Football Day by Day

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	FOOTBALL ON THIS DAY..... March Day by Day........ Football is a 365 day a year game. A day by day reminder of some of the famous, record-breaking or bizarre things that have happened in the month of January over the years. Index January February March April May June July August September October November December

	1st March Football On This Day – 1st March 1980 Everton legend Dixie Dean died at his spiritual home Goodison Park when attending an Everton v Liverpool fixture. He was the most prolific scorer in Everton’s history – 383 goals in 433 appearances including 37 hat-tricks while his 60 League goals in the 1927/28 season is an all-time League record. He only played 16 times for England – but scored 18 goals. Link - Dixie Dean's 60 goals in 1927/28 Football On This Day – 1st March 2014 The Hull City v Newcastle United Premier League match at the KC Stadium hit the headlines when a touchline spat saw Newcastle manager Alan Pardew headbutt Hull midfielder David Meyler. The incident also hit the pocket of Pardew who was fined £100,000 by the Magpies with the FA taking another £60,000 as well banning him for seven matches.
	2nd March Football On This Day – 2nd March 1963 The arctic weather that hit the country during the 1962/63 season decimated football up and down the country with Yorkshire being particularly hit. Third Division Halifax Town hadn’t played at home since December 15th when they decided to cash in on the conditions and on March 2nd 1963 opened their Shay ground – as an ice-skating rink! A thaw soon followed. Football On This Day – 2nd March 2013 On this day in March 2013 Southampton met Queens Park Rangers in a Premier League match at St Mary’s. Amazingly both managers - Mauricio Pochettino of Southampton and Harry Redknapp of QPR – celebrated their birthdays that day.
	3rd March Football On This Day – 3rd March 1983 Bristol Rovers manager Bobby Gould fined himself £200 for the comments he made to the referee in the defeat at Bradford City the previous month. Not surprisingly that method of discipline hasn't caught on! Football On This Day – 3rd March 1995 The mystery surrounding why Crystal Palace striker Chris Armstrong was missing from an FA Cup tie two days previously was solved when it was announced on this day in 1995 that he had become the first Premier Division player to fail a drugs test. The test made on 23rd January 1995 had tested positive for cannabis. There was a great debate as to whether punishment or help should be the main response but he attended a brief rehap programme before scoring a goal on his return to football on March 14th. His goals didn't help prevent Palace from suffering relegation from the Premier League and in the summer he moved from Palace to Tottenham for £4,500,000 which at the time was Spurs' record transfer fee paid and Palace's record fee received. Link - Crystal Palace results 1994/95
	4th March Football On This Day – 4th March 1933 A new kit design was unveiled at Highbury with Arsenal changing from their then traditional all-red shirts to the now familiar red shirts with white sleeves. Manager Herbert Chapman - who was known as a great innovator - ordered the change as he considered that the new strip would make it easier for his players to pick each other out on the pitch. That logic didn't seem to work straight away. The previous Saturday in their last match in the old strip Arsenal had beaten Blackburn 8-0 at Highbury but in their first match in the new strip - also at Highbury - Arsenal lost 1-0 to Liverpool! Link - Arsenal results 1932/33 Football On This Day – 4th March 1967 After previously being decided over two legs the first League Cup Final to be played at Wembley saw a major upset with a Third Division side winning a Wembley final for the first time. In front of a 97,952 crowd goals from Roger Morgan, Rodney Marsh and Mark Lazarus saw Third Division Queens Park Rangers pull back from 2-0 down to beat holders West Bromwich Albion 3-2. Part of the revamp of the League Cup was to see the winners gaining a place in Europe in the Fairs Cup but QPR missed out on that as the place only went to the winners if they were a top flight club. Still, QPR's consolation was that in addition to the cup final success they walked away with the Division 3 title and would only spend a season in the Second Division before they did become a top flight side for the first time in their history. Link - League Cup results 1966/67 Football On This Day – 4th March 1995 David Beckham was on the books of Manchester United from 1992 to 2003 but it wasn't United who he played his first League match for. Before he had played in the Premier League for Manchester United 19-year-old Beckham was loaned out to Preston North End to gain first team experience and on Saturday March 4th 1995 made his League debut in his first outing for them. That debut came against Doncaster Rovers in a Division 3 - now League 2 - fixture at Deepdale - he came on as a sub and scored direct from a corner kick in the 2-2 draw. He played in all 5 matches North End played in March scoring one more goal in that unbeaten run which also saw him pick up a £50 first team bonus in each fixture. On his return to Old Trafford United's next match saw him make his Premier League debut - at home against Leeds - and there was no stopping him from then on. And I think his bonuses were then generally more than £50 a match! Football On This Day – 4th March 1995 A 43,804 Old Trafford crowd witnessed Manchester United thrash Ipswich Town 9-0 which is still the equal highest score in the Premier League. Andy Cole scored 5, Mark Hughes a couple with one each from Roy Keane and Paul Ince. Link - Manchester United results 1994/95 Football On This Day – 4th March 2009 Three-times FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo made his competitive debut for Brazilian side Corinthians as a sub after thirteen months out of the game following surgery for a career-threatening knee injury. He survived the 20 minutes he played against Itumbiara without a problem only to end up with a badly bruised and swollen right eye after being hit by a microphone when an after-match media scrum surrounded him while attempting to get an interview. Link - injuries Football On This Day – 4th March 2015 An unsavoury incident at a Premier League fixture at Newcastle's St James' Park resulted in two hefty suspensions. Newcastle's Papiss Cissé and Manchester United's Jonny Evans were found to have spat at each other late in the first half. The incident was missed by the match officials - and the club officials - but was caught by the TV cameras. It was concluded that had the incident been seen by the match officials they would have been sent off and so an appearance before an FA Disciplinary Panel followed just two days later. Johnny Evans received the statutory six match ban for the offence while Papiss Cissé received a seven match ban as he had been in disciplinary trouble earlier in the season. Manchester United won the match 1-0.
	5th March Football On This Day – 5th March 1904 Before the Charity Shield/Community Shield came along the big charity match was the Sheriff of London Charity Shield which was competed for annually for 10 seasons from 1898. The competing teams were the best amateur side of the period - which was usually the Corinthian Football Club - and a top professional side. In 1904 the opposing teams were Corinthians and the side who had won the FA Cup the previous year, Bury. Played at the Queen's Club, which was Corinthians home ground and is better known now as a tennis venue, Bury fielded ten of the side who had beaten Derby County 6-0 in the Cup final - still a winning margin which has not been bettered in a final although Man City equalled it in 2019. In less than 10 minutes Bury were leading 2-0 but then the amateurs started to play with 'wonderful dash' and the Corinthians were 4-2 up at the break and won the match 10-3. Amazing! Football On This Day – 5th March 1938 The record attendance at White Hart Lane was set – 75,038 for an FA Cup 6th Round tie between Tottenham and Sunderland. A Raich Carter goal gave cup holders Sunderland a 1-0 victory. Technically though the record Spurs 'home' attendance was set in November 2016 - 85,512 were present for their home Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen when Spurs were playing at Wembley while White Hart Lane was being rebuilt. Link - FA Cup results 1937/38 Football On This Day – 5th March 2023 Meetings between Liverpool and Manchester United are always eagerly awaiting affairs and the same was true when the clubs met in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday March 5th 2023. Mind you, building up to that match the clubs had contrasting fortunes. Liverpool had been beaten 5-2 at Anfield by Real Madrid in a Champions League match - that was the first time they had conceded 5 at home in a competitive match since 1953. In contrast Manchester United had recently won their first trophy since 2017 with a Carabao League Cup Final victory over Newcastle at Wembley. The picture below is a bit of a give-away as to the result of this meeting between the two clubs - Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0. It equalled Liverpool's highest League goals figure against United - they had previously got 7 in 1895 and 1908 - and equalled the most goals United had ever conceded in a League match, the last time they had let in 7 was back in 1931. It's a funny old game! Hey Lynda - you need to support Fulham!
	6th March Football On This Day – 6th March 1962 Accrington Stanley resigned from the Football League. With debts approaching £60,000 and unable to find even £400 to pay the electricity, gas, water and telephone bills the Lancashire club sent a resignation letter to the Football League. They changed their mind several days later but by then it was too late and the 33 League matches they had played that season were void and for the next 44 years Accrington was without a Football League club. Link - Accrington Stanley results 1961/62 Football On This Day – 6th March 1963 Leeds United beat Stoke City 3-1 in an FA Cup Third Round tie - the first match Leeds had won in the competition since they beat Bradford PA 2-0 in a Fourth Round tie in February 1952.
	7th March Football On This Day – 7th March 1959 Plenty of goals at Home Park. In the first 20 minutes Plymouth Argyle took a 3-0 lead over Mansfield in a Division 3 fixture. Mansfield pulled back to 3-3 but in the final 20 minutes the Pilgrims scored five more to win 8-3. Plymouth became the first Division 3 champions in 1958/59. Football On This Day – 7th March 2000 The ‘Forgotten Five’ finally got their recognition. Alan Ball, George Cohen, Roger Hunt, Nobby Stiles and Ray Wilson became the last of England’s World Cup winners to be honoured when they received their MBEs from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Football On This Day – 7th March 2011 One of the more bizarre sendings off! When the Havant & Waterlooville v Dorchester Town Conference South match was interrupted by home fan Alan Young invading the pitch wearing a mankini - for a bet - you could guess headlines were in the making. The pitch invasion came to an end when Dorchester player-manager Ashley Vickers tackled the fan to the ground - and was then promptly sent off by the ref for violent conduct. 'I'm dumbfounded and speechless' he said 'I thought I was doing them a favour'. He appealed against the sending off but the red card was upheld although the three-match ban he was due was dropped. Sadly for him though the match was evenly poised at 1-1 when he was sent off but Dorchester eventually lost the match 3-1 with two more of their players receiving their marching orders before the final whistle.
	8th March Football On This Day – 8th March 1873 FIFA recognised the Scotland v England match played in November 1872 as the world's first international football match - it was played in Glasgow and ended in a 0-0 draw. The second-ever international saw England entertain Scotland in the return fixture played on Saturday 8th March 1873. It saw a number of significant firsts - it was the first international match played in England and saw the first international goals scored by England and Scotland. In addition as England scored more goals than Scotland they won their first match and so genuinely could be called the world's top footballing power! The match itself was played in front of around 3,000 at the Surrey Cricket Ground which later became better known as The Oval. England won the match 4-2 with the first goal being scored in the first couple of minutes by England's William Kenyon-Slaney who played for the Wanderers. Scotland's first goal came from Henry Renny-Tailyour who was only in the team because Scotland could only afford the train fare from Glasgow to London for 8 players with the other three being based in London - Renny-Tailyour played for the Royal Engineers. Henry Renny-Tailyour was born in India (as was William Renny-Tailyour) and was a bit of a sporting all-rounder who also played for Scotland at rugby union and for Kent at cricket. Football On This Day – 8th March 1974 West Ham transfer-listed Bobby Moore who said he wanted to find a new club and a fresh challenge. Manager Ron Greenwood said ‘Grateful is hardly the word for what he has done for the club and football.’ The following week he moved to Fulham where he finished his League playing career.
	9th March Football On This Day – 9th March 1946 The peace that followed the end of the Second World War saw a boom in attendances up and down the country. At Bolton's Burnden Park ground on March 9th 1946 65,419 were officially present to see Stanley Matthews and his Stoke City side play Bolton for a place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Unofficially probably 85,000 got into the ground and in circumstances that had many similarities to what would happen at Hillsborough 43 years later tragically 33 fans died in the crush with many more suffering serious injuries. Amazingly, after a short break, the match was played to a finish. The result seems unimportant. Football On This Day – 9th March 1974 The 6th Round FA Cup tie between Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest kept on hitting the headlines. In the first match at St James' Park on 9th March 1974 Forest were awarded a controversial second half penalty which saw the Magpie's Pat Howard being sent off for protesting the decision. George Lyall scored from the spot to give Forest a 3-1 lead at which point the crowd invaded the pitch forcing ref Gordon Kew to take the players off for an 8 minute break. When play resumed 10-man Newcastle scored three times to win the tie 4-3 and reach the semi-finals. Forest appealed against the result and an FA commission annulled the result and ordered that the match be replayed at a neutral venue. Newcastle weren't too happy, as you might expect, and not just because of the need for a replay. Joe Harvey, their manager said: 'Diabolical - if the result doesn't stand how can the sending off and booking still stand?' Forest weren't totally overjoyed either as they wanted the re-arranged match to be played at the City Ground but a neutral venue it was with Goodison Park hosting the re-arranged match - and a further replay - before Newcastle again got their place in the semi-final draw. Football On This Day – 9th March 1994 Terry Venables had a successful first match as England manager, David Platt scoring the goal in England’s 1-0 friendly win over Denmark at Wembley. Darren Anderton, Graeme le Saux and Matt le Tisser were all given their England debuts in the match.
	10th March Football On This Day – 10th March 1971 Cardiff City recorded one of their greatest victories when a Brian Clark headed goal saw the Bluebirds beat Real Madrid 1-0 before a near-50,000 crowd at Ninian Park in the ECWC quarter-final 1st leg. Sadly Cardiff lost the return leg 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu and Real went on to reach the final where they lost to Chelsea. Football On This Day – 10th March 2010 Seven years after leaving Manchester United David Beckham made an emotional playing return to Old Trafford. On loan from American club LA Galazy he came on as a 63rd minute sub for visitors AC Milan in a Champions League Round of Last 16 second leg tie and was given a warm welcome by the home fans. Mind you by then there was very little chance of Golden Balls inspiring the Italians to victory and a place in the quarter-finals. Manchester United had won 3-2 at the San Siro in the first leg and were 3-0 up when Beckham joined the fray. United went on to win 4-0 on the night and 7-2 on aggregate. It was the new Old Trafford wonder-kid - Wayne Rooney - who proved to be the star of the tie, scoring two goals in each leg. Beckham got more applause at the end when he left the pitch wearing a green and yellow scarf which symbolised the Manchester United fans protest again the owners of the club, the Glazer family.
	11th March Football On This Day – 11th March 1941 The industrial complex that was Trafford Park in the 1930s was a prime target for German bombers in the Second World War but on March 11th 1941 some of those bombs were a little off target hitting the Old Trafford home of Manchester United. The destruction was such that United were unable to play any more football at Old Trafford during the war years. In 1945 the War Damage Commission gave the club £4,800 to clear the debris and another £17,478 to rebuild the stands. Times have changed! Even then United didn't play a home match in the Football League there until 1949 having to share Manchester City's Maine Road home ground. Manchester United finally played that first home League match in their own rebuilt stadium against Bolton Wanderers on 24th August 1949 - the previous Football League match at Old Trafford was against Grimsby Town on August 26th 1939. Even then United didn't play their first home match under floodlights until March 25th 1957, a League match again against Bolton, meaning that the Maine Road ground had to be borrowed again for their home floodlit European Cup matches earlier in the 1956/57 season. Football On This Day – 11th March 1972 Jack Charlton made his 600th League appearance for Leeds United and after 12 minutes scored the only goal of the First Division match against Coventry City played in front of a crowd of 43,154 at Elland Road. A loyal one-club man he retired the following season after making a club record 629 League appearances for Leeds. Football On This Day – 11th March 2017 The 2016/17 season was certainly a memorable one for the non-league contingent in the FA Cup. Two non-league clubs – Lincoln City and Sutton United – reached the 5th Round (last 16) which was the only time that had ever happened (the Football League was formed in 1888). Better still Lincoln won through to the 6th Round which was the first time non-leaguers had reached the last 8 since QPR, then in the Southern League, did so in the 1913/14 season. Conference side Lincoln had beaten Oldham, Ipswich, Brighton and Burnley on their way to the quarter-finals where they played Arsenal at the Emirates on March 11th 2017. OK they lost that one 5-0 but hey, they earned a fortune which set them up well for their return to the Football League in 2017/18. Link - FA Cup results 2016/17
	12th March Football On This Day – 12th March 1900 Arsenal – then Woolwich Arsenal – beat Loughborough 12-0 in a Division 2 match to record what is still their record League victory. Just three seasons earlier Loughborough had inflicted on Arsenal their record League defeat – 8-0 – but since then the Leicestershire side had suffered severe financial problems and were about to drop out of the League. Link - all Arsenal's results and tables since joining the Football League Link - all Loughborough's results and tables in the Football League Football On This Day – 12th March 1973 Pelé had started to hit the world headlines back in 1958 but it wasn't until 12th March 1973 that he finally played in London for the only time in his career. Fulham hosted a friendly against his club side, Santos, with the 21,464 crowd being Fulham's highest gate of the season, more than doubling their average Second Division attendances at Craven Cottage in 1972/73. Pelé scored from the penalty spot for Santos but goals from Alan Pinkney and Steve Earle gave Fulham a memorable 2-1 win although the occasion was spoilt when after the match the Brazilians accused Fulham of fiddling the gate receipts. Football On This Day – 12th March 1997 Frustrated by the opposition to their attempts to improve their Highbury home Arsenal made a surprise £120million bid to buy Wembley Stadium. The FA were not amused believing that a club-owned Wembley would hinder their strong bid - well what they thought was a strong bid - to bring the 2006 World Cup finals to England. Arsenal eventually went to Ashburton Grove and the 2006 World Cup finals were hosted by Germany although the Gunners did play 6 home Champions League matches at Wembley Stadium in 1998 and 1999. Football On This Day – 12th March 2016 Stuart Pearce had a decent playing career. He made nearly 600 League appearances, mainly for Nottingham Forest but he also played for Coventry, Newcastle, West Ham and Manchester City. He also won 78 England caps. But arguably the highlight of his playing career came at the age of 53 and some 14 years after he played his last match in the Football League. He signed for non-leaguers Langford FC. They were members of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 2 and they were described as 'the worst team in the country'. They had lost every match they had played in 2015/16 which included home defeats against Bibury (17-0) and Quedgeley Wanderers (15-0) and away loses at Lydney Town Reserves (16-0) and Woolaston (14-0), He made his debut for them - in fact his only appearance for them - on Saturday 12th March 2016 as a second half sub against Wootton Rovers. Langford only lost that one 1-0 but it was against the second worse team in the division. After that 'Psycho' returned to footballing obscurity!
	13th March Football On This Day – 13th March 1899 A unique League match which lasted just 11 minutes. After the Sheffield Wednesday v Aston Villa First Division match played in November 1898 was abandoned after 79 minutes the League decreed that just the remaining 11 minutes be played rather than starting the match from scratch. This they did four months later, on this day in 1899, when Sheffield Wednesday started the match leading 3-1 and finished it 4-1 winners. Link - More details - Abandoned matches Football On This Day – 13th March 1985 Hooliganism was a serious problem in the 1980s with one of the most notorious outbreaks being at the Luton v Millwall FA Cup quarter final at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday 13th March 1985. Basically it was a riot, both at the match and in the town before and after the cup tie. Millwall fans invaded the pitch, the match was held up for 25 minutes, some 700 seats were ripped out and used as missiles, there were police baton charges and over 80 people were injured, many of them police. Thirty-one people were in court the next day with many being 'fans' of clubs other than Luton and Millwall. The consequences were major, and not just to the reputation of football. Luton were to ban away supporters which led to them being kicked out of the League Cup in 1985/86. They also became the second League club to convert to an all-seater stadium and fencing in the fans was starting to be discussed. Oh, Luton won the match 1-0! Link - FA Cup results 1984/85 Football On This Day - 13th March 2003 Liverpool signed Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf from French side Lens in June 2002 for around £10m - and in those days £10m was a decent amount to pay for a player! But Diouf proved to be a very poor signing playing just 55 Premier League games for the Reds in 2002/03 and 2003/04 and scoring just three goals in those matches – two of those coming in his first game at Anfield! The lowest point of his Liverpool career came on this day in 2003 in a UEFA Cup quarter-final at Celtic in an off the field incident, literally just off the field! In the closing minutes of the game Diouf collided with the advertising boards and almost landed in a group of Celtic fans. They said they good-homouredly ruffled his hair and patted him on the back, Diouf said one hit him. But there is no doubt about what Diouf did – he spat at the Celtic supporters which caused inevitable outrage amongst the Scots fans. Diouf was substituted and escorted to the changing rooms by the police. He was later fined two weeks wages by Liverpool – the club then donated £60,000 to a Celtic approved charity – and he ended up in Glasgow Sheriff Court where he was fined £5000. He also received a two-match UEFA ban. The match at Celtic ended in a 1-1 draw but the Scots won the ‘Battle of Britain’ tie with a 2-0 victory at Anfield in the second leg a week later. Celtic went on to reach the final where they were beaten by Porto.
	14th March Football On This Day – 14th March 1973 A capacity crowd of nearly 38,000 were packed into Home Park for a friendly between Third Division Plymouth and mighty Santos of Brazil who included Pele in their line-up. But a last minute problem almost saw the match called off. Link - full story and Plymouth results 1972/73 Football On This Day – 14th March 2007 An FA Youth Cup attendance record was set at the Emirates when 38,187 were present for first leg of the semi-final between Arsenal and Manchester United, Arsenal winning 1-0. Just up the road at White Hart Lane North London rivals Spurs were in action in a UEFA Cup Round of the Last 16 match at the same time - and were watched by a crowd of over 4,000 fewer people! That record was to stand until May 2022 when 67,492 were present at Old Trafford to witness Manchester United defeat Nottingham Forest 3-1 in the 2021/22 final. Link - FA Youth Cup finals
	15th March Football On This Day – 15th March 1947 New Brighton manager Neil McBain had a few team selections problems for the Division 3 (North) match against Hartlepools on this day in 1947. The former centre-half had to play himself as goalkeeper for his one and only League appearance for the club – at the age of 51 years 4 months! Link - debuts Link - New Brighton results and tables in the Football League Football On This Day – 15th March 1960 Denis Law played his first match in the Football League for Huddersfield Town in 1956 and went on to score 16 goals in his 81 League appearances for the Terriers. Despite interest from Bill Shankly at Liverpool and Matt Busby at Manchester United the Scottish international hit the headlines when on 15th March 1960 he joined Manchester City. The £55,000 City paid for Law was then the record transfer fee paid by an English club. He spent little more than a year at Manchester City before moving to Torino for double the transfer fee City had paid. He then moved to Manchester United where he spent the most successful years of his career before ending his playing days back at Maine Road. His last game in the Football League was for Manchester City and would prove to be one of the most famous - and saddest - games of his career........
	16th March Football On This Day – 16th March 2002 The WBA v Sheffield United First Division match saw a unique abandonment in the Football League history. Sendings off and injuries saw United reduced to 6 players, one fewer than the minimum, so the match was abandoned. WBA were leading 3-0 at the time and that scoreline was allowed to stand as the result. Link - full story Football On This Day – 16th March 2002 Two days after David Moyes was appointed manager of Everton his new club were in Premier League action. The PA announcer at Goodison for that match against Fulham declared 'Remember this date, 16th March 2002, because the good times are coming back to Goodison Park'. They certainly needed a change of fortune because under their previous manager, Walter Smith, Everton had won only once in their previous 13 League matches and had scored just six goals in those matches, a record that had seen them drop to just one place above a relegation spot. It took just 30 seconds in the match against Fulham for Everton to get their first goal under Moyes, David Unsworth the scorer and just 12 minutes later the lead was doubled. Everton won the match and went on to pull clear of the relegation positions. David Moyes remained the boss at Goodison for 11 years before moving to Manchester United to succeed Alex Ferguson when he retired from Old Trafford in 2013.
	17th March Football On This Day – 17th March 1996 Port Vale miss out on European glory at Wembley. Seems an unlikely statement but on this day in 1996 Port Vale did indeed play a European final at Wembley…in the Anglo-Italian Cup! They were beaten 5-2 by Genoa and the scoreline didn’t reflect the superiority of the Serie B side. Just 12,683 turned up at Wembley for what was the last match ever played in the competition. Football On This Day – 17th March 2007 When goalkeeper Paul Robinson took a free kick from just outside his own penalty area for Tottenham against Watford he wasn't quite sure if it was a direct or indirect kick but hey, it was 90 yards or so from the Watford goal so he wasn't going to score was he! But the ball bounced once in the opposition box and went straight over Watford 'keeper Ben Foster into the net. It was a direct free kick and so Paul Robinson became only the third goalkeeper to score a Premier League goal - for his own side! - in the history of the competition following Peter Schmeichel for Aston Villa in 2001 and Brad Friedel for Blackburn in 2004. Spurs won 3-1. That wasn't the first goal Paul Robinson's had scored though, that came in September 2003 when playing for Leeds in a League Cup match against Swindon. With Leeds a goal down injury time saw him go forward after a equaliser and he scored it with a strong header. He then made a save in the penalty shoot-out to help earn Leeds a place in the next round. Football On This Day – 17th March 2012 Referee Howard Webb was forced to abandon the televised FA Cup 6th Round tie between Spurs and Bolton Wanderers shortly before half time when Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch. He had suffered a heart attack. Medical personnel from both clubs gave him treatment on the pitch helped by a cardiologist who had been at the match as a spectator before he was rushed to hospital. It was reported that his heart stopped beating for 78 minutes. Thankfully he survived but was forced to retire from playing football as a result. Link - abandoned matches
	18th March Football On This Day – 18th March 2010 Fulham pulled off an amazing comeback against Juventus in the Europa League. Down 4-1 on aggregate after just a couple of minutes of the second leg at Craven Cottage they fought back to win the match 4-1 and the tie 5-4 on aggregate. They went on to reach the final where they lost to Atletico Madrid. Link - full story Link - Fulham results 2009/10
	19th March Football On This Day – 19th March 1932 Stanley Matthews made his debut for Stoke City at Bury in a 2nd Division match. He played his last League matches 33 years later. Football On This Day – 19th March 1995 Back in the day when I heard that the club I supported were in the Anglo-Italian Cup the dream was watching them play Juventus or Inter-Milan. The reality was a tad different - the four matches they played in the two seasons they took part in the competition were all against English sides! Notts County were a little more fortunate. They did play Italian sides on the way to reaching the final of the competition in both 1993/94 and 1994/95 although they weren't the Serie A giants - they were Serie B clubs. In 1994/95 they visited Ascoli and Atalanta and hosted Lecce and Venezia in their qualifying group with less than 9,000 fans in total turning up for those four matches. Crowds picked up for the two legs of the English semi-final against Stoke and then it was on to a Wembley final. A year after County had been beaten 1-0 by Brescia in front of 17,185 fans at Wembley they were back at the national stadium on Sunday March 19th 1995 when 11,704 fans witnessed them play Ascoli again and record a 2-1 victory. So Notts County had tasted European glory at Wembley - and they then went on to be relegated to the third tier of the Football League at the end of the season. Such is life!
	20th March Football On This Day – 20th March 1966 Just four months before it was due to be presented to the World Cup winners at Wembley the World Cup trophy was stolen while on display at the Westminster Central Hall. Fearing it wouldn’t be recovered the FA secretly arranged for a replica to be made but a week later, after a massive police hunt The Jules Rimet trophy was found – under a hedge in South London by a dog named Pickles! Football On This Day – 20th March 1976 Aston Villa's Chris Nichol became only the second player to score two goals for each side in a League match - he scored all 4 goals in Villa's 2-2 First Division draw against Leicester City at Filbert Street. Sam Wynne of Oldham Athletic was the only other League player ever to do that - against Manchester United in October 1923. Football On This Day – 20th March 1988 Liverpool finished the season as League champions but their dream of an unbeaten season in the League ended on this day in 1988 after being unbeaten in their first 29 League matches of the season. The team that beat them, inevitably I guess....Everton! Link - Liverpool results and table 1987/88
	21st March Football On This Day – 21st March 1992 Chelsea’s Vinnie Jones was booked after just 3 seconds for a foul on Sheffield United’s Dane Whitehouse in a First Division match at Stamford Bridge. He later said of the incident "I must have been too high, too wild, too strong or too early, because, after three seconds, I could hardly have been too bloody late!” Link - Chelsea results 1991/92 Football On This Day – 21st March 2009 Fergie was always good for a headline. A Manchester United defeat was usually followed by ~~an excuse~~ a reasonable explanation - a dodgy ref, a poor pitch, the colour of their shirts to name but a few. But one of the more bizarre followed a 2-0 Premier Division defeat at Fulham on 21st March 2009 - the Craven Cottage dressing rooms were too small! He said the FA should have rules for the size of dressing rooms and implied Fulham should be demoted ~~because they beat United~~ because their dressing rooms were too small. Amazingly though just two weeks previously United had won 4-0 at Craven Cottage in the FA Cup - and dressing rooms were exactly the same size!
	22nd March Football On This Day – 22nd March 1889 Sheffield United were formed at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield, by the President of the Sheffield Cricket Club, Sir Charles Clegg. Just six days before their formation Bramall Lane hosted an FA Cup semi-final between Preston and WBA when a crowd of 22,688 paid gate receipts of £558 – the cricket club saw that regular football at the ground would provide an important additional source of income. In future years football became the main sport at the ground with Yorkshire playing their last match there in August 1973. The picture shows clearly the change of use of Bramall Lane with a new football stand taking the place of the old cricket pavilion. Link - football and cricket Link - FA Cup results 1888/89 Football On This Day – 22nd March 1949 When in January 1949 Carlisle United player-manager Ivor Broadis transferred himself to Sunderland it hit the headlines – he was only 26 at the time and the £18,000 fee was a huge amount in those days. Less newsworthy was the appointment of his replacement at Brunton Park. But on 22nd March 1949 Bill Shankly accepted the offer of becoming Carlisle’s new manager - his first managerial appointment in a career that would eventually see him lead Liverpool to becoming the top European club of the time.
	23rd March Football On This Day – 23rd March 1951 Referee Arthur Blythe abandoned the Newport County v Norwich City Division 3 (South) match when the home side were leading 5-1. So incensed were the crowd that he had to be smuggled out of the ground disguised as an ambulanceman. Link - full story in abandoned matches
	24th March Football On This Day – 24th March 1965 In their first season in Europe on this day in 1965 Liverpool finally got past their Second Round opponents, Cologne. After a postponed match, two 0-0 draws in the home and away legs and then a 2-2 draw in a replay in Rotterdam Liverpool finally won the tie. No, not with a penalty shoot-out …on the toss of a coin! Link - Liverpool results 1964/65 Link - Liverpool results in Europe Football On This Day – 24th March 1993 Southampton's Matt le Tissier missed a penalty! Not an unusual outcome for any regular penalty-taker you would have thought but for le Tissier that proved to be a unique occasion. Le Tissier spent his entire League playing career at Southampton, where he was known as 'Le God', and took 48 penalties and hit the back of the net 47 times. That one miss came on this day in 1993 in Southampton's Premier League match against Nottingham Forest at The Dell. Forest 'keeper Mark Crossley saved the kick, later saying that it was the save of which he is most proud. Guernsey-born Le Tissier made 8 appearances for England but with that a penalty record like that you would have thought that England would have picked him for every match that might have ended with a penalty shoot-out! Link - Penalties Football On This Day – 24th March 2007 England Under 21s met their Italian counterparts in the first match at the new Wembley Stadium in front of a 55,700 crowd. Giampaolo Pazzini scored the first goal after just 29 seconds and went on to score a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw. England’s goals came from David Bentley, Wayne Routledge and Matt Derbyshire.
	25th March Football On This Day – 25th March 1939 What is still a record crowd for Old Trafford was set on this day when 76,962 were present at the FA Cup semi-final between Wolves and Grimsby. Wolves won 5-0 Link - FA Cup results 1938/39 Football On This Day – 25th March 1980 Ian Botham was best known as a cricketer but on this day in 1980 he made his debut as a footballer for Scunthorpe United, coming on as a sub in the Division 4 match at Bournemouth. He couldn't be described as a footballing legend at the Old Show Ground - he didn't make his starting debut for another 2 years (and that a 7-2 home defeat by Wigan) and in all played for Scunthorpe in 11 League matches and an FA Cup tie. And of course with a record like that was later awarded a benefit match....against Manchester United. Link - Football & Cricket
	26th March Football on This Day – 26th March 1986 & 2008 March 26th seems to be a recurring date when it comes to international centurions in the British game. Back on 26th March 1986 at Hampden Park Liverpool's Kenny Dalglish became the first Scottish player to win his 100th international cap. He was presented with that 100th cap by World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer and was made Scotland's captain for the friendly match against Romania which Scotland won 3-0. He played twice more for his country and those 102 appearances are still a record for Scotland. The 30 goals he scored in those matches is also a Scotland record which he jointly holds with Denis Law. Twelve years later on March 26th 2008 a 32-year-old David Beckham won his 100th England cap. A LA Galaxy player at the time his day perhaps wasn't as memorable as that enjoyed by 'King Kenny'. The 32 year old lasted 63 minutes of what was a disappointing 1-0 friendly defeat in France before being substituted. He wore golden boots against France to mark the occasion and before England's next match - at Wembley - he was was presented with a commemorative gold cap by Bobby Charlton. He was the fifth England centurion at the time after Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton and went on to increase his cap count to 115.
	27th March Football On This Day – 27th March 1966 A week after the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy was stolen in London a dog named Pickles found the missing trophy in Beulah Hill in Upper Norwood in South London. The black and white collie then became something of a celebrity. He starred in a film, The Spy with the Cold Nose, appeared on Blue Peter and other TV programmes, he was named 'Dog of the Year', was awarded a one-year supply of free food from Spillers, had a plaque erected in his honour and attended England's 1966 World Cup winning party. To be fair, Pickles was being walked by his owner, David Corbett, when the cup was found but hey, you just knew that the four-legged member of that duo was going to get more of the publicity than the two-legged one! Football On This Day – 27th March 1999 Kevin Keegan managed England for the first time and saw his side defeat Poland 3-1 in a Euro 2000 qualifier at Wembley. Keegan told Paul Scholes to go out against Poland and 'drop hand grenades' and he responded with 3 goals, his only hat-trick for England. Football On This Day – 27th March 2004 A League match - Chesterfield 4-4 Grimsby with the attendance 4,444. What were the odds of that happening! Football On This Day – 27th March 2021 Cardiff City's Chris Gunter made his full international debut for Wales in May 2007 in a friendly fixture against New Zealand. In 2018 the full-back overtook Neville Southall as the most capped Welshman when making his 93rd appearance for Wales, against China, a total that was helped by a remarkable run of 63 consecutive appearances for his country. On 27th March 2021 - by then he was a 31-year-old Charlton Athletic player - he became the first Welshman to win 100 caps for his country in a friendly against Mexico at the Cardiff City stadium. Sadly the Cardiff stands weren't full of fans to witness that great achievement. The attendance was 0......due to Covid!
	28th March Football On This Day – 28th March 2001 Seven Manchester United players were in the England team that faced Albania in Tirana in a World Cup qualifier. Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham Paul Scholes and Andy Cole were in the starting line-up with second half subs Wes Brown and Teddy Sheringham taking the number to seven. That equalled the record of seven Arsenal players in the England team in the 1934 friendly against Italy played at Highbury.
	29th March Football On This Day - 29th March 1924 Billy Meredith played his last match for Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final against Newcastle and at 49 years and 245 days of age was the oldest player ever to play for Manchester City and the oldest to play in the FA Cup. He was also the oldest person to play for Manchester United and, when 45, the oldest to play for Wales. Link - FA Cup results 1923/24 Football On This Day - 29th March 2000 Wales played their first match at the magnificent Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, attracting a then record Wales home crowd of 65,614. Nathan Blake became the first Welshman to score in the stadium – sadly an own goal! – and although Ryan Giggs scored for Wales visitors Finland spoiled the party with a 2-1 victory. Football On This Day - 29th March 2008 Derby County’s 2-2 draw with Fulham guaranteed The Rams a Premier League relegation place, the earliest a club had suffered Premier League relegation. It was a dismal season for Derby with a 1-0 victory over Newcastle in September being their only League victory in 38 attempts. Link - Derby County results 2007/08 Football On This Day - 29th March 2017 I guess that having the airport near where you were born and brought up named after you is a genuine honour. That happened to Cristiano Ronaldo on March 29th 2017 when the international airport on his native Madeira became the Aeroporto Cristiano Ronaldo. Probably less memorable though was the bust of Ronaldo that was unveiled at the airport during the proceedings – perhaps not the best likeness to the Portuguese player!
	30th March Football On This Day – 30th March 1935 Plenty of goals in the First Division fixture at Molineux where Wolves beat Middlesbrough 5-3. Probably the most notable goal was scored by Middlesbrough’s left-back Bobby Stuart – an own goal! It was his fifth own-goal of the season – a League record which stands to this day. Ironically he went on to play 247 League matches for Middlesbrough, scoring just twice at the right end! Link - own goals Football On This Day – 30th March 1982 Fourth Division Sheffield United recorded their best home League attendance of the season – 24,593 in the 1-1 draw against Bradford City. Their average home League crowd was 14,891. Exactly three years later – on March 30 1985 – Fourth Division Halifax Town recorded their lowest home League crowd of the season – 890 in the 1-0 defeat against Torquay. Their average home League attendance for the season was 1,381.
	31st March Football On This Day – 31st March 1928 A date every Scot will know. The ‘Wembley Wizards’ of Scotland defeated England 5-1 in only the second international match played at Wembley, Huddersfield Town's Alex Jackson scoring the first-ever hat-trick at the stadium. Enough said. Football On This Day – 31st March 1961 The highest 4th tier attendance in England - 37,774 - were present at Sehurst Park for a Good Friday Fourth Division promotion clash between Crystal Palace and Millwall. Millwall won the match 2-0 but Palace went on to win promotion. The Selhurst Park crowd that day was also a world record attendance for a match in the fourth tier of a League competition although that record was beaten when Rangers found themselves demoted to the bottom division of the Scottish League in 2012/13. All but one of the League crowds at Ibrox that season topped 40,000 with their best being 50,048 against Berwick Rangers in their last match of the season.