Unlimited Miracles: Rejected players with multiple European Cup medals

Clockwise from top left: Filippo Galli, David Fairclough and Sammy Lee with the European Cup in 1978, Rainer Zobel, José Becerril, Horst Blankenburg.Composite: Getty, Shutterstock, Alamy

“Today I read about Horst Blankenburg, who won the European Cup three times with Ajax, but never played for his country, West Germany. Are there any other uncapped players who have won as many (or more) European Cup/Champions League medals?” asks Robbie Paterson.

Horst Blankenburg had the misfortune to play in a specific position as a sweeper at a time when Franz Beckenbauer was the boss of world football. We know of only one team to have played with two sweepers, and that was Steve Coppell’s Crystal Palace at Nottingham Forest in 1990-91. Blankenburg played with Beckenbauer only once: during the 1973 Common Market Match, a celebration of Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community.

Related: Charlton v Netzer: when stars faced off to celebrate Britain’s entry into Europe

Whatever chance Blankenburg had of playing with Beckenbauer at international level disappeared a few months later when West German coach Helmut Schön made some negative comments about Blankenburg. He responded by saying – emphatically on the record – “Schön can lick my ass!”

Ajax won three consecutive European Cups between 1971 and 1973, and Blankenburg was the only regular outfield player not to have a cap. The keeper Heinz Stuy was the other.

Blankenburg and Stuy played in all three finals, putting them in an elite club within the elite club. For this question, we’ve included those who played a role in three successful campaigns, but didn’t necessarily appear in the final.

All but one of the answers to this question come from the days before the Champions League, when there were fewer international matches and teams were more likely to win multiple European Cups – often in consecutive seasons. Ángel Atienza and José Becerril did so at Real Madrid between 1956 and 1958 (Becerril did not play in any finals, although he was involved along the way), as did Bernd Dürnberger And Rainer Zobel at Bayern Munich when they won three in a row in the mid-1970s. Liverpool’s first three European Cups were spread over five years, but the unlimited pair Jimmy Case And David Fairclough always played a role.

The story continues

The only uncapped player to have won three European Cups, at least one of which was in the Champions League era, is the Milan defender Filippo Galli. The existence of Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini made it difficult to get a game for club, let alone country, but Galli became an extremely reliable backup.

He came on as a substitute in the 1989 and 1990 finals and started the 1994 final against Barcelona in the absence of Baresi and Costacurta. Much of Europe – and all of Johan Cruyff – expected Romário and Hristo Stoichkov to plunder Milan’s weakened defense. Wrong!

Here is the full list of uncapped players with three European Cup medals. Those in capital letters appeared in all three finals.

• Angel Atienza Real Madrid (1956–1958)

• Jose Becerril Real Madrid (1956–1958)

• HORST BLANKENBURG Ajax (1971–1973)

• HEINZ STUIJ Ajax (1971–1973)

• BERND DURNBERGER Bayern Munich (1974–1976)

• Rainer Zobel Bayern Munich (1974–1976)

• JIMMY CASE Liverpool (1977, 1978, 1981)

• David Fairclough Liverpool (1977, 1978, 1981)

• FILIPPO GALLI Milan (1989, 1990, 1994)

Thanks to everyone, and there were plenty of you, who wrote answers to this. And before you ask: us think no uncapped player has won more than one title in the Champions League era. Milan goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi played in three consecutive finals from 1993 to 1995, winning only one in 1994.

For club & country

“Antigua & Barbuda international Dion Pereira has been loaned to Dagenham & Redbridge from Luton,” begins Paul Quinn. “Are there any other players who have played for a club and a country at the same time with ‘and’ in their name?”

Thomas Biltcliffe has done the hard work on this question. “There are a few examples I could find,” he writes. “Myles Weston played seven times for Antigua & Barbuda during his time at Dagenham & Redbridge. Chris Birchall, the former Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder, also played for Trinidad & Tobago while on the south coast. The leftmost answer I could find was concerned Raheem Hanley, who represents St Kitts & Nevis at international level. He played for West Didsbury & Chorlton of the North West Counties Premier Division (tier nine) in August 2023. Sejad Salihovic represented Bosnia and Herzegovina while playing for TSG Hoffenheim. It’s annoying, but the TSG prefix stands for Turn and Sportgemeinschaft (literally: gymnastics And sports community).” And, or should we say &, Don Berno has this example from the 2003-2004 season: “You could also have Rodney Jack who played for St Vincent & The Grenadines whilst under contract with Rushden & Diamonds.

Head up

‘All four goals in Liverpool against Burnley were headers’ tweets Alan Whitehill. “I can’t remember a game with so many goals where they were all headers. Can anyone improve this?”

“Yep,” Jim Hearson replies, going straight for the brass nails. “Manchester City beat Bristol City 5-0 in the WSL earlier this season, with neither finish involving a boot.” All five were also scored in the first half, which leaves room for a sort of ‘head first’ pun that is probably best left alone.

Five is good, six is ​​better. “You had the answer in front of you in Andy Hamilton’s book about his life supporting Chelsea,” writes Peter Collins. “His first game was Chelsea 4-2 Newcastle in 1960, and all six goals were headers.”

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“At Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill Stadium we still sing two terrace songs every match in honor of Edgar Kail, the last non-league player to represent England and a one-club man who last played for Hamlet in 1933, 80 years ago,” wrote Robert Molloy-Vaughan in April 2013. “I wonder which clubs can beat us for the antiquarian bygone era in celebrating old players through song?”

A few clubs can claim to still sing the praises of players who have been dead longer than the great Edgar Kail. “Derby County’s glorification of Steve Bloomer takes some beating,” wrote Matt Lewis. “He played for the Rams from 1892 to 1906, then moved to Middlesbrough, before returning to Derby in 1910. He finally hung up his boots for good in 1914.

“With 332 goals he is by far Derby’s all-time top scorer and only Jimmy Greaves has scored more goals in the English top flight. He is still joint 10th on England’s all-time top scorers list, with 28 goals from 23 games, despite playing his last international match more than a century ago. The song Steve Bloomer’s Watchin’ is played at Pride Park before every match.”

And in Scotland, the people on the terraces of Parkhead also have long memories. “Celtic fans still regularly sing The Ballad of Willie Maley,” noted Mark Sheffield. “Maley played for the club from 1888-1897, before taking over as manager, a position he held until 1940. The song also refers to Jimmy McGrory, another player who would later manage the club and whose last appearance as a player was in 1937; and Charlie Tully, who last played for the Hoops in 1959.

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Can you help?

“James Tavernier scored twice in Rangers’ 3-0 win over St Mirren, taking his total for the club to 129. In terms of goals for one club, and not over an entire career, is this a record for a full-back? Or even a defender?” asks Derek Robertson.

“Manchester City is trying to become the first English team to win four titles in a row. Are there other long-running competitions where the number of consecutive top titles is three, or even less?” asks Steven Higgins.

“After 25 games of the Scottish Premiership season, Hibs and Aberdeen have the same record: W6 D9 L10 F31 A41 Pts 27. What is the last point in a season when two clubs have had identical records?” asks Matt Guthrie.

“Saudi Arabia manager Roberto Mancini disappeared down the tunnel before South Korea’s decisive penalty in their Asian Cup made me wonder: has any manager ever left early to beat the traffic?” asks Albert Farkas.

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