“£100,000 ON THE LINE… AND A FORMER FOOTBALLER DELIVERED UNDER UNBELIEVABLE PRESSURE.” The Soccer Aid special of The 1% Club came down to a tense final showdown between two contestants and a single question that would decide a £100,000 charity jackpot. As one finalist struggled to find the path through the puzzle, the other remained calm, locking in the correct answer with remarkable speed that left the studio in stunned silence. Moments later, victory was confirmed, the prize was secured for charity, and viewers at home were quick to call it one of the most composed and impressive finishes ever seen in the show’s history.

THE 1% Club viewers were left in awe as a “genius” footballer bagged an incredible £100,000 for charity.

Lee Mack presented a Soccer Aid special of the popular ITV quiz show – and one former ace stood out.

Lee Mack on The 1% Club.
The 1% Club aired a Soccer Aid special episodeCredit: ITV
Two men standing at podiums on a game show set.
It saw Clarke Carlisle and Lloyd Griffith reach the final roundCredit: ITV
Screenshot of a game show question: What two words appear three times in the opening verse of "Three Lions"? Answer choices are shown.
Can you crack the pair’s tricky 1% question?Credit: ITV

A star-studded lineup including Jill Scott, Iain Stirling, Paddy McGuinness and Tommy Fury made up the 100 contestants vying to win the huge £100,000 jackpot for Unicef.

But by the 1% question there were just two contenders remaining.

These were former footballer Clarke Carlisle – who played for QPR, Watford and Leeds – and comedian and ex-Soccer AM host, Lloyd Griffith.

Having reached the final question, Clarke and Lloyd had already won £10,000 for Unicef – and as the footballer also still had his pass intact another £1,000 was added to the guaranteed amount.

Unlike the regular show, the £11,000 was not in jeopardy and was guaranteed whatever happened.

But now it was their chance to secure the HUGE jackpot for the Soccer Aid charity.

Lee asked the pair: “In the opening verse to the original version of Three Lions, what TWO words feature exactly three times in the lyrics?”

The lyrics were shown on screen as a reference as they tried to figure out the answer in 30 seconds.

Here’s what they were show:

Everyone seems to know the score, they’ve seen it all before
They just know, they’re so sure
That England’s gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away
But I know they can play, ’cause I remember…

So did you spot the repetitive words in just 30 seconds?

When it came time to answer, Lloyd, 41, admitted he’d misread the question.

Meanwhile, Clarke, 45, offered up “it” and “know” as his answer to the puzzle.

It was soon revealed that Clarke was correct – and had bagged a whopping £100,000 for Unicef.

Fans took to X and sang the star’s praises, with one penning: “Clarke Carlisle you Brainiac!! Well done!”

Another shared: “Absolutely delighted for Clarke! Always had a brilliant brain – but came close to losing him!”

A third added: “Clarke Carlisle is a genius!!”

The 1% Club’s Most Difficult Questions

The 1% Club sees 100 contestants try and make it to the 1% question and be in with a chance to win a share of the jackpot. Here are just some of the show’s most difficult teasers.

Not every contestant is as lucky – as a tricky alphabet question in the regular show knocked out 18 players.

Contestants were shown four words and asked to spot the one that does not contain three consecutive letters from the alphabet.

The options were, Unopenable, Understandable, Unquestionable, and Undefineable.

The answer turned out to be C, Unquestionable.

Unopenable contains ‘NOP’, and Understandable also hides ‘RST’ and Undefineable includes ‘DEF’.

Screenshot of a game show question asking which two words appear three times in the opening verse of "Three Lions."