Have any footballers ever scored with the first touch of their careers? | The Knowledge

“Jamie Spencer, 17, made his first first-team appearance in a competitive match, for Huddersfield at Doncaster on 9 September in the prestigious EFL Trophy,” emails Richard Askham. “He came on as a substitute in the 66th minute and scored with his second touch of the ball, one to control it and the second to score. Has anyone scored with their very first touch, which is the only way to better young Spencer’s achievement?”

We covered a variation of this question back in 2021, with answers on players scoring with their first touch on debut for their new clubs. This week, though, goes a step further, covering players that score with the first touches of their professional careers, although there are a few answers from that 2021 piece that work here, too: Jack Aitchison for Celtic in 2016, Matt Hatch for Central Coast Mariners in 2021, England one-cap wonder Michael Ricketts for Walsall against Brighton in 1996, Maheta Molango (now the chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association) for Brighton against Reading in August 2004, and Yan Dhanda for Swansea City at Sheffield United in 2018.

“Back in 2007, Luke Medley, on his professional debut for Bradford, was aged 18 years and two months,” emails Ben McGowan. “In an early-season game against a Wrexham side who finished the season bottom of the fourth tier, he came on in the 76th minute. Two minutes later, he scored an absolutely stunning half-volley with his first touch in professional football.” What a strike!

“Back in September 1981, Raphael Meade came on as sub for Arsenal against Panathinaikos and scored with his very first touch,” flags Mukhtar Khan. Quite the feat, especially as it was in the Uefa Cup, and especially as it was a bicycle kick! “Kenny Samson provided the cross from the left and Meade, with his back to goal, beat keeper Konstantinou all ends up”, wrote the Daily Express.

“Ibra Sekajja scored with his first touch on his professional debut for Crystal Palace against Hull in 2011,” writes Bjørn Barang. Sekajja netted an 88th-minute equaliser to help Palace retain their Championship status.

Andy Brook and Robert Heath both correctly identify Alan Smith’s first touch as a professional footballer resulting in a goal for Leeds at Anfield. With Leeds 1-0 down, Smith came off the bench and equalised with his first touch in front of the Kop two minutes later, before Leeds went on to win a controversial match 3-1 (the state of that tackle from Nigel Martyn on Karl-Heinz Riedle!) – Gérard Houllier’s first game in sole charge of Liverpool.

Stadiums with low Google ratings (part II)

Last week’s lead question regarding football stadiums with high or low Google ratings proved very popular but the answers were just based upon English clubs (and four Welsh ones). Luckily, Mykola Kozlenko has since been in touch with a few more continental options:

“Great question about stadia with low rankings!” writes Mykola. “I tried to expand it to Europe and found a few interesting candidates.

1) Nyva Stadium, Vinnytsia, Ukraine, 2.7*, 12 reviews.
Home stadium of third-tier FC Nyva Vinnytsia (who recently received Dynamo Kyiv here in the national cup). This was rebuilt two years ago but it is proving to be unpopular because:
amateur athletes are unhappy because they can’t train here any more
locals are unhappy because the stands are literally 20 metres away from the nearest residential complex (ironically named Family Comfort).
fans are unhappy because it’s a small soulless stadium with an artificial pitch instead of the old 24,000-seat Central City Stadium.

2) Avanhard Stadium, Rivne, Ukraine, 3.4*, 142 reviews
Home stadium of top-tier NK Veres Rivne. The stadium was dilapidated for years, renovation has started but not completed yet, although two out of four stands are ready.

3) Dens Park, Dundee, Scotland, 3.7*, 804 reviews
This (probably) makes the home stadium of Dundee the lowest-rated top-tier stadium in the UK.

4) Almondvale, Livingston, Scotland, 3.7*, 432 reviews
The home stadium of Livingston does not seem to have a great reputation despite being relatively new.

5) Kampi Nacional Hajvali, Pristina, Kosovo, 3.7*, 7 reviews
This stadium somehow hosted Conference League qualifiers this year despite being half built.

6) The Oval, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 3.8*, 490 reviews
The home stadium of Glentoran is particularly dilapidated, especially its away end.

7) Stade Jos Nosbaum, Dudelange, Luxembourg, 3.8*, 135 reviews
This stadium has hosted Conference League and Europa League qualifiers and is the home of top-tier F91 Dudelange. Parking and payments are picked out as particular gripes of this pretty old stadium.”

Three in a crowd

“Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick against Manchester City and ended up on the losing side. How often has that happened in the Premier League, and who has scored the most goals in a game their team lost?” asks Alejandro Solis.

We’ve covered the second part of your question in the past – click here for tales of futile netbusting – so let’s proceed straight to the players who have scored Premier League hat-tricks in vain. Brobbey’s was the sixth example and the first in almost 20 years. The last man to achieve this dubious feat was Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz in December 2007. He single-handedly dragged Blackburn back into the game from 3-0 down, only for Wigan’s Marcus Bent to score two more goals and complete his own hat-trick.

The first two were scored by Matt Le Tissier, on the final day of the inaugural season and the opening day of the 1995-96 season. The cruellest is probably Dion Dublin’s: he’s the only man to put his team in front on three different occasions and still lose. Here’s the full list.

• Matt Le Tissier Oldham 4-3 Southampton, 1992-93

• Matt Le Tissier Southampton 3-4 Nottingham Forest, 1995-96

• Dion Dublin Sheffield Wednesday 4-3 Coventry City, 1995-96

• Dwight Yorke Newcastle 4-3 Aston Villa, 1996-97

• Roque Santa Cruz Wigan 5-3 Blackburn, 2007-08

• Brian Brobbey Manchester City 5-3 Sunderland, 2026-27

Knowledge archive

“When was the last time Spain did not have more possession than the opposition in a full match?” enquired Sol O’Carroll back in 2012.

Sixty-one games ago, to be precise Sol. Incredibly, La Roja last lost out to an opponent in the possession stakes in the Euro 2008 final, when Germany edged them 52% to 48%, although they still won 1-0.

2026 update: Remarkably, there is only one competitive match since the Euro 2008 final in which Spain have not had the lion’s share of possession. That was the 3-0 victory over Croatia at Euro 2024. “For the first time in 137 games, Spain did not complete as many passes as their opponents, and they could not be happier,” began Sid Lowe’s intro at the Olympiastadion, Berlin. Spain, of course, would go on to be Euro 2024 champions, beating England 2-1 in the final (with 63% possession).

Can you help?

“Oli McBurnie is back in the Scotland squad,” notes John Cant. “With his record of 16 appearances and zero goals, he said in a recent interview, “a tap-in on Saturday or one that goes in off my backside would be lovely.” The backside comes up often when players talk of breaking a goal drought – but has it ever actually happened?”

“Manchester City claimed Scott Carson as a club legend in a recent LinkedIn post,” retches Michael Haddon. “He played one league game for them. So, who is the genuine club legend who played the fewest games for a side? It’s not Carson obviously, but I’m thinking someone like fellow keeper Jimmy Glass who scored the last-minute goal against Plymouth Argyle to keep Carlisle United in the Football League in 1999. He was on loan, so three league games and one goal from your glovesman, keeping you up in the process. That must be hard to beat?”

“Crewe are currently on a run of four 1-1 draws in the league,” writes Sam Hurst. “How long do we have to keep this up before we can start thinking about the record for consecutive identical scores?”

“Olimpia Cluj won the 2010-11 Romanian Liga I women’s title, finishing the season with a goal difference of +242,” notes Graham Clayton. “Has there been an example of a team having a larger GD either during or at the end of the season?”

“When announced, Sweden’s 25-man squad for the current Nations League internationals contained just one player currently playing in the country’s top flight, the Allsvenskan: Hammarby’s Hampus Skoglund. Has a senior international squad ever contained fewer players from its own country’s top domestic division (excluding countries where there is no professional domestic league)?” asks Derek Robertson.

“Oxford United goalkeeper Simon Eastwood was sent off towards the end of United’s Football League Trophy (can’t remember the then sponsors) game at AFC Wimbledon on 9 January 2024, with the U’s losing 2-0 to be eliminated from the competition. With Oxford subsequently winning promotion to the Championship and remaining there for two seasons, that was the club’s last involvement in the trophy until they travel to Exeter City on 4 October this year. Because the red card is competition-specific, Eastwood’s suspension comes into play for this game. Is this the longest gap between a dismissal and subsequent punishment (999 days, or two years, eight months, 25 days)?” asks Martin Brodetsky.