put the ‘ink’ in ‘link’ by sending clickable bits where possible:

• Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Argentina)

• Gaspar Servio (who got a tattoo of Maradona while playing under him at Dorados of the Mexican second division)

• Ricardo Centurión (Racing, Vélez)

• Lucho González (Porto, River Plate. Maradona called him back into the Argentina team after he already had the tattoo)

• Santiago Ascacíbar (Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin, Estudiantes. He received a thank you video from Diego upon the public reveal of his ink)

• Pablo Hernández (O’Higgins, Celta Vigo, Chile)

• Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli, Italy. He got his tattoo in homage to his idol following Diego’s death)

• Agustín Sández (Boca, Rosario Central)

• Marcos Rojo (Manchester United, Boca, Argentina)

• Yamila Rodríguez (Argentina. She has received unnecessary criticism for having a tattoo of Cristiano Ronaldo on the same leg)

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Giovanni Dini and others point out that Richarlison has a bespoke tattoo on his back which features Neymar, Ronaldo Fenômeno and, oh yes, Richarlison.

Any more for any more? If so, get in touch.

Late comebacks to win from 2-0 down

“Last month, Everton were beaten 3-2 by Bournemouth despite being 2-0 up after 86 minutes. Has a team ever been two goals ahead so late in a top-flight game and still lost?” asks Shaun Tooze.

We had this question in 2022, when Borussia Dortmund blew a 2-0 lead after 88 minutes against Werder Bremen. The only answer we had that time was Inter 3-2 Sampdoria from 2004-05, when Samp led 2-0 after 87 minutes, but our readers have unearthed/remembered a couple of gems.

First, a team who were 2-0 down going into injury time and still won: Royal Antwerp in the Uefa Cup in 1989-90. “After a 0-0 draw against Vitosha Sofia in Bulgaria, Antwerp were 3-1 down at home after conceding in the 85th and 89th minutes,” writes Dirk Maas. “However, Nico Claesen (90+1 and 90+4) and Raphaël Quaranta (90+6) made the miracle happen.”

What makes it even better is that, because of the away goals rule, a draw was a defeat for Antwerp so they needed all three goals. You can watch the highlights here.

Boris Cule has a slightly murkier tale. “There was an infamous example of this in former Yugoslavia on the final day of the 1987-88 season. Three teams were fighting for survival – Sutjeska knew they would survive with a win, but they were playing the leaders Red Star Belgrade and were expected to lose. The other two, Prishtina and Celik, were playing each other in Prishtina, with Prishtina needing a win and Sutjeska to lose, and Celik needing a win and Sutjeska not to win.

“Prishtina, clearly the better team, raced into a 2-0 lead. However, the game kicked off around five minutes later than all the others, and, with minutes to go, news filtered through that Sutjeska had drawn against Red Star Belgrade, a result that secured the title for Red Star.

“At that point Prishtina – who knew they were relegated – effectively stopped playing and allowed Celik to score three late goals and win 3-2. The footage suggests that they didn’t try very hard to prevent those goals, which were scored in the 89th, 89th and 90th minute according to the text below the YouTube video (no VAR checks in those days!).

“It never became clear if this kind of finish was planned in advance in case Sutjeska drew or if Prishtina, urged by their own fans, did it out of spite, with Celik profiting through no fault of their own. In the aftermath, Prishtina and Celik were both deducted points for ‘match-fixing’, effective the following season, but, remarkably, the authorities decided that the result should stand. So Celik survived and Sutjeska were relegated.”

Booked before first appearance

“Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly was booked against Manchester City before his first appearance for the club. Any other instances of this?” asks DW.

Indeed there is. “Nohan Kenneh was booked for celebrating as a substitute when Leeds beat Wolves 3-2 in 2022,” writes Andy Nattan. “He made his senior debut the following season, for Hibernian. So, to summarise: booked for a club he never played a senior game for, a season before making his first appearance for any club.”

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Lewis-Skelly’s story had a different payoff: he came on later in the game and was asked “Who the eff are you?” by an increasingly vexed Erling Haaland after full time.

Talking of blond, long-haired goalscorers, here’s a related answer. “Similar but not exactly the same: Claudio Caniggia didn’t play a single minute in World Cup 2002 but was sent off in the match against Sweden,” writes Pablo Miguez. “Had Argentina won the match and progressed further, he could have played his first game after serving the ban.”

Last and never, ever least, there’s the legendary Brazilian Carlos Kaiser, who didn’t kick a ball in professional football but still managed get himself sent off. Probably.

St Mirren’s run of getting Hearts managers sacked

“The long-running comedy series that is Heart of Midlothian FC continued when they sacked Steven Naismith a week ago on Sunday following a 2-1 defeat by St Mirren. The two permanent managers before Naismith, Robbie Neilson and Daniel Stendel, were also sacked after defeats to St Mirren. Is a team taking out three consecutive managers a record?” wonders Tom Ball.

The next time St Mirren host Hearts, they really should pipe the Jaws theme into the away dugout. If seeing off three Hearts managers in a row is a record, they’ll have to share it with – fingers on buzzers – Curzon Ashton. “Three consecutive York City managers were sacked following disappointing results against the Nash,” writes Richard Gunn. “Martin Gray in August 2018 after a 1-1 draw at home; Sam Collins swiftly followed in losing the return fixture 1-0 in January 2019; and Big Steve Watson following a 0-0 draw at the Tameside Stadium in November 2021. It became known as the Curse of Curzon Ashton.”

Knowledge archive

“In their 1988 FA Cup final besting of Liverpool, Wimbledon had the shirt sponsor Carlsberg despite having played the whole of the 1987-88 season with another Carlsberg Brewery brand, Truman, on their shirts,” wrote Martin Allen-Smith in 2009. “Have any other teams had their sponsors shamelessly take advantage of unexpected success in this way?”

At least Truman were ousted by one of their own. In the 1987 Scottish Cup final between Dundee United and eventual winners St Mirren, the Buddies did a right number on the company who had supported them through thin and thin during the regular season.

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“St Mirren played the full 1986-87 season sponsored by Graham’s Buses,” explains Dave Cherry. “Their deal ended after the final league game of the season, at which point rival bus company Clydeside Buses nipped in and got their logo on the front of the cup-winning shirt!”

Thankfully, this sort of chicanery doesn’t always occur. “In a neat reversal of the Wimbledon scenario, Cardiff City’s then sponsor Comms Direct were offered £500,000 by an online bookies to have their name on the Bluebirds’ shirts for the final instead,” remembers Peter Newbitt. “Comms Direct stood firm and kept their name on the shirt for the last game of their sponsorship deal. They have now been replaced by Vans Direct.”

Can you help?

“Tuv Azarganuud have lost their opening five games of the Mongolian Premier League season by an aggregate score of 67-0. Is this the worst start to a season in the history of football?” asks Jack Hayward, possibly rhetorically.

“Like all Aberdeen fans, I’m delighted with our start to the season under our new boss Jimmy Thelin: 11 games, 11 wins [now 12 games, 12 wins]. I know unbeaten runs are not uncommon under new managers, but is such a run of successive wins getting close to any sort of record?” asks Craig Davidson.

“After six games of the Premier League season, five (!) teams are winless,” notes Bob Zoellner. “Has that happened before? And has any winless team (excluding the first couple of weeks) been higher in the league than Ipswich, who currently sit in 15th place?”

“With four or five games left in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top six are separated by only seven points, so it’s possible any of them could win the title. What is the lowest position a team has been with, let’s say, 10 games to go and come through to win their league?” wonders John Brennan.

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