Like father, like son - Tyler

Martin Tyler reveals the boys that have followed their dads into Premiership clubs.

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The Sky Sports football team - led by commentator Martin Tyler and his first-class back-up crew of researchers and statisticians - pride themselves on being the best in the business

This is your chance to use some of our expertise! Every Monday Martin will be on hand to answer your statistical posers and put the record straight where required.

You can e-mail us with any statistical questions - and we will do our best to publish the answers on the website. 

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TYLER'S SUPER SUNDAY STAT - Terry's all goals!

John Terry's goal in the 2-0 Fourth Round win over Birmingham was his seventh of the season, meaning this campaign has already been his most successful in terms of goal-scoring. John has scored with six headers so far and one shot, the second of two goals he scored against Charlton in November - the first time in his career he had scored twice in a game. Should Chelsea make it to the FA Cup final this year, John will be hoping he makes it third time lucky. He was non-playing substitute in the 2000 final against Aston Villa and then, the last time Chelsea made the final in 2002, he was down to play but was taken ill the night before the final. Claudio Ranieri started him on the bench but did bring him on, although he again missed out on a winner's medal as Arsenal won 2-0 at the Millennium Stadium. The reason I pay particular attention to John's career is because he lives in the same village as me

Now on to your questions for Martin....

My friends and I were racking our brains after being asked the question of which league teams were actually not named after a place. For example Luton Town is named after Luton. I am sure that there is only one team in the English leagues that is not named after or indeed connected to a place, and that is Port Vale. My friend is adamant that there must be some more, citing Queen's Park Rangers and Arsenal, although I am sure these must be boroughs or suburbs in London. Please can you confirm if Port Vale is in fact the only team not linked to its surroundings by name.
Regards, Darren Ling

MARTIN SAYS: I can confirm that Port Vale is the club you want, Darren. Although according to the records, the club was named after Port Vale house, in Burslem and Hanley, where the meeting that saw the club's formation was held. They then went on to take the name Burslem Port Vale before moving from the borough and dropping the prefix. So technically speaking, they are not indeed named after a place, but a house! Arsenal did in fact start life as Woolwich Arsenal and took their name from the munitions depot in south London, so they were named after a place and as for Queen's Park Rangers, Darren, they do indeed take their name from the Queen's Park area of north west London. The club was founded as an amalgamation of St Jude's Institute and Christchurch Rangers and took the name of Queen's Park because the majority of their players came from the area.

Me and a friend of mine have currently been debating Arsenal's pitch size helping them to play the style of football they play and I wondered if their pitch is amongst the smallest in the Premiership and how much bigger is the pitch at Ashburton Grove going to be and what would it compare too? Lawrie Neal, Birmingham

MARTIN SAYS: Well Lawrie, the current pitch size at Highbury does make it the smallest in the Premiership and indeed the Football League. Arsenal's current playing surface is measured at 105m by 70m - although I cannot confirm whether or not it is a help or a hindrance to their slick passing game! They will enjoy a lot more space when they move to Ashburton Grove in 2006, where according to the club's official website, the new dimensions will be 113m by 76m. As far as comparisons go, the current pitch covers and area of 7,350 square metres and the new one will cover 8,588 square metres - and increase in size of 17 per cent.

With Alex Bruce joining his dad Steve at Birmingham, how many more players have played under their father in the Premiership? Stewart Hole

MARTIN SAYS: A good question Stewart, although as yet Alex has not played for his dad at Birmingham, because his move from Blackburn did not disrupt the loan agreement he has with League One side Oldham Athletic. There are in fact six 'father and son' acts that have graced the Premiership down the years, although only one is still around. That is a relatively new one and is only just over two weeks old, as Jamie Redknapp made his Southampton debut against Newcastle having been signed by his dad, Harry to become the sixth combination the Premiership has seen. It is almost seven as Kenny Dalglish signed son Paul for Newcastle, but he did not make an appearance until the 1998-99 season, by which time dad had left St James' Park. The other occasions when managers have played their offspring in a Premiership game are: Gordon and Gavin Strachan (Coventry City, 1997-98 and 1999-2000); Nigel and Brian Clough (Nottingham Forest 1992-93); Andy and Colin Todd (1995-96 and 1997-98); Jonathan and Bobby Gould (Coventry City 1992-93), and of course, Darren and Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United 1992-94). The Fergusons were the most successful of the footballing families to appear in the Premiership, with Darren picking up a championship winners' medal in the inaugural season of 1992-93, before playing just one game the next season and then moving on to Wolves.

Frank Lampard has appeared in 130 consecutive Premiership matches but what is the record number of consecutive appearances and who holds the record?
Graeme Roache

MARTIN SAYS: Frank Lampard's impressive run, which will go up to 133 consecutive appearances when he lines up against Blackburn on Wednesday night, is a record in itself, Graeme - for an outfield player. Hardly surprisingly the Premiership record is held by a goalkeeper. David James did not miss a game for 159 Premiership matches during his five-year spell with Liverpool. James' run is 19 longer than Shay Given's at Newcastle and the two of them are among the six goalkeepers that dominate the top 10 - as listed below. But the all-time record belongs to the late Harold Bell, who amassed a mammoth 401 consecutive league games for Tranmere Rovers between 1946 and 1959, and a grand total of 459 successive appearances including FA Cup ties. Dave Beasant racked up 394 consecutive games for Wimbledon (304), Newcastle (20) and Chelsea (70) between 1981 and 1990, while Liverpool and England full-back Phil Neal made 366 (old) First Division appearances on the spin for the Reds between December 1974 and September 1983.

Hello Martin, which is the oldest football club in England, and which is the second oldest?
Thank you, Stephanie

MARTIN SAYS: The oldest football club still in existence is Notts County, Stephanie, who were formed way, way back in 1862. A report in the Nottingham Guardian dated November 28 1862 said "The opening of Nottingham Football Club commenced on Tuesday last at Cremorne Gardens. A side was chosen by W Arkwright and Chas Deakin. A very spirited game resulted in the latter scoring two goals and two rouges against one and one." Which I think means Chas Deakin's side were the winners. The title of the second oldest club in England goes to Stoke City, who were widely regarded to have been formed a year after County in 1863. However, according to my trusty Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004-05, research by Wade Martin suggests there was no evidence of a club in the Potteries before 1868. But the oldest actual club in the country and indeed the world, is Sheffield FC, Stephanie, founded in 1857 and regarded as the birthplace of football as we know it.

Hi, I was just wondering what the semi-circle at the edge of the penalty area is for?
Patrick Giumelli, Sydney, Australia

MARTIN SAYS: That semi-circle Patrick is there to give the referee a clear indication that every player is 10 yards away from the ball when a penalty is being taken. It is part of a circle that runs 10m from the spot in all directions and the reason we only see half of it is because the players are not allowed in the penalty area when a spot-kick is being taken, so in theory, there is no need to extend the circle beyond what we see now. Although some might disagree, not least Portsmouth's Yakubu, who of course was forced to retake penalty twice in the in the recent draw with Norwich due to players encroaching into the box.

Martin, could you help me out? I was asked a question at our local club the other night and I couldn't answer it there and then. Who scored the last hat-trick for Derby County in a first team game, where was it scored and when was it scored? Hope you can help me out. Thanks. Stu Palfreyman, Oakwood, Derby

MARTIN SAYS: I've trawled through my history books Stu and if I am not mistaken, the last player to bag a hat-trick for the Rams was Paul Simpson, nearly nine years ago, on April 08 in 1996, when County beat Tranmere Rovers in the football league, at the Baseball Ground. I believe all of the goals came in the second half.