Q & A / FA Cup now in mint condition

Q. The first FA Cup, dating from 1871- 72, was won outright by the Wanderers in 1878 after their third successive victory. Do the Wanderers, or a successor club, still exist, and if not, is the whereabouts of the original FA Cup known? A. When the Wanderers won the FA Cup for the third successive time in 1878, the trophy became theirs under the rules of the competition. However, they gave the Cup back to the FA on the condition that it would never be won outright by any club. The trophy was competed for until 1895 when Aston Villa won it. They proudly displayed it in the window of a local jeweller, William Shillcock and Co. One night it was stolen and never recovered. In the late 1950s I remember reading in (I think) the Sunday Pictorial a confession by an old man that he and a friend had stolen the trophy and melted it down to make half-crowns.

Wanderers went into rapid decline after 1878. They lost many players to the new public schools old boys' clubs and they only entered the FA Cup on three more occasions. - Bob Colley, Disley, Cheshire

Q. Why is it that during some World Cup matches both teams wear their away strips. This seems to happen even if there is no colour clash of the home strips or of the respective home and away strips?

A. A toss of a coin behind closed doors some months before the start of the World Cup determined which teams would wear their home or away strips in the first round. An example of this was Brazil v Sweden. Sweden had won the toss, so they played in their home jerseys of yellow, while Brazil played in blue (away) even though Brazil came first in the fixture listings. Group qualifying positions determined home and away strips for the second round; who you beat in the second round determined your colours for the quarter- finals. If the criterion for determining which team wore home colours was the same, the team's World Cup seeding would apply to decide the home team.

But because approximately 75 per cent of televisions worldwide are black and white, there was a clash of colours (or shades) in some matches when viewing in black and white. An example was the semi-final match between Sweden and Brazil. With the criterion applied, Brazil were the home team, so Sweden wore their away strip of white which clashed with Brazil's home strip of yellow. Brazil had to change to their away strip also but retained their status as the home team. In rare cases, the away team may have to wear its third strip if there is a clash in both home and away strips. - Brian Doyle, Dublin

Q. Is it true that Teddy Maybank, the legendary Chelsea, Brighton and Fulham centre-forward was one of the first contestants on Blind Date?

A. Teddy Maybank did indeed appear on Blind Date. I can only presume that he found it easier to score on Cilla's TV programme than he did while playing at the Goldstone. - Martin Gadd, Amesbury

Q. Sportsnight with Coleman in 1970 featured the Kop Choir final. Which choir won and how was it judged?

A. With some pride I can tell you Rotherham United won. The BBC filmed the respective Kops (in our case the esteemed 'Tivoli') a month or so before the programme's going out. The prize for winning was 30 tickets for the European Cup Final in Milan and was taken up by Eric (the self- appointed King of the Kop) and his mates.

How the contest was decided I am unsure, though I believe it was down to the originality of songs. We probably clinched it with 'We all live in a red submarine' taken from the Beatles song and their family suitability - 'I hear the sound of distant bums' taken from Jim Reeves, earning them the equivalent of a red card. For some seasons afterwards there was an additional chant of 'Kop Choir' from the faithful, but alas fortunes on the field did not match those on the terraces. - Tim Leigh, Sheffield

ANSWERS PLEASE

Q. Why is it that so many Brazilian footballers are known only by their nicknames or names which they have adopted? I noticed during the World Cup that this extends even to using those names on the backs of their shirts. - Clive Collins, Colchester

Q. When I was a young boy I was taken to watch Somerset play at Westonsuper-Mare. My only recollection of the match was when Sir Garfield Sobers hit a huge six which flew into the men's open-roofed toilet, knocking out a man inside. I would like to ask if anyone else can remember this or has the tale grown over the years? - Nigel Steadman, Bristol

Q. When I was very young, my favourite athlete was the sprinter McDonald Bailey. I know he took part in the Olympic Games for Britain, and I have a feeling that he won a bronze medal in about 1952, could you please put my mind at rest? - John McKiernan, Oxford

Q. There are 10 ways of being out in cricket. Ten wickets fall during an innings. What is the closest any first- class side has been to collecting a full set in one innings? - Toby Nicholson, London NW3

Q. What arrangements, if any, do they have in the Tour de France for riders to use the toilet during a race? Are there any circumstances in which they are allowed to stop and then restart again? - John Hunter, Norwich