A Time to Dance, A Time to Mourn Quiz

Answer: Manchester City

In the 2018-19 season, Manchester City were the first men's team to win the England domestic treble (Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup). Although they had played in the Champions League previously, they had never won it before 2023, when they faced Inter Milan in the final, having boosted their squad with the formidable Erling Haaland. City won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Rodri. Like their local rivals in 1999, City's Champions League trophy was part of The Treble: they also won the FA Cup, beating United 2-1, and their third successive Premier League title.

Answer: Christian Atsu

Christian Atsu got his big break in football when he joined FC Porto as a teenager in 2011 under André Villas-Boas; however, he was loaned out to Rio Ave in the 2011-2012 season. He moved to Chelsea, then managed by Jose Mourinho, a compatriot of Villas-Boas, and was loaned out to multiple teams. These included Everton - where he featured in their ultimately unsuccessful Europa League campaign - Bournemouth, Malaga and Newcastle United. He joined the latter permanently in 2017 under Rafa Benítez and scored his first goal against Rotherham United. When his Newcastle contract ended, he had a stint at Saudi club Al-Raed before moving to his final club, Hatayspor.

Atsu scored his first and last goal for Hatayspor against Kasýmpaţa in added time on 5th February 2023, and was in Rönesans Residenz, an apartment where several Hatayspor players and staff lived, when the earthquake struck. He had been due to fly out of Turkey, but had decided to stay with the club. Atsu was declared missing for two weeks; reports initially stated that he was safe, but these turned out to be false. On 18th February 2023, Atsu's death was confirmed when his body was found in the wreckage of the building. Newcastle paid tribute to him at their match against Liverpool, with his wife and children in attendance. Atsu's body was later flown back to Ghana for his funeral.

Answer: Emiliano Martínez

Emiliano Martínez left Arsenal for Aston Villa in 2020. Throughout Argentina's World Cup campaign in late 2022, he was a pivotal part of the team, making several crucial saves, and was awarded with the Yashin Trophy at the Ballon d'Or awards in 2023. Something of a prankster, his behaviour on the pitch has irritated many an opposition player; for example, when he taunted Bruno Fernandes, causing him to miss a penalty, and then celebrated in front of Manchester United fans, or got into a fight with Brentford's Neal Maupay when Maupay dived and Martínez pulled his shirt.

He also made a crude gesture with the World Cup Golden Glove award. In Argentina's open-top bus parade, Martínez held up a doll with Kylian Mbappé's face on it, a reference to their opponents, France.

Answer: Gianluca Vialli

Gianluca Vialli began his senior career at his local team, Cremonese. Notable for his intelligence on and off the pitch, and being one of the few footballers from an upper-class background, he transferred to Sampdoria in 1984 and partnered Roberto Mancini, who would later go on to manage Italy and win Euro 2021 with them. The two became firm friends and were nicknamed 'i Gemelli del Gol' ('the goal twins'), with Vialli racking up 85 goals during his time there. After four years at Juventus, he moved to Chelsea in 1996, later becoming their player-manager after Ruud Gullit was sacked. Vialli also had a stint as manager of Watford, before going down the pundit route.

Vialli and his old friend Mancini were reunited when Vialli was appointed delegation chief for the Italian national team in 2019, after recovering from pancreatic cancer. He was visibly moved to tears when Italy beat England on penalties in the Euro 2021 final. Sadly, the cancer returned and Vialli died on 6 January 2023. He was 58. Chelsea later played a legends match with Bayern Munich in his memory, with the proceeds going to charity.

Answer: Luton Town

Luton Town, aka the Hatters, were the first southern English club to turn professional and are rivals with Watford. Although they spent several seasons in the doldrums of non-league football, they were promoted to League Two in 2018 and League One the following season.

In 2023, after finishing third, they were promoted to the Premier League for the first time ever, under new manager Rob Edwards, after beating Coventry City on penalties in the EFL playoff final. They were joined by Championship winners Burnley and runners-up Sheffield United.

Answer: Southampton

Southampton (nicknamed "The Saints") returned to the Premier League in 2012, under Nigel Adkins, who was succeeded by Mauricio Pochettino. Under Pochettino and successor Ronald Koeman, Southampton enjoyed a reasonable mid-table spell; however, after selling key players such as Virgil van Dijk, their fortunes took a turn for the worse. Under Ralf Hasenhüttl, they were defeated 9-0 twice over two seasons, by Manchester United and Leicester City respectively. His successor, Nathan Jones, lasted eight games, only one of which Southampton won, and was widely despised by fans for his attitude.

Caretaker Rubén Sellés took over the team for the rest of the season, but was unable to save them, and they were officially relegated after losing 2-0 to Marco Silva's Fulham, finishing on 25 points with a goal difference of -37 and only six wins over the whole season.

Answer: Napoli

Under Luciano Spalletti, Napoli won their third Scudetto in the 2022-2023 Serie A season after a 3-year wait. (The last time they won a title was when the late, great Diego Maradona played for them!) Juventus, who were excluded from UEFA competitions due to breaking UEFA financial regulations, had a poorer than usual season, finishing seventh, while Lazio, Inter Milan and AC Milan finished second, third and fourth respectively.

A 1-1 draw with Udinese clinched the title for Napoli on 4th May 2023, 16 points clear, thanks to an equaliser from Nigeria's Victor Osimhen. Osimhen's goal tally that season was 26.

The squad also included Georgia's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Giovanni Simeone, son of Atletico Madrid manager Diego.

Answer: Schalke 04

Schalke 04 are based in Gelsenkirchen (the birthplace of footballers Manuel Neuer, Ilkay Gündogan and Mesut Özil) in North Rhine-Westphalia. The '04' comes from 1904, the year in which they were formed. Schalke suffered badly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with major financial losses putting them under threat of bankruptcy, and it only got worse for the club from there, with a 16-game winless run for most of the 2020 half of the 2019-2020 season.

In 2023, under Thomas Reis, they finished 17th with the above embarrassing goal difference (partly due to 6-1 thrashings by Hertha BSC and RB Leipzig), and were automatically relegated along with Hertha BSC.

Answer: Spain

Spain faced reigning European champions England in the final of the Women's World Cup, winning 1-0 with a goal from Real Madrid's Olga Carmona. In the run-up to the final, several players, known as 'Las 15', had signed an email stating that they would not play under then coach Jorge Vilda because they disagreed with his authoritarian approach, among other things. The group included Barcelona goalkeeper Sandra Pańos and Manchester United's Ona Batlle. Notably, none of Las 15 were Real Madrid players, while several were with Barcelona, causing friction between the teams at the female El Clasico; Aitana Bonmatí of Barcelona refused to shake hands with Real Madrid goalie Misa Rodríguez.

La Roja came second in Group C and beat both Sweden and the Netherlands on their way to the final, to the surprise of many. Bonmatí, Jenni Hermoso of Pachuca and Alba Levante's Redondo were the top scorers with three goals each. Sadly, Spain's first victory was overshadowed by the behaviour of RFEF president Luis Rubiales, who kissed Hermoso on the lips without her consent, sparking a massive backlash. Both Rubiales and Vilda were later fired.

Answer: Trevor Francis and Chris Bart-Williams

Trevor Francis was the first English footballer to be signed for a million pounds, by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, and was immortalised in the 'Only Fools and Horses' theme, in the line 'at a push, some Trevor Francis tracksuits'. Clough attended the conference in his squash kit. As a player, Francis played for Birmingham City, Sampdoria and Queen's Park Rangers - where he was also manager - and signed for Sheffield Wednesday in 1990. When Ron Atkinson left Wednesday for Aston Villa, Francis replaced him as manager. After Wednesday, he managed Birmingham City and Crystal Palace, although he soon fell out with chairman Simon Jordan. Francis died of a heart attack in Marbella, Spain, aged 69.

Chris Bart-Williams was one of Francis' Wednesday signings. He joined Wednesday from Leyton Orient in 1991, the year after their League Cup win against Manchester United, and scored sixteen goals during his time there. He came on as a sub for Chris Waddle in the 1993 FA Cup final against Arsenal. After Wednesday, he also played for Nottingham Forest (from 1995 to 2002, where he scored 30 goals), Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town. At the time of his death, at the age of 49, he was living in Miami.

Both players were mourned by Wednesday and Forest fans and former team mates alike. Mark Bright and Kevin Pressman, both of whom played under Francis (and with Francis in Pressman's case) were among the ex-Wednesday players who paid tribute, while another Kevin and Mark - Kevin Campbell and Mark Crossley - were among the ex-Forest players.