Monday 31 August 2009

31 August

1913: - PSV Eindhoven was founded to celebrate the centennial defeat of the French in the Napoleonic wars as a works team for the employees of electronics conglomerate Phillips.
1929: - York City played their first-ever Football League game after they beat Wigan Borough 2-0. The game was also significant as Reg Stockill became the youngest player to represent the club in a senior competitive match aged 15 years and 281 days. He also scored which makes him possibly the youngest person to ever score in a Football League match.
1935: - Norwich City opened their new ground Carrow Road with a 4-3 victory over West Ham United, in front of 31,000 supporters, which was 6,000 more than had ever attended their old ground at the ‘Nest’. Lochhead, Vinall 2 and Warnes scored for Norwich while West Ham’s goals came from Morton, Marshall and Ruffell.
1946: - The Football League resumed after a break of seven years due to the Second World War. The fixtures were similar to those of the opening days of 1939-1940, the season which was abandoned after most clubs had played 3 games.
1951: - Johnny Berry the Birmingham City outside right transferred to Manchester United for £20,000. He won 3 Championship medals with United before he sustained injuries in the Munich air crash in 1958 which forced him to give up the game.
1960: - The former Chelsea and St Johnstone wing-half Bill Ferguson died at the age of 59. He joined the London side in 1922 from Scottish juniors and spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge appearing in 263 League matches and scored 11 goals. He had 4 years with St Johnstone were he played in 79 games and scored 3 goals.
1973: - Alan West’s proposed move to Sunderland from Burnley fell through after he failed a medical.
1982: - Leicester City’s Eddie Kelly became the first player to get a red card for a “Professional Foul” after he deliberately handled the ball in a League match against Rotherham United.
1997: - The Liverpool-Newcastle United FA Premier League fixture was cancelled as a mark of respect for Princess Diana, who had died earlier in the day in a Paris car crash. 1998: - Ruud Gullit was appointed as Newcastle United manager.
1999: - Manchester United signed the Italian goalkeeper Massimo Taibi for £4.5million from Venezia. The Italian's tenure at Old Trafford is perhaps best known for his continued mistakes while in goal.
2004: - Wayne Rooney completed his move from Everton to Manchester United for £31 million. It marked the most expensive transfer for a teenage player as Rooney was several weeks off his nineteenth birthday at the time of his signing.
2006: - Chelsea were fined £40,000 by the Football Association for breaching doping regulations.
2007: - HRMC abandoned their legal challenge against KPMG which finally put all administorial debt and financial matters with regard to Leeds United to rest.
2008: - Manchester City pulled off a massive coup after they beat Chelsea to the signing of the Brazilian striker Robinho from Real Madrid for a British transfer-record breaking £32.5million.

Sunday 30 August 2009

30 August

1919: - West Ham United drew 1-1 with Lincoln City at Upton Park, in a Second Division match. It was West Ham’s first-ever Football League match.
1920: - Bradford City’s former England centre-forward Bill Hibbert broke a toe during the warm-up prior to the club’s First Division match against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. If he had played it would have only been his second game for Bradford City following his summer move from Newcastle United.
1924: - Crystal Palace played their first League match at their new ground Selhurst Park following an opening ceremony performed by the Lord Mayor of London. However it ended in defeat after a goal from Billy Marsden gave their opponents, Sheffield Wednesday all the points. At the end of the season they were also relegated to the Third Division following 3 seasons in the Second Division.
1936: - G.H. Armitage an amateur centre-half who played for Wimbledon, Charlton Athletic and England died. He played in 165 League games for Charlton Athletic between 1923 and 1930, and appeared in the full England side against Ireland, five amateur internationals 1923-1926 and twice for the Amateurs against the Professionals in the match for the FA Charity Shield in 1924 and 1926.
1958: - Jimmy Greaves who at the time was 18 years old scored 5 goals in Chelsea’s 6-2 victory over the reigning Champions Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge.
1962: - Crystal Palace’s insider forward Ron Bret was killed when his car was involved in an accident with another vehicle, while Brian Rhodes the West Ham United goalkeeper who was a passenger in the car escaped unhurt. Aged just 24 he made his debut during the 1957-1958 season and moved to West Ham United in 1959. After not establishing himself at Upton Park he returned to Selhurst Park midway through the 1961-1962 season. He played in 43 League matches and scored 15 goals.

Saturday 29 August 2009

29 August

1908: - In the first and only FA Charity Shield replay, played four months after the 1-1 draw in the first game, Manchester United beat Queens Park Rangers 4-0. Jimmy Turnbull scored hat-trick and George Wall scored one. The 1908 Charity Shield raised £1,275 for charity.
1927: - Torquay United were beaten 9-1 by Millwall at the Den in their second match in the Football League. Their opening match, two days previously, had ended in a 1-1 draw with Exeter City at Plainmoor. At the end of the season Torquay finished bottom of the Southern section with 30 points.
1931: - Anthony Weldon, Hull City’s outside left signed for West Ham United. After beginning with Airdrieonians in 1924 he transferred to Everton in March 1927, but after never fulfilling his potential he moved to Hull in 1930. He ended his career with Rochdale in 1933 after 10 seasons of League football both sides of the border yielding 59 goals in 198 matches.
1936: - Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers opened the season in the Second Division after being continuously in the top Division since the inception of the League in 1888. Aston Villa beat Swansea Town 2-1 at Vetch Field and Blackburn Rovers drew 1-1 with Bury at Gigg Lane.
1936: Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Everton became the first football match to be televised in England. The game was aired several hours after the game had finished.
1936: - St Mirren’s full-back Bobby Ancell transferred to Newcastle United after six seasons at St Mirren. Within months of his move Ancell received his first international call-up as he made his Scotland debut in a 3-1 victory over Northern Ireland.
2008: - Thousands of football fans approved the transfer of striker John Akinde for £140,000 to an unnamed club. Members of myfootballclub.co.uk who own Ebbsfleet United backed the sale after 82.3% of 7,452 members who voted on the internet said the club should accept the offer.

Friday 28 August 2009

28 August

1877: - Christ Church, changed their name to Bolton Wanderers.
1920: - Tom Brittleton, the former Sheffield Wednesday and England right-half made his League debut for Stoke City against Nottingham Forest in a Second Division game. The record books state that he was 41 years old at the time but he was in fact 37.
1920: - Millwall beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 in their first Football League match The Den, in the newly created Division Three South.
1920: - Exeter City played their first match in the Football League. They beat Brentford 3-0 at St James Park.
1954: - Playing with a knee injury the Scottish forward Willie Woodburn took exception to bad foul and retaliated by head-butting a Stirling Albion player during Glasgow Rangers League Cup tie at Ibrox against Stirling Albion.
1965: - Denis Haskow, the Wood Green Town outside-right, collapsed and died during the Spartan League match against Staines Town. He was 41.
1999: - Ruud Gullit resigned as manager of Newcastle United after just 12 months in charge. Newcastle had failed to win any of their opening 5 games and had just lost 2-1 to rivals Sunderland on 25 August.
2007: - Leeds United assistant manager Gus Poyet accused referee Andy D’Urso of having a vendetta against himself, Dennis Wise and Leeds.

Thursday 27 August 2009

27 August

1921: - Chelsea’s George Smith played his first game for Chelsea. He went onto make a 370 League and Cup appearances for Chelsea until a serious injury shortened his career in 1932. He later moved to East Fife.
1988: - Everton’s Tony Cottee scored a goal in 34 seconds and went onto complete a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Newcastle United.
1991: - Arsenal’s first win of the season a 2-0 victory over Luton Town was marred by the sending off of Anders Limpar.
1992: - Teddy Sheringham transferred to Tottenham Hotspur from Nottingham Forest for £2.1million.
1993: - Brian Horton became the new manager of Manchester City after leaving his post at Oxford United.
1994:- The Tottenham Hotspur chairman Alan Sugar stated that the England coach Terry Venables was still not welcome at White Hart Lane despite the Spurs manager Ossie Ardiles saying the day before that he was welcome.
1998: - Kenny Dalglish was sacked after just 19 months as manager of Newcastle United.

Wednesday 26 August 2009

26 August

1887: - Blackpool Football Club were founded as Blackpool St Johns. The club was elected to the Second Division of the Football League in 1896 but after three seasons they failed to gain re-election. In the same year they amalgamated with South Shore but in 1900 they were re-elected as Blackpool.
1914: -The Brazilian club Socidedade Esportiva Palmeiras, usually called Palmeiras, were founded by Societá Sportiva Palestra in São Paulo.
1920: - John McNab signed for Liverpool. In their League Championship teams of 1922 and 1923 he was seen as one of the best half-backs.
1922: - The Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Jesse Whatley began a run of 246 consecutive League matches which lasted until Easter 1928. This was a record for a goalkeeper until it was beaten by Ted Ditchburn of Tottenham Hotspur in 1954.
1926: - Associazione Calcio Fiorentina were founded by noble and local National Fascist Party member Luigi Ridolfi. Ridolfi initiated a merger between two older Florentine clubs; CS Firenze and PG Libertas. The purpose of this was to give Florence a strong club to rival that of the more dominant Italian Football Championship sides of the time from North-West Italy.
1953: - After Sheffield Wednesday’s goalkeeper had to leave the field injured during their First Division match against Preston North End at Deepdale, the clubs’ left-back Norman Curtis took over the position. During the remainder of the match he saved two penalties, but this feat did not prevent Wednesday from losing 6-0.
1993: -After losing three of their opening four games Manchester City part company with their manager Peter Reid.
1999: - Ruud Gullit resigned as manger of Newcastle United following the defeat to Sunderland the day before.
2005: - The first matches of the inaugural Hyundai A-League in Australia was played. In the games Central Coast Mariners beat Perth Glory 1-0 thanks to a goal from Noel Spencer (66) while Adelaide United beat Newcastle Jets also by 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Carl Veart (19).

Tuesday 25 August 2009

25 August

1925: - The first Football League matches were played which incorporated the revised offside law that was in operation at the time. The offside law was in operation until defences were able to adjust themselves to the change of two instead of three opponents between the players playing the ball and the goal. There were some strange, high scoring matches including Aston Villa beating Burnley 10-0.
1928: - Arsenal and Chelsea used numbered shirts for their matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea Town respectively. This was the first time that numbered shirts were used.
1948: - Bobby Langton, scored within 7 seconds of kick-off for Preston North End against Manchester City in the First Division making it one of the fastest goals ever scored.
1951: - John Hewie made his League debut for Charlton Athletic against Portsmouth in the First Division. He remained at the Valley until his retired in 1966, playing in 468 League matches and scoring 35 goals for the club.
1954: - Bobby Campbell transferred to Reading from Chelsea. The outside-right made his name at Falkirk before moving to Chelsea and after retiring in 1958 at Reading he became a coach at the club.
1992: - Chester City lost 2-1 to Stockport County in the League Cup, as they played for the first time in their new Deva Stadium.
1999: - Alan Shearer was left on the Newcastle United substitute’s bench by Ruud Gullit as Newcastle United lost 2-1 to Sunderland. Kieron Dyer gave Newcastle the lead but second-half goals from Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips have Sunderland the victory. Ruud Gullit resigned the next day.
2001: - Chelsea defeated Southampton 2-0 in their 1st competitive game at their new 32,000 all-seater St Mary’s Stadium.
2004: - With a 3-0 home victory over Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal set a new all-time record for consecutive unbeaten league matches at England’s top level with 43, beating the record of 42 previously held by Nottingham Forest from November 1977 to September 1978.
2006: - Bolton Wanderers shattered their club record fee to bring Nicolas Anelka back to English Football when they paid £8million for the striker who agreed a four-year deal upon his transfer from Fenerbahçe.
2006: - A statement was released to the LSE which announced that Randy Lerner had secured 59.69% of Aston Villa shares which made him the majority shareholder. He also appointed himself Chairman of the club.
2007: - Mohammed Sissoko scored Liverpool’s 7,000th goal in League football when he scored the opening goal of their game against Sunderland in their 2-0 victory.
2007: - The Greek Super League and The Hellenic Football Federation decided to postpone the opening fixtures scheduled for that weekend due to the ongoing fire disaster in the south of Greece. The championship started on 1 September 2007.

Monday 24 August 2009

24 August

1949: - Manchester United played their first game back at Old Trafford, following bombing damage sustained during the Second World War. 41,748 supporters watched a 3-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
2006: - Juventus, who were demoted to Serie B on the 14th July with a 30-point penalty, that was later reduced to a 17-point penalty officially lodged an appeal to the Italian Civil Courts, despite the FIGC warning against further penalties against them.
2006: - Takeshi Okada resigned as the manager of Yokohama Marinos, after he felt that he had to accept responsibility for the teams’ poor performance, after the team lost 2-1 to Omiya Ardija, the clubs second straight defeat.
2006: - Both the police and the Football Association announced their plans to investigate Ben Thatcher’s elbow-first challenge that hospitalised Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes during the sides’ Premiership clash on the 23rd August. Thatcher was booked for an elbow on the midfielder early in the second-half as both players chased the ball; Mendes was then knocked unconscious and suffered a seizure, remaining in hospital overnight.
2006: - Dutch international defender Joris Mathijsen agreed a four-year contract with Hamburger SV after he completed his €10million.
2006: - Millonarios, one of South America's best-known clubs, fired coach Miguel Augusto Prince on Thursday, six games into the Colombian Clausura championship. Prince was replaced by Juan Carlos Osorio, assistant coach at English Premier League Manchester City since 2001.
2006: - Vietnamese police have charged a former national team soccer player with match fixing at last year's Southeast Asian Games, state media said. Truong Tan Hai is accused of paying seven players 500 million dong ($31,230) to ensure Vietnam beat Myanmar 1-0 in a SEA Games group match, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported. The players told Hai to use their money to place bets with another underground gambling ring to double their winnings, the daily said. The narrow 1-0 scoreline against minnows Myanmar attracted favourable odds given Vietnam's impressive form going into the tournament, which was held in ManilaHai is now facing two charges of match-fixing after he was arrested in March for accepting bribes during the 2000-2001 V-League title, won by Song Lam-Nghe An. He is accused of accepting 300 million dong ($18,700) from a former Song Lam player to throw a crucial end of season game. Seven others who played that day are under house arrest awaiting trial.

Sunday 23 August 2009

23 August

1890: - J. MacPherson scored a hat-trick for Rangers against Cambuslang in their 6-2 victory in the Scottish League to score the League’s first ever hat-trick.
1947: - In the first ever match played by a Chinese club in Britain, Sing Tao (Hong Kong) lost 5-2 to Dulwich Hamlet. Sing Tao were the leading club at the time and in their short tour they won only two of nine matches, beating Oxford City 4-1 and Ilford 4-3. They lost to Athenian League 1-5, Isthmian League 2-3, Walton & Hersham 1-2, Walthamstow Avenue 2-3, Bromley 1-3 and Barnet 3-5.
1957: - “Chick” Thomson of Chelsea transferred to Nottingham Forest. The goalkeeper in their Championship season of 1954-1955 stayed with Forest until 1961 and won an FA Cup winners’ medal in 1959 with them.
1958: - Tommy Docherty moved to Arsenal from Preston North End for £20,000 after appearing in 324 appearances for North End.
1963: - Arsenal paid Dundee £62,500 for Ian Ure which at the time was a record fee for a half-back. The Scottish international played in 84 games for the London club.
2004: - Southampton manager Paul Sturrock parted company with the south-coast club despite having been in charge for only 5 months. The Saints chairman Rupert Lowe claimed the media speculation had proved too much for Sturrock to take, despite allegations that he himself had placed too much pressure on him.
2006: - Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes was left unconscious and needing hospital treatment after Manchester City’s Ben Thatcher elbowed him in the face after the two challenged for the same ball. Thatch was shown a yellow card for the incident but he was later banned by his club and charged with violent misconduct by The Football Association.

Saturday 22 August 2009

22 August

1891: - Renton’s Alex McColl became the first player to score a penalty in the Scottish League when he scored in his side’s 3-2 victory over Leith Athletic. Renton had only just been re-admitted to the League after being suspended for “professionalism” the previous season.
1956: - Denis Howell, M.P, refereed the Third Division South match between Southend United and Newport County and this was the first time a Member of Parliament had refereed a game in modern times. He refereed regularly until the Labour Party won the Election in October 1964 and resigned from the League list at the end of the season.
1959: - Jim Barrett transferred from Birmingham City to West Ham United to become player-coach at the London club. When he retired in 1960 he had played in 210 matches and scored 91 goals.
1959: - David Meiklejohn died. The Partick Thistle manager for 12 years was one of Scotland’s greatest ever players. He played for Ranges as a right-half or centre-half until 1936 and played in 600 League games. He won 13 Championship medals and 7 Scottish Cup medals (4 were winners).
1960: - The FIFA Congress met in Rome to decide that England would host the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Spain withdrew from the bidding before the voting and England received 34 votes to West Germany’s 27 votes.
1961: - Rotherham United beat Aston Villa 2-0 in the first leg of the first-ever League Cup Final. 12,226 saw the game at Millmoor as goals from Webster and Kirkman gave the Yorkshire side victory.
1963: - Jimmy Broad, died at the age of 72. He was one of the greatest centre-forwards before and after the First World War. He played for Oldham Athletic, Millwall, Stoke, Everton, New Brighton and Watford. He scored over 100 League goals and was groundsman to Chelmsford City from 1931-1961.
1965: - Derek Foster, aged 15 years and 185 days played in goal in the First Division match against Leicester City for Sunderland due to injuries. At the time he was the youngest player to appear in the top Division.

Friday 21 August 2009

21 August

1898: - In a room of the Sons of Talma Dramatic Society, the Club de Ragatas Vasco da Gama were founded.
1924: - The rule on corners was altered to allow players to score directly from them for the start of the 1924-1925 season. Billy Alston of St Barnards became the first player to scored directly from one when he scored in the Scottish Second Division against Albion Rovers.
1930: - Bristol Rovers signed Norman Dinsdale from Coventry City. The centre-half only spent one season with Rovers until he retired in 1931 having played in 389 League matches and scored 23 goals.
1936: - J. H. Catton died at the age of 76. Often regarded as the father of football reporting he wrote under the pen-name of “Tityrus” and reported for the Athletic News and edited the Athletic News Football Annual for many years.
1965: - Keith Peacock became the first substitute to appear in a Football League game when he replaced Charlton Athletic’s goalkeeper Rose in the 11th minute of the Second Division match between Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic. John Hewie, however actually went into goal with Peacock playing outfield. The rule of allowing players to leave the field to be replaced by a nominated substitute was accepted at the League’s Annual Meeting 3 months prior to the event. Bolton Wanderers won the game 4-2.
1965: - Bobby Knox became the first substitute to score a Football League goal when he scored for Barrow against Wrexham in their 4-2 win in the Fourth Division.
2006: - Accrington Stanley won their first ever Football League Cup match when they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

20 August

1945: - Ferenc Puskas made his debut for Hungary and scored in their 5-2 friendly defeat against Austria.
1991: - The Football League went to the High Court for the appointment of an administrator to run the collapsed management committee.
1994: - Paul Brayson, then a 16 year-old scored 8 goals at Newcastle United’s Juniors beat Hartlepool United Juniors 10-1 at Durham University.
1999: - Kevin Ratcliffe resigned as manager of struggling Chester City. He had been in charge since 1995 and once kept the club afloat by paying the water bill.

19 August

1961: - Tony Knapp transferred to Southampton from Leicester City for £20,000 after appearing in only 86 games for Leicester City.

1966: - Tottenham Hotspur paid a record fee for a half-back when they paid £95,000 for Mike England from Blackburn Rovers.

1966: - George Kinnell moved to Oldham Athletic from Stoke City for £20,000.

1976: - General Omar Carlos Actis, the President of the 1978 FIFA World Cup organising committee was murdered by terrorists in Buenos Aires.

1987: - The President of the Confederation of African Football died in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia’s Ydnekatchew Tesseme who had been a player, coach, lecturer and champion of African football lost his battle with cancer.

1989: - Peterborough United opened their league campaign with a 1-0 win over Maidstone, which ensured the club opened without defeat for the 13th consecutive year.

1999: - Robbie Keane completed a £6million move to Coventry City becoming Britain’s most expensive teenager.

2001: - The former Coventry City, Luton Town, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Blackpool and West Ham United goalkeeper Les Sealey died of a heart attack at the age of 43.

2001: - During the game between CSKA Moscow and Anzhi Makhachkala the CSKA goalkeeper Serhiy Perkhum collided head-to-head with the Anzhi forward Budan Budunov. At first the injury appeared to be minor and Perkhum continued to play out the rest of the game. However on the way to the airport he went comatose and died nine days later from a brain haemorrhage.

2005: - Michael Essien joined Chelsea Football Club for £24.4million, from Olympique Lyonnais, in a move which ended weeks of speculation.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

18 August

1913: -Boca Juniors and River Plate met for the first time in their history marking the start of one of Argentina’s most hated rivalries. The game which Boca won 1-0 was marred by crowd disturbances after a Boca fan tried to steal a River Plate flag.
1924: - Tommy Meehan, Chelsea’s England international wing-half died at the age of only 30. He made a total of 184 League appearances and scored 10 goals for both Manchester United and Chelsea. He won his England cap against Ireland in the 1923-1924 season.
1962: - The Football League refused to accept the registration of John Charles who had been recently transferred to Cardiff City from AS Roma. It was alleged that both Juventus and AS Roma owed Leeds United balances of fees incurred in April 1957 and November 1962 respectively.
1989: - Manchester United FC were sold for £20million to the Isle of Man-based property tycoon and former footballer Michael Knighton.
1991: - The Scottish FA secretary Jim Farry blamed player ignorance of the new laws for the 16 sendings-off in the first week of the new season.
1999: - The Football League announced that they may introduce an orange card as a final warning to players who had already been cautioned.
2000: - Jack Walker, the Blackburn Rovers owner died aged 70. The millionaire brought the likes of Chris Sutton, and Alan Shearer to Ewood Park as Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League title in 1995, under Kenny Dalglish.
2006: - FIFA announced that it would investigate the behaviour of 200 Croatian fans who formed a human swastika during the game against Italy on the 17th August. The fans formed the symbol 30 minutes into the countries 2-0 victory over Italy in Livorno, with many more giving Nazi salutes.
2006: - The Spanish Football Federation dismissed Espanyol’s attempt to get the clubs’ 1-0 defeat to FC Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup overturned. The Federation’s Competitions Complaints Committee rejected Espanyol’s claim that FC Barcelona had flouted FIFA rules. The appeal related to that Carlos Puyol and Xavi both appearing for FC Barcelona three days after withdrawing from international duty due to injury - FIFA rules state that players who withdraw from international duty must not play for their clubs for five days.
2006: - Dutch manager Arie Haan was given the task of reviving Cameroon’s prospects when he was named as their new coach.

Monday 17 August 2009

17 August

1929: - George Brown transferred to Aston Villa from Huddersfield Town. The centre-forward who was a former pit-boy was a prolific goalscorer and when he retired from football his record was 268 goals in 445 League games.
1930: - Thames signed Moses Russell from Plymouth Argyle. The full-back played in 13 games for Thames.
1933: - Charlie Fletcher signed for Brentford from Clapton Orient. Between 1931 and 1939 he played in 317 League games and scored 89 goals for Brentford, Burnley, Ipswich Town and Plymouth Argyle.
1957: - Johnny Morris was sent-off during Leicester City’s pre-season trial match. So far this is the only occasion that such an event occurred in the whole of the League’s history.
1966: - Jim Forrest scored 5 of Glasgow Rangers’ 8 goals against Stirling Albion in a League Cup game at Anfield.
1999: - To honour Nelson Mandela following his stepping down as South Africa’s president an all-star match organised by FIFA was played between a Mandela XI and a FIFA World XI at Ellis Park. In front of a crowd of 40,000 the Mandela XI featured amongst others: Lucas Radebe, Mark Fish, Celestine Babayaro, Samuel Kuffour, Kalusha Bwalya, Hossam Hassan, Benni McCarthy, Nwankwo Kanu, Titi Camara and Shabani Nonda. The FIFA World XI included players such as Jorge Campos, Taribo West, Rigobert Song, Branco, Dunga, Thomas Haessler, Mustapha Hadji, Luis Hernandez, Viorel Moldovan, Murat Yakin, Lubomir Moravcik, Abedi Pele and Jean-Pierre Papin. The game ended 2-2.

Sunday 16 August 2009

16 August

1890: - Renton beat Celtic 4-1 in the Scottish League with Cameron scoring the first goal in the Scottish League and the first for Renton. Although the clubs’ records were later deleted from the final League table after they were found guilty of “professionalism” and suspended after 5 matches it still stands as the first goal scored.
1938: - A.H. Gibbons signed amateur forms for Brentford. He returned to Brentford after the Second World War and became player-manager and then manager two years later.
1960: - Jack Overfield transferred from Leeds United to Sunderland. He scored a few minutes into his debut against Everton but didn’t manage to score in the other 42 League games he played in.
1966: - Alan Ball transferred to Everton from Blackpool for a record fee of £110,000. The forward who had been in England’s FIFA World Cup winning side two weeks earlier had played 116 times and scored 41 goals for Blackpool before his transfer.
1992: - Sky Sports broadcasted their first live Premier League when they showed Nottingham Forest against Liverpool. Teddy Sheringham scored the only goal of the game as Nottingham Forest won.
2001: - After 6 years of waiting Oxford United finally moved into their new 12,500-seater Kassam Stadium. Their arrival proved to be disappointing after Rochdale defeated them 2-1 in a Division Three match.

Saturday 15 August 2009

15 August

1891:- Vale of Leven were beaten 10-3 by Clyde. This was the first double-figure victory in the Scottish League.
1902: - The Uruguayan football club Montevideo Wanderers Fútbol Club, usually known as Wanderers were founded.
1903: - Aberdeen played its first official match against Stenhousemuir. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
1931: - Jack Atkinson signed professional forms for Bolton Wanderers. He became their regular centre-half from 1933 to 1949.
1959: - Ian St John scored 3 goals in 2 and a half minutes for Motherwell in a Scottish League Cup game at Easter Road against Hibernian.
1960: - Rochdale signed Ted Burgin from Leeds United, converting his initial loan spell into a permanent move.
1963: - Peter Dobing transferred from Manchester City to Stoke City for a fee of £37,500.
1992: - The new FA Premier League kicked off on the opening day of the season. The first Premier League goal scorer was by Sheffield United striker Brian Deane who opened the scoring in their 2-1 home win over Manchester United.
2000: - The Parkstad Limburg Stadium, home of the Dutch club Roda JC, was officially opened between a game between the home club, Roda JC and Real Zaragoza. The match ended 2-2.

Friday 14 August 2009

14 August

1933: - New Brighton, signed Lachlan McPherson from Everton after he never really established himself at Goodison Park. His career lasted until 1935, making a total of 318 League appearances and scoring 39 goals.
1948: - Charlie Tully, one of the great players in post-war Scottish football made his debut for Glasgow Celtic in a League Cup match against Morton. After joining from Belfast Celtic he went on to win a medal in every competition which Celtic entered in Scottish Football, playing in 210 Scottish League games and scoring 30 goals.
1950: - The Welsh inside-forward Aubrey Powell transferred to Birmingham City from Everton.
1953: - Harold Bodle moved to Accrington Stanley from Stockport County. He subsequently became manager in 1959 but that only lasted 10 months.
1963: - Peter Thompson moved to Liverpool from Preston North End for a fee of £40,000. An exciting prospect he won Championship medals in 1964 and 1966 and an FA Cup winners’ medal in 1965 while at Anfield.
1977: - 77,691 saw the New York Cosmos beat Fort Lauderdale 8-3 in the North American Soccer League. The attendance was a record for the league.
2006: - It was confirmed that the American businessman Randy Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns had reached an agreement of £62.6million with Aston Villa for a takeover.

Thursday 13 August 2009

13 August

1936: - The FIFA Congress decided that France would be the host of the 1938 FIFA World Cup. Neither Argentina, France nor Germany withdrew their bids and the election took just one ballot. France received 19 votes, Argentina 4 votes and Germany 0 votes.
1982: - Robert Fleck joined Chelsea from Norwich City for £2.1million.
1986: - The Maltese Football Association officially opened its Sports and Technical Centre, which would be mainly used by the national team and the MFA Football Academy.
1997: - John Barnes joined Newcastle United from Liverpool on a free transfer despite having apparently agreed to join West Ham United.

Wednesday 12 August 2009

12 August

1927: - David Rollo transferred to Port Vale from Blackburn Rovers. One of the best full-backs in the league after making 207 appearances for Blackburn, he only played in 2 games for Vale’s first team.

1936: - Southend United signed Bill Dickinson from Rotherham United. A prolific goalscoring centre-forward when the war ended his career he had scored a record of 204 goals in 388 League matches.

1946: - A merger took place between Andrea Doria and Associazione Liguria Calcio to found Unione Calcio Sampdoria.

1953: - Middlesbrough’s Billy Linacre moved to Hartlepool United. After four seasons at Ayresome Park he spent a further 3 seasons at Hartlepool.

1963: - Alex Barley moved from Manchester City to Birmingham City for £40,000, after just a year with Manchester City in which he scored 23 goals in 40 League games. In his one and a half seasons with Birmingham City he only scored 9 goals in 28 matches before moving to Dundee.

1967: - Tottenham Hotspur’s Pat Jennings scored a goal directly from a clearance during the FA Charity Shield match against Manchester United at Old Trafford when United’s Alex Stepney misjudged the bounce of the ball and it looped over his head. The match ended 3-3 meaning that the clubs shared the trophy for 6 months of the year each. Manchester United’s goals came from Bobby Charlton (2) and Dennis Law while Jimmy Robertson, Pat Jennings and Frank Saul scored for Tottenham.

1974: - Liverpool drew 1-1 with Glasgow Celtic in Billy McNeil’s testimonial.

1978: - Nottingham Forest beat Ipswich Town 5-0 in the FA Charity Shield. There goals came from Martin O’Neil (2), Peter Withe, Larry Lloyd and John Robertson.

1987: - Barclays Bank became the Football League’s new sponsors in a three-year deal which was worth in the region of £5million.

1994: - The allegations against Terry Venables of bribery while he was in charge of Tottenham Hotspur were dropped.

1996: - After less than a year in charge, Bruce Rioch was sacked as manager of Arsenal.

1998: - Thomas Brolin, nicknamed the Golden Boy of Swedish Football, announced his retirement from football after a career which took in 8 clubs. He played for Näsvikens IK, GIF Sundsvall, IFK Norrköping, A.C. Parma, Leeds United, FC Zürich, Crystal Palace and Hudiksvalls A.B.K.

Tuesday 11 August 2009

11 August

1930: - Tottenham Hotspur signed Wally Alsford as a professional. In his brief career with both Spurs and Nottingham Forest he played in 80 matches for Spurs and 30 for Forest. He was an attacking wing-half but extremely injury-prone.
1933: - John Morrison signed professional forms for Tottenham Hotspur. He became a strong goalscoring centre-forward and when war broke out in 1939 he had scored 87 times in 127 League matches.
1960: - William Robson, a former player of Reading and assistant manager to the club, died at the age of 54. He had played for Derby County in 1927, West Ham United in 1933 and Reading in 1934. He played in 134 League games for them up to 1939.
1961: - Ford Else transferred to Blackburn Rovers from Preston North End. One of the most dependable goalkeepers in football he went on to play in 187 League games for Rovers before he signed for Barrow on a free transfer in 1966.
1965: - Ralph Brand signed for Manchester City from Glasgow Rangers. Despite being highly successful in Scotland he found it difficult to adjust to English conditions and played in only 17 games, scoring 2 goals in his first season.
1965: - Newcastle United were thrown briefly into disarray, when Jack Charlton resigned as manager just six days before the start of the First Division campaign. He was replaced by Willie McFaul.
1985: - Nigeria outclassed West Germany and won the inaugural FIFA under-16 World Championship in Beijing, China. The Super Eagles won their first FIFA tournament 2-0.
2002: - Arsenal beat Liverpool 1-0 in the FA Community Shield. Gilberto Silva (68) scored the only goal of the game.

Monday 10 August 2009

10 August

1869: - Clapham Rovers were founded following a meeting arranged by W. E. Rawlinson. Although now defunct the club were a prominent club in the 19th Century.
1931: -William Steel signed for Liverpool from St Johnstone after a month’s trial. He had played in 174 Scottish First and Second Division matches before moving to Liverpool.
1936: - Sea Weaver, transferred to Chelsea from Newcastle United.
1955: - Ipswich Town appointed Alf Ramsay as their new manager.
1983: - Gheorghe Hagi made his international debut for Romania in a 0-0 draw against Norway.
2006: - John Terry was appointed as the new captain of England by Steve McClaren, taking over from David Beckham.

Sunday 9 August 2009

9 August

1933: - Joe Inskip joined Gateshead on a free transfer from Sunderland. The centre-back spent two years at Roker Park but didn’t play for the League side. He had however became one of the best centre-halves in the Third Division of his day at Redheugh Park. His first class career was ended with the outbreak of the Second World War after he had played in 158 Northern Section matches and scored 9 goals.
1942: - After a 5-1 defeat 3 days earlier the German Luftwaffe team Flakelf asked for a re-match with the Ukrainian side FC Start. The German administration, aware that further FC Start victories might inspire Ukrainian inhabitants and decrease the morale of Axis troops, appointed an SS officer as referee. Despite aware of the bias against them and some anonymous sources warning them of possible punishment if they didn’t lose the game to the Germans, the Ukrainian side refused to give the Nazi salute to their opponents before the match. As expected the SS referee ignored Flakelf fouls and soon went 1-0 up. Despite this setback and the dirty tactics of the Germans, FC Start were 3-1 up by half-time. The second-half brought two more goals for each team meaning the game ended 5-3. Just a week later following another victory a number of the FC Start players were arrested and tortured by the Gestapo allegedly for being NKVD members. Mykola Korotkykh died under torture, while the rest were sent to the Syrets Labour camp. There Ivan Kuzmenko, Oleksey Klimenko and Mykola Trusevich were later killed in 1943. There were few survivors but the match has since gone down in Ukrainian culture known as the “Death Match”.
1957: - John Mortimore signed professional terms for Chelsea joining the club from Woking. A wing-half or inside forward he made his reputation at Stamford Bridge as a centre-half and played in 249 League matches before moving to Queens Park Rangers in 1965 and then onto Sunderland as a coach.
1962: - Bobby Robson rejoined Fulham for £20,000; the club where he began his senior career; from West Bromwich Albion.
1963: - John Charles joined Cardiff City from AS Roma for £20,000, returning from Italy for the second time. Nicknamed the “Gentle Giant” he stayed at Cardiff for 2 years until they gave him a free transfer and he signed for the Southern League club Hereford United.
1986: - In his first game as player-manager, Graeme Souness was sent-off while playing for Glasgow Rangers for a violent tackle on Hibernian’s George McCluskey. He had to watch the rest of the game from the stands as Rangers lost 2-1.
2004: - Lee Hughes, the West Bromwich Albion striker was jailed for 6 years for causing death by dangerous driving in November 2003.
2007: - The chairmen of the clubs in the Football League voted 64 to 5 in favour of Leeds United’s 15-point deduction. The Football League revealed that Leeds United couldn’t take legal action against them and vice-versa.

Saturday 8 August 2009

8 August

1954: - Charlton Athletic’s South African centre-forward Eddie Firmani transferred to Italian side Sampdoria for a reported fee of £35,000.

1959: - Manchester United beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the pre-season friendly in Munich as goals from Denis Viollet and Albert Quixall gave the English side victory. Quixall’s goal became one of the quickest ever recorded from a kick-off as he scored 4 seconds from the start of the second-half, when he shot from 48 yards after receiving a pass from Viollet. The game however also saw the sending-off of both Joe Carolan and Albert Quixall.

1959: - Billy Price scored from 3 penalties, in a first game as captain; as Falkirk recorded a 3-0 win over Hamilton Academicals in a Scottish League Cup tie.

1965: - Peter Watson, sustained a back injury during Southend United’s pre-season friendly against Elinkwijk (Vorn) which virtually ended his playing career.

1984: - Gordon Strachan announced his move from Aberdeen to Manchester United for a fee of £500,000. There was also some controversy as the German club FC Köln claimed he had promised to sign for them.

2003: - British Sky Broadcasting paid 510 million Euros to broadcast the FA Premier League for three years from 2004-2007.

2006: - Gary Taylor Fletcher of Huddersfield Town scored the 500,000th goal in English League football when he struck in the 79th minute of his side’s League One clash with Rotherham United. The night began with 499,937 goals already having been scored since the Football League began in 1888 with 485,405 in the Football League and 14,532 in the FA Premier League.

2006: - Sol Campbell completed his transfer to Portsmouth from Arsenal on a free transfer, agreeing a 2-year contract. 2008: - Gretna FC were formally liquidated.

Friday 7 August 2009

7 August

1939: - Charlie Roberts, the former Manchester United and England centre-half died at the age of 56. Moved to Manchester United from Grimsby Town in April 1914 although he was one of the finest centre-half of his day he only made 3 appearances for England. He moved to Oldham Athletic in 1923, where he won two League Championship medals, and an FA Cup winner’s medal.
1956: - The goalkeeper Neil Kennon signed for Huddersfield Town from Bulawayo.
1959: - One of the game’s all-time greats at bother wing-half and centre-half, Billy Wright announced his retirement from the game. His announcement came on the day of Wolverhampton Wanderers pre-season trial and consequently played in the reserves.
1963: - Port Vale signed Everton’s Irish international winger Billy Bingham. He spent 2 years with Port Vale as in a league match in September 1964 his career was virtually ended when he broke his leg.
1973: - Due to an eye injury the Brazilian legend Eduardo Goncalves de Andrade, or Tostao, announced his retirement from the game.
1982: - After the semi-final between France and West Germany ended 3-3 it became the first tie to use penalties to decide winner. The match though is more famous for the Harald Schumacher foul on Patrick Battiston, for which he never received a red card, rather than West Germany 5-4 victory on penalties.
1990: - A week after being wound up in the High Court with huge debts Aldershot were saved from closure following a rescue package which had been put together by 19-year old property developer Spencer Trethewy.
1997: - Footballers Bruce Grobbelaar, John Fashanu, Hans Segers, and businessman Heng Suan Lim are all cleared of match-fixing in the match-fixing trial.
1999: - Wigan Athletic marked their first game at their new JJB Stadium with a 3-0 victory over Scunthorpe United in Division Two.

Thursday 6 August 2009

6 August

1974: - Duncan McKenzie joined Leeds United for £240,000.

1991: - Kevin Richardson joined Aston Villa from Real Sociedad as after just one season with the Spanish side he joined the Midland club for £450,000.

1991: - Harry Cavan was re-elected as the Irish FA President for the 33rd year.

1992: - For £1million Dion Dublin joined Manchester United from Cambridge United.

1994: - Manchester United’s French striker Eric Cantona was sent-off in the Ibrox pre-season tournament.

1996: - Newcastle United officially unveiled their new £15million signing, Alan Shearer, in front of a crowd in the Leazes car park and an invited audience in the Leazes stand.

1998: - The Turks & Caicos Islands became the 200th member of FIFA. Since the formation of its Football Association in 1996, the Island had struggled on the international stage.

Wednesday 5 August 2009

5 August

1942: - A shipment of Argentinean grass seeds arrived in the Spanish city of Bilbao to be used by the club for the re-seeding of their pitch. The new grass worked wonders for the club, as the very next season the side won the League and Cup double.
1944: - Walsall appointed, the Birmingham City and England goalkeeper, Harry Hibbs as their new manager.
1952: - Reading signed Jimmy Wheeler. Being able to play in all forward positions he played in 400 League games for the Royals; scoring 150 goals. He moved to the training staff in 1965, being appointed assistant manager a year later, but when the club was hit badly by injuries he returned to the playing side of the club as a left-back at the start of the 1966-1967 season.
1953: - Notts County’s centre-forward Ken McPherson completed his £15,000 transfer to Middlesbrough.
1966: - Ron Davies, Norwich City’s Welsh international centre-forward transferred to, the newly promoted First Division side, Southampton for £60,000.
1970: - English side Manchester United beat Hull City 4-3 on penalties; after drawing 1-1 after 90 minutes in their Watney Cup semi-final. Triumphing on penalties, Manchester United became the first senior British team in football to win a competitive match by a penalty shoot-out.
1972: - Luton Town and Fenerbahçe’s pre-season friendly was abandoned in the 70th minute after fighting broke out between the two sides.
1973: - The Southern League side Dunstable, with George Best in their starting 11, beat Manchester Reserves 3-2.
1973: - The out-spoken manager Brian Clough says Leeds United should be relegated because of their poor disciplinary record.
1978: - A friendly between Aberdeen and Tottenham Hotspur, inaugurated the Dons’ new Pittodrie Stadium, which became the first all-seater stadium in Britain.
1986: - The Serie A side Udinese were relegated as a result of the bribery scandal with engulfed Italian football. Four other clubs were penalised.
1997: - Top European Clubs admitted that they had been in talks to establish a European Super League.
2005: - Walter Pandiani completed his £3million move to Birmingham City from the Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna.
2006: - Sir Bobby Robson was taken to hospital during the first-half of Ipswich Town’s Championship match with Crystal Palace. Paraded before the crowd before kick-off, after being named the clubs’ honorary club president, he complained of feeling unwell; and after being treated by a club doctor as a precaution he was transferred to Ipswich hospital.
2006: - Rhayader, the 58-year old former Welsh Premier League club, folded after a crisis meeting was poorly attended. The club was in the Mid-Wales League at the time of closure.
2006: - Cardiff City were charged by the Welsh Football Association for failing to control their fans at the Championship match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on March 11.
2006: - Accrington Stanley’s first match in the Football League for 44 years ended in disappointment as they lost 2-0 to Chester City at the Deva Stadium.

Tuesday 4 August 2009

4 August

1905: - The Football Association suspended, the Manchester City and Wales outside-right, Billy Meredith for 32 months after he was alleged to have offered bribe to Aston Villa’s Alec Leake. At the inquiry that followed, Leake told the commission that he thought the offer was a joke.
1938: - Arsenal Football Club signed Bryn Jones, for a then record fee of £14,000 from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
1951: - Glasgow Rangers signed the amateur inside-forward Derek Grierson from the amateur Scottish side Queens Park.
1955: - The manager of Sheffield United, Reg Freeman died. A left-back in his playing days he played for Oldham Athletic, Middlesbrough, and Rotherham United. After appearing in 390 League matches he stopped playing in 1934, and following a long spell as manager of Rotherham United he joined Sheffield United, for which he held the manager’s position for two years until his death.
1999: - Mexico beat Brazil 4-3 in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup, with a crowd of 110,000 in Aztec Stadium saw the Mexicans triumph.
2001: - Aaron Flahavan, the 25 year-old Portsmouth goalkeeper was killed in a car crash just outside Bournemouth.
2002: - Following 111 years at Filbert Street, Leicester City moved into their new 32,500-seater Walkers Stadium. They opened the new stadium with a friendly against Atlético Bilbao which ended 1-1.
2003: - Guy Thys, the man remembered for his efforts in leading Belgium to a place among the world’s football elite, died at the age of 80.
2006: - Martin O’Neil was named as the new manager of Aston Villa, in succession to David O’Leary. Despite rumours of the future of the club, with Doug Ellis wanting to sell the club, the former Glasgow Celtic boss was named manager with just two weeks until the start of the 2006-2007 Premiership season.
2007: - Leeds United were granted permission to play in League One for the 2007-2008 season by the Football League but would have to start with a 15-point deduction.

Monday 3 August 2009

3 August

1919: - One of the all-time greats of Scottish Football, David Meiklejohn joined Glasgow Rangers from the Scottish junior club Maryhill.
1932: - Brighton & Hove Albion signed George Ansell on professional forms. At the time he was the only Oxford or Cambridge University player in history to become a professional footballer.
1938: - Arsenal signed Bryn Jones from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a then record fee of £14,000.
1950: - Jack Hedley transferred to Sunderland from Everton. The full-back played in 269 League games for Sunderland.
1957: - John Charles, a Welsh international, joined the Italian side Juventus from Leeds United for £65,000.
1987: - In a match against China; Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Joy Fawcett made their debuts for the USA. Hamm, at 15, became the youngest player to play for the USA.
1987: - Less than 2 weeks before the new season, ‘Today’ cancelled their sponsorship of the Football League after just one year.
1996: - After beating Brazil in the semi-final and favourites Argentina in the final, Nigeria became the first African country to win the Olympic Gold. Their triumph came in the Atlanta Games.
1999: - Thierry Henry completed his transfer to Arsenal from Juventus for a fee of £10million.
2004: - Paul Scholes, an England and Manchester United midfielder, announced his retirement from international football.
2005: - Michael Owen, of Real Madrid at the time, confirmed he had ‘brief dialogue with three or four Premiership clubs’. The striker later joined Newcastle United.
2006: - Leeds United made a formal complaint to the Football League about Chelsea’s conduct in the transfers of academy stars Tom Taiwo and Michael Woods. The complaint accused Chelsea of breaking Premier League rules in relation to youth development.
2007: - KPMG refuse to resurrect the CVA for the ‘old’ Leeds United company. The Football League also granted Leeds their ‘golden share’ to allow them to play in League One in the 2007-2008 season, but imposed a 15-point deduction for the club.

Sunday 2 August 2009

2 August

1933: - Charlton Athletic completed the signing of Herbert Turner. A former regular soldier he made his debut as a wing-half, but made it as a full-back.
1934: - Eric Hale signed professional forms with Port Vale. A centre-half he made his League debut a year later, and moved to Blackpool during the summer of 1937.
1952: - Chelsea appointed, the manager of Reading, Ted Drake as their new manager. Remaining in the job for 9 years he guided the club to a League Championship in 1955.
1960: - West Ham United’s, Republic of Ireland, goalkeeper Noel Dwyer moved to Swansea Town, where he stayed for 4 years.
1966: - The National Sporting Delegation, created by General Franco’s government in Spain, prohibited the Spanish clubs from signing foreign players. Football, used as a propaganda tool the sport was exploited by the dictator during his time in office and the ban on football players was part of an anti-immigration policy intended to strengthen national identity and patriotism.
1975: - Jock Stein, at the time Glasgow Celtic manager, was released from hospital after recovering from the car crash he was involved in just weeks before.
1976: - Cruzeiro won the Copa Libertadores, and became the first Brazilian club to do so for fifteen years.
1986: - On advice of the official receiver Middlesbrough Football Club makes 30 members on their non-playing staff, including Bruce Rioch their manager redundant, as the club fought massive debts including a £115,000 tax bill.
1990: - A report by the Football Clubs, which was commissioned to assess the costs of implementing the Taylor report, estimated that the changes wanted by the Taylor report would cost in the region of £400million.
1999: - Croatian striker Davor Suker completed his £1million transfer to Arsenal from the Spanish giants Real Madrid.
2003: - David Beckham made his debut for Real Madrid, in the Spanish sides 4-0 friendly win over Dragon XI at the Workers Stadium in Beijing.
2004: - Serbian defender Sinisa Mihajlovic signed for Inter Milan from their Italian rivals SS Lazio.
2006: - Patrick Vieira completed his £8.6million move to Inter Milan from Juventus. The former Arsenal midfielder had only joined the Turin side, in a £13.9million deal, in July 2005 but left because of the clubs demotion to Serie B; a punishment handed to them because of their part in the match-fixing scandal.
2006: - Ken Bates, the Leeds United owner, reported his former club Chelsea to the Football Association, Premier League and FIFA over three alleged illegal approaches. Bates claimed that Chelsea signed youngsters Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo after making illegal approaches. He also claimed they illegally approached Danny Rose, who didn’t sign for the club.
2006: - Stoke City signed the Southampton defender Danny Higginbotham for £225,000.
2007: - Milton Keynes Dons transferred the replica trophies and all Wimbledon FC memorabilia to the London Borough of Merton.

Saturday 1 August 2009

1 August

1896: - FC Zürich was founded by former member of the three local clubs; FC Turicum, FC Viktoria and FC Excelsior.
1919: - The French club AS Monaco were founded following the merger of several clubs in the area.
1966: - The manager of Redhill, Jack Shreeve died at the age of 48. A former full-back he played in 146 League games for Charlton Athletic. After being his playing career to an end in the 1950-1951 season, he joined the Charlton Athletic training staff, before being manager of the Athenian League amateurs.
1976: - East Germany beat Poland 3-1 in Montreal to win the Olympic Games football competition.
1986: - The Football League asked the clubs not to insert the home towns of referees and linesmen in their programmes, to avoid any accusations of local bias.
1993: - The former soldier, Guy Whittingham joined Aston Villa from Portsmouth for £1.2million. He had scored 88 goals in 160 League appearances for Portsmouth, but after a tough time at Villa Park he joined Sheffield Wednesday in 1994 for £700,000.
1995: - £200,000 was raised by the testimonial of Neville Southall, as Everton play Glasgow Celtic.
1996: - Patrik Berger transferred to Liverpool from Borussia Dortmund for a fee of £3.25million.
2001: - Fulham FC announced the signing of Edwin van der Sar. The Dutch goalkeeper signed for a reported £7.1 million from Juventus. 2002: - AC Fiorentina, founded in 1926, were declared bankrupt after their President Vittorio Cecchi Gori failed to pay off their €22million debt.
2002: - Ten Scottish Premier League clubs handed in letters of resignation from the Scottish Premier League. The decision came after the teams failed to reach an agreement with Celtic and Rangers over changes to the league’s voting structure. Talks were set to continue over a resolution.
2003: - The Office of Fair Trading fined Manchester United plc £1.652million over allegations they fixed the price of replica kits.
2004: - After the Sven-gate scandal Mark Palios resigned as the chief executive of the Football Association days’ after revelations about his affair with Faria Alam had been published in the press.
2006: - West Ham United completed the signing of Ghanaian defender John Paintsil from Hapoel Tel Aviv for a fee that could rise of £1million.
2006: - Emerson Boyce completed his move from Crystal Palace to Wigan Athletic. The defender signed a four-year deal for an initial £1million fee, but Crystal Palace would receive a further £200,000 dependant on appearances.

Welcome

Hello, to ON THIS DAY...... which hopefully will be the vaguely interesting guide to the history of football. After searching on the internet, I can't seem to find a website/blog which tells you exactly what happened on each day of the year in football. There's ones on American Football, Australian Rules and now there's one on football. Everyone knows that something happens everyday, every year in the world of football and after hours of researching most (well hopefully most) of the important dates plus other 'vaguely interesting' facts will be of some use someday (its more than likely they won't be) but why not have a look anyway!? The blog will (hopefully) be updated daily to show and tell you exactly what happened ON THIS DAY...... (see where the title comes in?!!!) in the history of football from the years gone by. Hopefully it'll be of some interest.

Enjoy.......