Fielding skills of West Ham No 1

Q&A

Q. I notice that the first seven names on Blackpool's teamsheet recently all began with the letter B. Does anyone know of any team who have bettered this?

A. West Ham United fielded seven players whose name began with the letter B in the 1964 FA Cup final, but the same 11 players had competed in every round of the Cup, including a replay against Leyton Orient, which must be some sort of a record in itself. This was in the days before substitutions were allowed.

A note about Jim Standen. As far as I can recall, Jim Standen was the first goalkeeper regularly to display the figure 1 on his jersey in the Football League. Other goalies wore plain green attire and it was considered very "continental" at the time for him to have a numbered jersey.

The following season, 1965, Jim won a European Cup- Winners' Cup medal when West Ham defeated Munich 1860 2-0 at Wembley. He also came on as a substitute fielder (in the covers) when England played South Africa at Lord's. - V A McLaren, Sheffield

ANSWERS PLEASE

Q. Whatever happened to Peter Shilton shortly after he played his 1,000th League match at Leyton Orient recently? I note his name no longer appears on Orient's teamsheet. - D H Donovan, Schull, Co Cork

Q. In December, Norwich City lost to West Bromwich Albion 5-1. Despite this, they actually rose one place in the table. Has any other team made progress up the table on the back of such a thrashing? - Malcolm Debbage, Peterborough

If you know the answers to any of these questions or have a sporting question of your own, write to Q&A, Sports Desk, Independent on Sunday, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5DL. Fax: 0171-293 2894