Which footballers have scored with the very first touch of their professional careers?

“Jamie Spencer, 17, made his first first-team appearance in a competitive match, for Huddersfield at Doncaster on 9 September in the prestigious EFL Trophy,” emails Richard Askham, and this round of The Knowledge examines other instances of players who scored with the first touch of their professional careers. The piece collects reported examples from club debuts and first professional appearances across eras and competitions.

A 2021 edition of this column answered a related question about first touches on debut for new clubs; this week extends that to first touches of professional careers and cites several named examples, including Jack Aitchison for Celtic in 2016, Matt Hatch for Central Coast Mariners in 2021, England one-cap wonder Michael Ricketts for Walsall against Brighton in 1996, Maheta Molango for Brighton against Reading in August 2004, and Yan Dhanda for Swansea City at Sheffield United in 2018. “Back in 2007, Luke Medley, on his professional debut for Bradford, was aged 18 years and two months,” emails Ben McGowan. “In an early-season game against a Wrexham side who finished the season bottom of the fourth tier, he came on in the 76th minute. Two minutes later, he scored an absolutely stunning half-volley with his first touch in professional football.”

Other notable first-touch strikes include Raphael Meade’s substitute appearance for Arsenal against Panathinaikos in September 1981 in the Uefa Cup, when he scored with a bicycle kick, Mukhtar Khan notes, and the Daily Express wrote: “Kenny Samson provided the cross from the left and Meade, with his back to goal, beat keeper Konstantinou all ends up”. Ibra Sekajja scored with his first touch on his professional debut for Crystal Palace against Hull in 2011, an 88th-minute equaliser that helped Palace retain their Championship status, Bjørn Barang reports. Alan Smith’s first touch as a professional resulted in an equaliser for Leeds at Anfield two minutes after coming off the bench with Leeds 1-0 down; Leeds went on to win 3-1 in Gérard Houllier’s first game in sole charge of Liverpool (and discussion of Nigel Martyn’s tackle on Karl-Heinz Riedle features in contemporary accounts).

Mykola Kozlenko expanded last week’s question about stadium Google ratings beyond English clubs and supplied a list of low-rated European venues: Nyva Stadium, Vinnytsia, Ukraine, 2.7*, 12 reviews; Avanhard Stadium, Rivne, Ukraine, 3.4*, 142 reviews; Dens Park, Dundee, Scotland, 3.7*, 804 reviews; Almondvale, Livingston, Scotland, 3.7*, 432 reviews; Kampi Nacional Hajvali, Pristina, Kosovo, 3.7*, 7 reviews; The Oval, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 3.8*, 490 reviews; and Stade Jos Nosbaum, Dudelange, Luxembourg, 3.8*, 135 reviews. Kozlenko added that Nyva Stadium “was rebuilt two years ago but it is proving to be unpopular because: amateur athletes are unhappy because they can’t train here any more locals are unhappy because the stands are literally 20 metres away from the nearest residential complex (ironically named Family Comfort). fans are unhappy because it’s a small soulless stadium with an artificial pitch instead of the old 24,000-seat Central City Stadium.” He also notes Avanhard was dilapidated for years, renovation has started but not completed yet, although two out of four stands are ready; The Oval is described as particularly dilapidated, especially its away end; and Stade Jos Nosbaum draws complaints about parking and payments.

On Premier League hat-tricks in losing efforts, Alejandro Solis asked how often that has occurred after Brian Brobbey’s hat-trick against Manchester City in a 5-3 defeat for his side. Brobbey’s was the sixth example and the first in almost 20 years; the last man to achieve the feat was Roque Santa Cruz in December 2007, when he pulled Blackburn back into a game that Wigan won 5-3 after Marcus Bent completed his own hat-trick. The full list provided here runs: Matt Le Tissier Oldham 4-3 Southampton, 1992-93; Matt Le Tissier Southampton 3-4 Nottingham Forest, 1995-96; Dion Dublin Sheffield Wednesday 4-3 Coventry City, 1995-96; Dwight Yorke Newcastle 4-3 Aston Villa, 1996-97; Roque Santa Cruz Wigan 5-3 Blackburn, 2007-08; Brian Brobbey Manchester City 5-3 Sunderland, 2026-27.

Sol O’Carroll’s 2012 question about when Spain last had less possession than an opponent is answered here: “Sixty-one games ago, to be precise Sol. Incredibly, La Roja last lost out to an opponent in the possession stakes in the Euro 2008 final, when Germany edged them 52% to 48%, although they still won 1-0.” The 2026 update notes only one competitive match since the Euro 2008 final in which Spain did not have the larger share of possession: the 3-0 victory over Croatia at Euro 2024, introduced in Sid Lowe’s match report with the line: “For the first time in 137 games, Spain did not complete as many passes as their opponents, and they could not be happier,” and Spain subsequently became Euro 2024 champions, beating England 2-1 in the final (with 63% possession).

Other reader queries and examples include John Cant noting: “Oli McBurnie is back in the Scotland squad,” and reporting McBurnie’s recent remark: “a tap-in on Saturday or one that goes in off my backside would be lovely.” Michael Haddon flagged a Manchester City LinkedIn post about Scott Carson and pointed to Jimmy Glass’s famous loan-season intervention in 1999 when Glass scored a last-minute goal against Plymouth Argyle to keep Carlisle United in the Football League; Glass’s figures were three league games and one goal. Sam Hurst asked about Crewe’s run of four 1-1 draws in the league; Graham Clayton noted Olimpia Cluj finishing the 2010-11 Romanian Liga I women’s season with a goal difference of +242; and Derek Robertson asked whether any senior international squad has ever contained fewer players from its own top domestic division than Sweden’s 25-man selection that included only Hammarby’s Hampus Skoglund.

Simon Eastwood’s dismissal towards the end of Oxford United’s Football League Trophy game at AFC Wimbledon on 9 January 2024 is recorded here alongside the competition-specific consequences: United were losing 2-0 and eliminated, Oxford subsequently won promotion to the Championship and remained there for two seasons, and the club’s next involvement in the trophy will be when they travel to Exeter City on 4 October this year, at which point Eastwood’s suspension for that competition comes into play — the gap between dismissal and punishment is given as 999 days, or two years, eight months, 25 days, a timing queried by Martin Brodetsky.