The errors of Premier League clubs' kitmen

A squad of misspelled players

9 October ~ Anderson had little time to catch the eye when he took to the Goodison Park pitch with five minutes remaining of Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Everton on the opening day of the season. Yet he unwittingly provided one of the game’s big talking points. It wasn’t what he did with the ball at his feet but the shirt on his back – his name was spelled incorrectly above his number. This added him to an exclusive list of Premier League players to have suffered the ignominy of playing a match under an unfamiliar new identity, the Brazilian adding a touch of samba class to this good but incorrectly labelled squad.

Goalkeeper
Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester Utd)
This was an accident waiting to happen, although you would expect them to at least get the first letter right. Instead, Zuszczak's fine performance in a 2006 League Cup victory over Crewe Alexandra was somewhat undermined by the extra Scrabble points that had been inadvertently added to his name.  

Centre-back
John O'Shea (Manchester Utd)
In 2003 Real Madrid sent United crashing out of the Champions League, winning a breathtaking quarter-final 6-5 on aggregate, with Ronaldo scoring a stunning hat-trick in the second leg at Old Trafford. Unfortunately for the Red Devils' Irish defender, as well being run ragged by the Brazilian, he had the added embarrassment of enduring it all with S'hea adorning his back.

Centre-back
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
Two things went missing when Rafa Benitez's men lost 2-0 to Middlesbrough at the Riverside in 2009. One was Liverpool's back line, the other was the H from Mascerano's shirt.

Centre-back
Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle Utd)
Liverpool didn't fare much better in this match either, going down 1-0 at St James' Park in 2005. Any embarrassment felt by Newcastle's Boumsogn over his misspelled shirt was therefore swiftly forgotten.

Right-wing
David Beckham (Manchester Utd)
One of the most well-known names on the planet took to the field for the 1997 Charity Shield against Chelsea with Beckam proudly emblazoned on the back of his No 7 shirt.

Centre-midfield
David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers)
In 2007, the promising midfielder played in a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United sporting the name Betnley, prompting one journalist to muse: "If the Rovers staff struggle to spell 'Bentley' then maybe it explains why Khizanishvili cannot get in the side."

Centre-midfield
Anderson (Manchester Utd)
The Red Devils reserve became the most recent acquisition by this team of typos – as well as the latest blot in the copybook of United's kitman – when he made an 85th minute substitute appearance against Everton under the new identity of Andesron.

Left-wing
James McClean (Sunderland)
Another Irish player to have his surname's prefix bungled this season. The Mackem midfielder's shirt was a C minus in the Black Cats' opening day draw with Arsenal. In fairness, spelling his name McLean is one of the more subtle mistakes on this list, it's just unfortunate that it makes him sound like a low fat hamburger.

Striker
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester Utd)
The last of our Manchester misprints is one of the more forgivable and it certainly didn't put off Solksjaer, who celebrated with a goal in 2002.

Striker
Steve Claridge (Leicester City)
Given his journeyman history, it's quite likely that Leicester aren't the only one of his former employers to have had his shirt printed with the name Clarridge, which looks more like how it should be spelt anyway.

Striker
Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers)
Another Ewood error, this time in 2009, when a red-faced Satna Cruz featured in Rovers' 2-1 victory over Hull City.

Substitute
Peter Lovenkrands (Newcastle Utd)
The 2008-09 season was one to forget for Newcastle as they suffered relegation from the Premier League. All of a sudden, sending out an international striker with Lovenkradns on his back doesn't seem so bad, and at least he scored in a 3-2 win over fellow Premier League departees West Brom.

A team name for this crew of corrections? Chrystal Palace, which is the name kit manufacturers Diadora stitched on the badges of thousands of Crystal Palace replica shirts when the south London club returned to the top flight for the 2004-05 season. Fortunately, most fans saw the funny side and the strips became highly sought-after collectors' items. Palace were relegated that same season. Matt Bass & Jonny King

Comments

Comment on 09-10-2012 12:22:41 by pashley #718375

pashley

Fantastic stuff. Loved it. Thanks.

Comment on 09-10-2012 12:32:11 by mintness #718381

mintness

I assumed this entire article was building towards a "Don Hucthison" climax.

Comment on 09-10-2012 14:56:04 by rckd #718448

rckd

I remember Roger Johnson's surname being spelt 'Jonhson' once, though I don't remember whether it was for Birmingham or Wolves. Either way, one of the country's most common surnames should not be that difficult to spell...

Comment on 09-10-2012 20:28:02 by Doinbiznis #718611

Doinbiznis

This is a classic from Toronto FC:

images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/Ronaldo_20090807/image13.jpg

Comment on 10-10-2012 12:27:21 by Capybara #718829

Capybara

It's not normally something I'd quibble about, but given the nature of the article it demands it. Scrabble. Firstly, proper nouns aren't allowed. Secondly, there is only one 'z' so 'Kuszczak' would not be possible without the use of the blanks (there's only one 'k' as well), let alone 'Zuszczak'. Unless, of course you were playing Kuszczak's native Polish version where there are sufficient 'z's. Sadly, though, the effect of replacing the first 'K' with a 'Z' would not increase the score, it would lower it, as a 'z' in Polish Scrabble is worth only one point whereas 'k' is worth three. Glad to clear that one up.

Comment on 12-10-2012 15:21:55 by scrumpyone #719683

scrumpyone

I like this special edition shirt that appeared in the Everton club shop prior to last seasons FA Cup Semi Final...

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