| BARESI | Franco, Italian former central defender and sweeper who won 81 caps for his country (6) |
| RIO | --- Ferdinand, former Manchester United defender who won 81 England caps |
| BESOM | Crowd about to welcome debuts of Everton striker and sweeper |
| BROOMS | What quadball players and sweepers hold |
| NELSEN | Ryan, New Zealand former central defender who played for Blackburn Rovers FC (6) |
| MAGUIRE | Harry, English central defender and captain for Manchester United FC (7) |
| LUIZ | David, Brazilian central defender and occasional midfielder for Arsenal (4) |
| SMALLING | Chris, former central defender for Manchester United FC who joined Roma in 2020 (8) |
| AGGER | Daniel, Danish former central defender for Liverpool FC (5) |
| ANDREA | _ Pirlo, Italian former footballer who is the head coach of Juventus (6) |
| PATTON | Who allegedly said "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country" |
| EDBERG | One who served for his country died crashing into European mountain (6) |
| RADEBE | Lucas ...... , former South Africa and Leeds defender and captain (6) |
| DARREN | Tigers defender and 2001 best-and-fairest (6,6) |
| GASPAR | Tigers defender and 2001 best-and-fairest (6,6) |
| LABONE | Brian ...... , Everton defender and England World Cup 1970 squad member, who died in 2006 (6) |
| HANSEN | Alan, Scottish former defender and TV football pundit born in 1955 (6) |
| NAPLES | Depression returns to the Franco-Italian city (6) |
| ATTILA | What title role did Anthony Quinn play in the 1954 Franco-Italian film, which co-starred Sophia Lore |
| GUSCOTT | Jeremy, England former rugby union outside centre who won 65 caps for his country (7) |
