How to win The Journeyman and The Grid

Football Trivia UK · 24 October 2026

The Connection has its own tips article. The Journeyman and The Grid ask for different skills. One rewards patience and the other rewards planning. Here is how to get better at both.

The Journeyman

1. Guess earlier than feels comfortable

A player is worth 5 points with one club showing, then 4, 3, 2 and 1. In solo mode a wrong guess only reveals another club, which you would have seen anyway. So if a name comes to mind on the first or second club, try it. Waiting for certainty costs a point every time.

2. The first club tells you the most

Most careers start at a club that developed the player. A first club like Crewe Alexandra, Southampton or West Ham United points to a well-known academy. A first club abroad usually means a player who arrived in England later. Non-league first clubs often belong to players who came through the hard way, such as Jamie Vardy at Stocksbridge Park Steels or Chris Smalling at Maidstone United.

3. Know when a clue is worth a point

The bonus clues for nationality, position and the decade he started each cost a point. They are worth buying when you have two or three names in mind and one clue would decide it. The decade clue is usually the most useful, because it rules out whole generations at once. Nationality helps most when the clubs are abroad.

4. Watch for returns

Players often go back to clubs they loved. When a club appears twice in the years, think of famous returns, such as Paul Dickov at Manchester City and Leicester City, or Peter Barnes, who left Manchester City in 1979 and came back eight years later. Our most travelled players article lists the longest careers.

5. In 60 Seconds, skip quickly

The 60 Seconds mode rewards volume. If nothing comes to you within two clubs, move on. One hard player can cost you three easy ones.

The Grid

1. Lean on players who fit lots of squares

The same player can be used in more than one square, so a well-travelled name is worth gold. If Peter Crouch fits two squares, use him twice. Start with the squares you're sure of, then look for a player who covers the harder ones too.

2. Use the well-travelled players

Players with long club lists fit lots of squares. The table shows players in our list linked to the most clubs, for some of the clubs that come up most often.

3. Country columns are easier than they look

When a column is a country, the player must have been born there or played for its national team. Either counts. England is linked to 771 players in our list, France to 139, Wales to 89 and the Republic of Ireland to 95. 311 players count for more than one country, often because they were born in England and played for Ireland, Scotland or Wales.

4. Twelve guesses means three spare

You have 12 guesses for nine squares, so you can afford three mistakes. Save them for the squares where you are least sure. If you're down to your last guess or two, put them on the square you know best rather than gambling on the hardest one.

5. Use practice grids to learn

The daily grid is the same for everyone, but practice grids are unlimited. A few practice rounds teach you which clubs share lots of players and which pairs are rare. Our which clubs share the most players article covers the same ground with numbers.

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