Q & A: Why rugby is a danger . . . and the story of 'United'

Statistically speaking, which is the most dangerous sport?

A recent Sheffield University medical study into dangerous sports for people aged between 16 and 45 and living in England and Wales had rugby as the most dangerous, with one injury per 18 games. Football was second with one injury per 50 games, and martial arts was third with an injury every 58 bouts. - Clive R Handel, Exeter.

What is the origin of Australian Rules football?

The first set of playing rules for this game were formulated in 1858, making it the oldest football game in the world. T W Wills and his cousin H C Harrison devised a set of rules for 'football', primarily to keep cricketers fit during the winter months. They had taken part in 'rugby'-type games in England without formal rules, and it was these games which inspired them to introduce a form of organised game in Melbourne. Their intent was to have some type of running with the ball, which was then refined by making it compulsory to bounce the ball every 10 yards.

They were against the idea of running with the ball as being the 'priority' and consequently linked scoring to kicking rather than placing it over a line by the hands. - Frank Hudson, Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

Australian (Rules) Football was invented in Melbourne by Messrs Harrison and Wills, with the first game between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College in 1858. The basic rules of no offside, ball must be kicked or handballed and not thrown, running with the ball only if ball is bounced every 10 yards, limited tackling, marks (catching a kicked ball) and goals scored only from kicks, have been retained to the present day. - Dr R L Pretty, Leeds.

Did any club play in both the Third Division North and Third Division South? Also, if, say, two northern sides were relegated from the old Second Division, by which criterion would one team have been moved from one regional division to another?

With reference to the query as to whether any teams played in both the North and South sections of the old Third Division, it is apparent that the Football League management tried to keep a clear-cut North / South divide as far as possible so as to keep down clubs' travelling costs.

Therefore, when at the end of any season the two relegated Second Division clubs were both obvious candidates for the same Third Division sector and resignations, non-re-elections etc did not readily solve the problem, then a fringe Midlands-based club would be invited to transfer from the North section to the South or vice-versa. Coventry, Mansfield Town, Port Vale and Walsall are clubs who have been shuttled between both sections of the Third Division as a result of this policy. - Roy Bealby, Stockton.

Have managers of the England football team always suffered at the hands of the popular press?

During the 1973-74 season, as a 16-year-old cub reporter in Ipswich, I was sent down, during the interval, to obtain 'half-time quotes' from a certain Mr Robson. What has happened to the England bosses since is merely divine retribution. - Stuart Torn, Bovey Tracey, Devon.

The ice dancers Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko took bronze, silver and gold at consecutive Winter Olympics. Has anyone else in any sport done this in either winter or summer Games?

Ice skating provides other examples of bronze, silver and gold medals in consecutive Winter Olympics. Most notable is the Norwegian speed skater Ivar Ballangrud, who took bronze in 1928 in the 1,500m, silver in 1932 in the 10,000m, and gold in 1936 in the 500m, 5,000m and 10,000m. In addition he won a gold in 1928 (5,000m) and silvers in 1932 (10,000m) and 1936 (1,500m). An example in reverse is the German figure skater turned speed skater, Karin Enke-Kania; she was the 500m gold medallist in 1980, went down to silver in the same event in 1984, and bronze in 1988. - Dennis L Bird, Honorary Archivist / Historian, National Skating Association of Great Britain, London EC1.

What speed in mph do sprinters like Linford Christie and Carl Lewis achieve during a 100 metres race?

In the course of the 1988 Olympic 100 metres final in Seoul, Ben Johnson covered the 50-60m phase in 0.83 seconds, working out at a sprinting speed of 43.4kph or just under 27mph. To my knowledge this speed has not been bettered by any 'clean' athlete. - Leonard Loughborough, London NW3.

Sheffield United were so named in March, 1889. Were any other football clubs called 'United' before that date?

The Blades were the first 'United' in the League. However, our claim to being the only fans who could ever legitimately sing 'There's only one United' could reasonably be challenged by one other League club. Rotherham - although not Rotherham United until 1925 - were formed as Thornhill United as early as 1884. Eat your hearts out Manchester United, who were still Newton Heath at the time. - M Mosley, Norwich.

If I am not mistaken a city that spawns two football clubs really should not be allowed to call either of them 'United', as they patently cannot be so. Manchester also offers this paradox. Sheffield United, by the logic of their disunited city counterparts, should therefore be called Sheffield Saturday. - L Graves, Durham.

Why, despite the seemingly high quality of some of the non-league teams, does there never seem to be any relegation from or promotion to the Scottish League?

In response to the answer given by Dave Pointon (Q & A, 20 September), the following points must be made:

1 Of the 38 clubs in Scotland, the breakdown is as follows: north: seven (Aberdeen, Dundee, Dundee United, Forfar, Brechin, Montrose, Arbroath); south: five (Ayr, Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Berwick Rangers and Queen of the South); central: 26 (the remainder). So to say that apart from three Premier Division teams the rest are from the South is nonsense and shows no understanding of Scotland.

2 In Scotland there is also the South of Scotland League, East of Scotland League and junior leagues in addition to the Highland League. So it is by no means certain that any replacement would come from the Highland League.

3 Due to the number of different non-leagues in Scotland, promotion and relegation would not lead to the geographical interspersion of clubs; eg if Queen of the South were to be replaced they would move to the South of Scotland League, Brechin to the Highland League and Queens Park to the East of Scotland League or junior ranks.

4 As any new team entering the Scottish League would find, very few games would involve drastic travelling expenses to away games due to the fact that most of their opponents would be in the central belt of Scotland.

It is only the self-interest of the smaller clubs in Scotland which denies promotion / relegation for non-league teams. Why should a Second Division team vote itself out of existence knowing it can quite safely end up bottom of the Second Division year after year but will always be guaranteed a place in the Scottish League structure? - Douglas Waterson, Dumfries.

ANSWERS PLEASE

Are cricketers ever subject to random drug tests, as are athletes, footballers and other sportspeople? - G L Lewis, Wolverhampton.

Why are Bayern Munich so called? Bayern Munchen would be consistently German. Bavaria Munich would be consistently English. Why the hybrid? - D W Callister, Sheffield.

Which rugby ground has the highest goal-posts? Is there any upper or lower limit to the height? - H Cox, Dover.

Has football always been badly run? - Cindy Lyall, London W2.

Why are England's reserve cricket team called the 'A' team, yet England's reserve football team called the 'B' team? - J S Brooks, Godalming.

Whatever happened to Eddie the Eagle? - Chris Somerset, London W10.

It always used to be the case that only an international goalkeeper could wear a yellow jeresy. Now they are regularly worn in club football. When and why the change? - John Bernard, Torquay.

Which sport is the most physically demanding on the referee or umpire? And which the least? - Louis Brown, Ayr.

Has a skiing race ever been staged in which two or more skiers skied the same stretch of mountain simultaneously? - Donald Butcher, Ipswich.

Apart from bowls players, darts players and golfers, do any other sportsmen smoke during play? - Alice Thompson, Barnard Castle.

How many professional sportsmen and women are there in Britain? As a proportion of the population how do we compare with other countries? - Graham Salmon, Maidstone.

If you know the answers to any of these questions, or have a sporting question of your own you would like answered, write to:

Q & A

Sports Desk

The Independent on Sunday

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(Photograph omitted)