Glory boys

Are Tottenham Hotspur great underachievers, or do they simply favour star players at the expense of a strong team? Since 1973, nine Footballer of the Year awards have gone to players at clubs who have not won the league title in that 34-year period. There has been one each for Fulham, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday and six from Tottenham (Pat Jennings, Steve Perryman, Clive Allen, Gary Lineker, Jürgen Klinsmann and David Ginola).

When the England squad for the matches against Brazil and Estonia was announced on Saturday, which team were best represented, with six players, despite finishing outside the top four of the league (for the seventeenth consecutive season)? Tottenham.

Latin closed quarter

Where is England’s friendly against Brazil on Friday being staged? Brazil, perhaps? No chance – South America has become a forgotten continent for England. Since June 1984 (the month when John Barnes scored his brilliant solo goal in Rio de Janeiro) they have played 259 matches, but not one of them in South America.

Reds’ blueprint

Has Manchester United’s successful era come to an end? Liverpool have not been champions since winning the title ten times in 15 seasons between 1975-76 and 1989-90, a pattern that United have just matched almost exactly. In that 15-year period, Liverpool won the league in years 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 15. United have done so in years 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 15 (they missed out in year 13).

Fair enough

The leading four countries in Uefa’s fair play table this season are Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. Of the 39 Uefa Cup places allocated for fair play in the past 13 seasons, a majority (20) have gone to these four Nordic countries.

The worst of times

San Marino are on course to break their own record for the worst European Championship qualifying campaign. They have lost all five matches with an average margin of defeat of 5.8 goals, compared with their achievement of no points and an average defeat by 5.4 goals in eight games before the 2000 finals. They are also responsible for three of the next six worst campaigns.

Third rate

Nottingham Forest and Leeds United were European Cup finalists in the 1970s, European Championship hosts in 1996 and top-three finishers in the Premiership in the past 13 years. Next season they will contest perhaps the third tier’s most surreal fixture.

Explore Columnists

• Graham Spiers