Kazuyoshi Miura scored his first competitive goal in nearly four years as Fukushima United thrashed Iwaki Furukawa 7-0 in the Emperor's Cup on 25 July 2026, aged 59 years 149 days, extending his record as the oldest goalscorer in professional football.
Oldest goalscorers in competitive football
Miura's record stands at 59 years 149 days. Other notable old goalscorers include Innocent Benza, who scored at 51 years 5 days for Herentals College FC against Hwange Colliery in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League in May 2023. Billy Meredith scored at 49 years 208 days for Manchester City against Brighton in the FA Cup in 1924, and Stanley Matthews scored at 49 years 14 days for Stoke City against Swansea City in the FA Cup in 1964.
In women's football, the oldest goalscorer appears to be Formiga, who scored for Brazil against Canada in November 2019 at 41 years 249 days. She retired soon after, having amassed 234 caps over a 26-year international career.
The oldest goalscorer on record overall is Ezzeldin Bahader, who scored a penalty on his debut for 6th of October SC in the Egyptian Third Division in March 2020 at 74 years 125 days.
UK prime ministers' football allegiances
With Andy Burnham succeeding Keir Starmer as Labour leader, the UK now has an Everton-supporting prime minister. A list of post-1945 prime ministers who have publicly supported a specific club includes: Andy Burnham (Everton), Keir Starmer (Arsenal), Rishi Sunak (Southampton), Liz Truss (Norwich City), David Cameron (Aston Villa), Gordon Brown (Raith Rovers), Tony Blair (Newcastle United), John Major (Chelsea), Edward Heath (Burnley), Harold Wilson (Huddersfield Town), and Clement Attlee (Fleet Town, mainly because he played for them). No team appears to have been supported by more than one prime minister in this list.
Teams beginning with W and B in the English top flight
This season is the first in which the men's English top flight has included no teams whose name begins with W. The last time this happened was in the Premier League just over a decade ago when Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers were relegated in 2011-12; Burnley rejoined in 2014-15. If AFC Bournemouth is listed as Bournemouth, it also occurred in 2015-16 while Burnley were yo-yoing. In the old Division One, after Birmingham City's relegation in 1985-86, there were no W-teams for the last six years. Historically, between 1906-11, Woolwich Arsenal was the only W-team in the top flight, later changing their name.
A league without clubs beginning with B is less common. The last such occurrence in the Premier League was over a decade ago when Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers were relegated in 2011-12 and Burnley had not yet returned. In women's football, there were no W-teams in the top flight between Watford (2009-10) and West Ham (2018-19).
Uniteds formed by mergers
Several clubs using "United" in their name were formed by the merger of two teams. Examples include: Scunthorpe United (Brumby Hall joined forces with another team, then later merged with Lindsey United), Hereford United (formed by the merger of St Martins and RAOC Rotherwas), Torquay United (original Torquay United merged with Ellacombe to become Torquay Town, then merged with Babbacombe to become Torquay United again), Maidenhead United (Maidenhead Norfolkians merged with Maidenhead FC), Sutton United (amalgamation of Sutton Association and Sutton Guild Rovers), Ebbsfleet United (Gravesend United and Northfleet United merged), Hayes and Yeading United (Hayes and Yeading merged), Chesham United (Chesham Town and another team merged), and Aylesbury United (three local sides merged). Newcastle United itself was formed by the merger of Newcastle West End and Newcastle East End, though many other Uniteds simply adopted the name without being formed by a merger.
The Knowledge archive and readers' questions
Readers are invited to contribute questions and answers on football trivia. Topics include whether a player has ever made a bigger leap in competitive levels between consecutive club games, examples of a former player refereeing a match for a club they had played for, which professional club has the worst record in penalty shootouts, and any instances of colour clashes with referees wearing black before the full spectrum of colours was adopted.
