Beautiful game, beautiful trivia
The Football Association turns 150
150 years ago tomorrow, in a pub in Covent Garden, a group of men got together and founded the Football Association. So started a century and a half of arguments about such crucial issues as whether the one-handed throw-in should be outlawed (it finally was in 1882) and what the minimum height of a corner post should be (it's currently 1.5 metres). But the world's most popular sport also gives us some of the world's most compelling trivia. To celebrate the anniversary, here are 10 of my favourite footie facts:

1. In his entire career, Zinedine Zidane was caught offside only 4 times.
2. Umbro stands for HUMphrey BROthers - it was founded in 1911 by brothers Harold and Wallace Humphrey of Cheshire.
3. The inventor of Subbuteo wanted to call the game ‘Hobby', but that was ruled too general - so he took the second half of the Latin name for the hobby bird, Falco Subbuteo
4. The original stands at Stamford Bridge were made from earth excavated during construction of the London Underground's Metropolitan Line.
5. In 2001 a Spurs fan, delighted that his team were 3-0 up at home to Manchester United at half-time, put £10,000 on them to win the match (at a paltry 16-1 on). Man United scored 5 goals in the second half, winning the match 5-3 and losing the punter his ten grand.
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