Futebol

Which footballers have played two matches on the same day?

Jorge Campos: understated as ever. Photograph: Matthew Ashton/Empics Sports Photo Agency

"On 11 November 1987, Mark Hughes played for Wales in Prague and was then flown back to Munich to help Bayern beat Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga," wrote Robert Sleigh last week. "Admittedly, he came on as a substitute after being flown to Munich by private jet, but anyway: when was the last time any professional player played two competitive games on the same day?"

Hughes wasn’t the first player Munich had asked to play twice up on a single day. Graeme Coleman and Christian Mohr Boisen write to tell of Soren Lerby’s double-header. "During a qualifying match against Ireland on 13 November 1985, Lerby left in the 58th minute as he had to catch a private jet to fly back to Germany to play, as a substitute, for his clubBayern Munich in a cup match on the same day," writes Christian. "On that busy day, his country won 4-1 in Dublin while his club drew 1-1 in Bochum."

More recently, colourful keeper Jorge Campos did likewise, doubling up for club and country. "On 16 June 1996, there was a double-header at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, with USA v Mexico following the MLS game between LA Galaxy and Tampa Bay Mutiny," writes Joe Tienan. "Jorge Campos played for the Galaxy in the league match and then for Mexico in the international." The international, it should be pointed out, was a US Cup game, which only just edges into our "competitive" criteria.

But for some players simply playing football twice on one day isn’t enough. Doncaster’s Chris Balderstone, writes John Briggs, made history in September 1975 when he made 51 not out for Leicestershire against Derbyshire in cricket’s county championship before heading over to Belle Vue to play for Rovers against Brentford in an evening kick-off. The following day he donned his whites once more and completed a sparkling innings of 116.

Turkish midfielder Can Bartu combined his early playing days with Fenerbahce with a promising sideline with the club’s basketball team. "Bartu had started his sports career playing basketball," writes Zafer Say, "and even once persuaded to start playing football, he carried on performing on the basketball court until the age of 21, when he quit basketball for good. On 25 January 1957 he helped Fenerbahce win a football game 4–0, scoring twice and creating the others, and in the evening of the same day, he scored 10 points in a 44–43 win for Fener’s basketball side."

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