A League of Their Own - The Book of Sporting Trivia: 100% Official. Литагент HarperCollins USD

      Tottenham’s defensive lynchpin is a dab hand at pub quizzes and liked nothing better than to hit the boozer each week in Amsterdam for a thorough brain workout during his trophy-fuelled Ajax days. The Belgian international revealed, ‘I love to do it because I can’t really go out. It’s my version of going out. I don’t go to drink beer. My best subject is sport, but I think I also know something about the world. I haven’t found a pub in England which does a good quiz yet. At the moment, I think the questions might be too English-based for me.’

      PEP GUARDIOLA

      The Bayern Munich manager is not your conventional top-flight boss. Former Spanish international Guardiola is a keen poet in his time away from the goldfish bowl of managing the Bundesliga giants and often recites his poems in public. Pep plucked up the courage to recite one at a charity event alongside singer Lluís Llach. One such line from the poem ‘Life Is a Journey’ reads like this: ‘I hold a stone in my hands and every night I let it fall into the deep well of the sun and I take it out the next day, soaked in life.’ Cantona would be proud.

ANDY CARROLL

      BORN: 6 January 1989, Gateshead, England

      PLAYER: Newcastle United, Liverpool, West Ham and England

      1) Carroll became the youngest ever player to represent Newcastle United in Europe aged 17 years and 300 days when he replaced cult Peruvian Nobby Solano in a 1–0 win over Palermo in November 2006. He made his Premier League début against Wigan in February 2007.

      2) The giant striker soon made a name for himself on Tyneside by banging in the goals with his noggin and left peg. After racking up 31 goals in 80 games, Liverpool came calling with a humungous £35 million bid that the Magpies snapped up in the January 2011 transfer window.

      3) In January 2015 Carroll’s fiancée posted several pictures of their house, dubbed ‘Carroll Castle’, on social media. In a blatant bid to upstage fellow WAGS, she has installed mirrored ceilings, zebra-print walls, a fuchsia sofa and a fully functioning beauty parlour.

      4) Avatar (the nickname given to him after his blockbusting Newcastle displays) claimed to have once held the headstand position for six minutes and 31 seconds after a Dubai yoga session. He posted a photo as evidence. Copycat attempts have been few and far between.

      DID YOU KNOW: Carroll once showed off his DIY skills by uploading a picture of himself assembling a rocking chair. Given the poor feller’s injury record, we’re surprised it wasn’t a wheelchair.

      Here’s a shot of Andy as Liverpool fans will remember him best

      © Getty Images/Scott Heavey

BANNED WHAT?

      Managers have various ways of getting their players in line if they are new to the club or if the squad’s gone south. Here’s a few of the best we’ve collared from the dugout archives:

      © Shutterstock.com

      DAVID MOYES

      Real Sociedad boss Moyes did not cover himself in glory during his brief reign at Manchester United trying to fill the gigantic boots of Sir Alex Ferguson. Not content with presiding over several woeful defeats, Moyes also cancelled the traditional Christmas pantomime, performed by the United youth players, in favour of a manager’s speech. Fergie used to serve soup wearing a pinny before settling down to watch the panto, with one cheeky youngster in 2010 appearing as Shrek with a curly wig to mock Wayne Rooney’s hair transplant.

      FABIO CAPELLO

      The Italian built up an enviable CV at the likes of AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus before he hopped over the Channel to England to try and revive the national team. Sadly, he lost a fair few England players straight off the bat in the first training session by banning hotel visitors, WAGS, mobile phones and flip-flops. Not content with those bans, strict disciplinarian Capello also stopped the use of player nicknames – an English birthright.

      ALAN PARDEW

      ‘Pards’ has never been shy of taking an unpopular decision at the helm of his various clubs to try and raise a sinking ship from the depths of despair. When he was manager at Charlton, Pardew even banned promising youngster Jonjo Shelvey from dancing at his school prom. He told Shelvey, who has since gone on to represent England, ‘Just tell that girl and the teachers that you will not be dancing at the school prom.’ Pardew also called off the Christmas party up at Newcastle when the Magpies trotted out a string of dismal winter performances. He declared, ‘It’s out of respect to our fans and what we have served them this year. There’s no party for us, and the same for the staff. That’s how it should be.’

ASHLEY COLE