FOOTBALL ON THIS DAY.....      

August 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 August over the years.

Index
January  February  March
April  May  June  July
August  September  October
November  December

1st August

Football On This Day – 1st August 1987
The idea of pre-season friendlies is to get everyone prepared for the competitive season ahead. Most are fairly routine affairs - but not all of them are! Arsenal visited Glasgow on 1st August 1987 to take on Celtic. For Celtic it was the start of their centenary season  and the first match back at Celtic Park for the former Celtic player Billy McNeill in his second spell as manager of the club. Arsenal had Charlie Nicholas in their side - a player who had started his playing career at Celtic and who had turned down the opportunity to return to Celtic in the weeks prior to the Arsenal friendly. It was said that he received the sort of welcome back to Celtic as the Pope would have had at Ibrox! And then he scored after 4 minutes and Arsenal went on to win 5-1 in a match that most Celtic fans would have been happy to forget. Not that they all saw it to the end with most of the 26,000 fans being on their way home before the final whistle!

Football On This Day – 1st August 1996
Women’s football finally found its place in world football with the final of the first Olympic women’s football tournament - hosts USA beat China 2-1 in front of 76,489 to take gold.
 

2nd August

Football On This Day – 2nd August 1999
‘Le Sulk’ was on his way from Highbury, Nicolas Anelka moving to Real Madrid in return for Davor Šuker and around £20m. But Arsenal’s big transfer news was to come the following day…..

Football On This Day – 2nd August 1997
Testimonials are a thank you given to a long serving players. When Tottenham played Fiorentina on this day in 1997 it was a testimonial match for David Howells who had made his debut for Spurs in 1986 and who would complete 335 first-team appearances for the club by the time he left the Londoners at the end of that season. But that match against the Italians also proved to be a welcoming occasion for two players who had arrived from Newcastle in the close season and who would become Spurs stars of the future. Playing in front of the White Hart Lane faithful for the first time as Spurs players were David Ginola and Les Ferdinand. Remember them?

Football On This Day – 2nd August 2014
Despite a poor 2013/14 Manchester United helped set a new record on a pre-season tour of the USA at the start of the 2014/15 season. The crowd of 109,318 for their match against Real Madrid at the Michigan Stadium (nicknamed the Big House) was the record for a football match – sorry, ‘soccer’ match – in the United States….and United won 3-1. The previous record was 101,799 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena when France beat Brazil to take gold in the 1984 Olympic final.

3rd August

Football On This Day – 3rd August 1929
When football was starting to become popular The Wednesday Cricket Club in Sheffield formed a football offshoot calling the new club - believe it or not - The Wednesday Football Club. Ok the new club  was generally known as the Sheffield Wednesday but their official name when they joined the Football League in 1892 and won their first League Championship in 1903 remained The Wednesday Football Club. It wasn't until 3rd August 1929 that they finally did the paperwork to officially become Sheffield Wednesday FC.

Football On This Day – 3rd August 1999
Thierry Henry joins Arsenal from Juventus for £11m – Arsène Wenger’s best Arsenal signing?

4th August

Football On This Day – 4th August 1905
Billy Meredith was one of the superstars of his day. In a League career that stretched from 1894 to 1924 he made an amazing 680 League appearances. But not one of the was in the 1905/06 season -- he was banned from football! Meredith was a Manchester City player at the time and going into the last match of the 1904/05 season City needed a victory over Aston Villa to have a chance of winning the League title - but they lost and the title went to Newcastle. Following the match it was claimed that Billy Meredith had offered Villa's Alec Leake a cash bribe to get him to help City win the match. The Football Association investigated and on 4th August 1905 announced that the Welshman had been found guilty and would miss the whole of the 1905/06 season. The punishment was widely condemned with many believing it to be an example of an anti-northern bias by the FA. Meredith had his say as well - “I am entirely innocent and am suffering for others.  Such an allegation as that of bribery is preposterous. I could never risk my reputation and future by such an action and I repeat that I never made such an offer.  It is totally unjustifiable and grossly unfair."



Football On This Day – 4th August 1938
Welsh International Bryn Jones joined Arsenal from Wolves for a fee of a little over £13,000. It was a British record fee at the time but only got a brief mention in the national papers - a far cry from the column inches given to the big bucks transfers of the modern game!

Football On This Day – 4th August 2010
An unusual pre-season friendly was played at Goodison Park - Everton v Everton. In 1909 a group of teenagers in Chile formed a football club and named it Everton after our Everton who had toured South America that year. As a delayed part of their centenary celebrations they made a pilgrimage to Liverpool to play a unique match against their namesakes. The English Everton beat the Chilean Everton 2-0 to win the Brotherhood Cup in a match that was shown live on TV in Chile.

5th August

Football On This Day – 5th August 1970
The penalty shoot-out arrived in English football. The Hull City v Manchester United pre-season Watney Cup semi-final ended 1-1 at the end of extra time and so for the first time it was the turn of penalties. George Best became the first player to score in a penalty shoot-out and Denis Law the first to miss one – but Manchester United won 4-3.
Link - The Watney Cup

Football On This Day – 5th August 1974
In his time at Manchester United George Best became one of the best and most famous footballers in the world. At Old Trafford the 'Fifth Beatle' won League titles and the European Cup as well as being named European Footballer of the Year but by 1974 his love for Manchester United - and Manchester United's love for him - had come to an end and he was on the move. You might think that his next club would have been Real Madrid or Juventus but in fact it was......Dunstable Town! The Southern League club were managed by a friend from his Man U youth days - Barry Fry - who had already signed another star name for Dunstable in Jeff Astle. On Monday 5th August 1974 Best made his debut for Dunstable in a 3-2 home friendly victory over Manchester United Reserves. He only played twice more for the non-leaguers, home friendlies against Cork Celtic and Luton Town, before his career took him to clubs in various parts of the globe including Stockport County, Fulham and Bournemouth.

6th August

Football On This Day – 6th August 1977
After having made 472 League appearances for them Spurs let 32-year-old goalkeeper Pat Jennings move to rivals Arsenal for £45,000 believing his best years were behind him. Over the next 8 years he made another 237 League appearances for the Gunners!

Football On This Day – 6th August 2008
Inevitably when a club celebrates their centenary the opportunity is taken to look back at the clubs' history. When Huddersfield Town celebrated their centenary in 2008 they entertained Arsenal at their Galpharm Stadium in their centenary match on 6th August. Those two clubs shared an important figure in their respective histories - Herbert Chapman - and much time was spent reflecting on the influence of that great manager had on the histories of the two respective clubs. The 1920s and 1930s saw both Huddersfield and Arsenal record hat-trick of League titles with Chapman being credited in building the sides that achieved those honours  although he wasn't with either club for the whole of those hat-trick periods.  In addition to celebrating the centenary the match was played for the Herbert Chapman Trophy with the Londoners taking the honours with a 2-1 victory in front of 19,044 fans. The trophy was presented to the winners by Ken Chapman, Herbert Chapman's nephew.

Football On This Day – 7th August 1968
While most of us were still preoccupied with bucket and spades Leeds were on their way to winning their first European competition. Leeds entertained Ferencváros of Hungary in the first leg of the 1967/68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final held over to the beginning of the 1968/69 season and played on this day in 1968. Mick Jones scored the only goal of the match and with the second leg in September finishing goalless the trophy went to Leeds United.
Link - Leeds United results in Europe

Football On This Day – 7th August 1978
To celebrate their centenary Manchester United played Real Madrid on this day in 1978. Sammy McIlroy and Jimmy Greenhoff scored two apiece as the Spaniards were beaten 4-0 in front of a 49,397 Old Trafford crowd. The only United player in the team who had played in the European Cup final ten years earlier - goalkeeper Alex Stepney - made a penalty save early in the second half.
 

Football On This Day – 7th August 2012
Well, the early part of August 2012 saw Usain Bolt at the London Olympics in the process of retaining his 100m and 200m sprint titles. But on 7th August The Mirror newspaper ran a story wondering if the Jamaican was up to a change of sport - was he good enough to play for Manchester United? The article posed the question - We look at his football skills, his determination, coolness under pressure and how he deals with refs - could he make it? You decide... Bolt, who was a Man U supporter, was quoted as saying "I definitely think I'm good enough to play for Manchester United" but the call from Alex Ferguson didn't come and he had to make do with just being the greatest sprinter the world had seen.

Football On This Day – 7th August 2021
The 2021/22 season marked the 150th anniversary of the first running of the FA Cup competition and it didn't take long for a new first to be recorded in that tournament. For the first time ever a club from the Channel Island of Jersey played in the competition and in the Extra Preliminary Round played on Saturday 7th August 2021 Jersey Bulls entertained Horsham YMCA at Springfield Stadium in St Helier. It was the most southerly tie ever played in the FA Cup and the match ended with a club record being set by the Bulls - a record victory. They led 4-1 at half-time but early in the second half the Horsham 'keeper was red-carded and Jersey Bulls went on to win 10-1.Jersey Bulls played 6 matches in their debut season in the FA Cup, reaching the 3rd Qualifying Round. The new Jersey connection to the FA Cup inspired a Jersey set of stamps marking the 150 years of the competition which were issued in May of 2022. In the style of Roy of the Rovers they are surely a must for stamp collectors...if they still exist

Football On This Day – 8th August 1987
To help celebrate the centenary season of the Football League a Football League XI beat a Rest of the World team 3-0 at Wembley.

Football On This Day – 8th August 1992
A Wembley hat-trick for Eric Cantona, his three goals helping Leeds to a 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the Charity Shield.
Link - all the Charity Shield/Community Shield matches

Football On This Day – 8th August 2006
The 500,000th goal in the history of the Football League was scored by Huddersfield Town’s Gary Taylor-Fletcher in the Huddersfield v Rotherham League 1 match.

Football On This Day – 8th August 2009
To lose at home in your first League match of the season is bad enough but to lose 1-7 at home against traditionally ‘junior’ neighbours is a disaster as Norwich City found in their opening League 1 fixture of the 2009/10 season against Colchester United at Carrow Road. Norwich manager Bryan Gunn lost his job within a week and was replaced by Colchester manager Paul Lambert with Norwich later winning the return match at Colchester 5-0 and taking the League 1 title. It’s funny old game!
Link - Colchester results and table 2009/10
Link - Norwich results and table 2009/10

Football On This Day – 8th August 2015
The 'Special One' lost something of his magic in 2015/16, starting on the opening day of the Premier League season. With minutes remaining of their match against Swansea an injury to Eden Hazard saw the Chelsea medical staff rush onto the Stamford Bridge pitch to treat him. Nothing unusual in that you might say but José Mourinho saw things differently. The reigning champions were holding on to a 2-2 scoreline, were down to 10 men because of a red card and with only minutes remaining would be temporoarily down to 9 players as the rules meant that Hazard would have to leave the pitch after receiving treatment. He was unhappy with his medics, calling them naive. A clash of personalities followed resulting in the first team doctor leaving the club, an FA inquiry and threatened legal proceedings with every move being followed with great interest by the press. I don't want to be sexist but perhaps part of the reason was that Dr Carneiro, Dr Eva Carneiro that is, was a not a too unattractive woman which saw the press print plenty of pictures of the doctor with every story-line. Perhaps that cheapened a serious story and it's something of course that I totally disapprove of!
Full Story - injuries

9th August

Football On This Day – 9th August 1969
A big day for Crystal Palace. League members since 1920 it was on 9th August 1969 that they played their first match in the top flight - and that was against Manchester United at Selhurst Park. The attendance for that First Division match was 48,610 - a ground record at the time - and they paid gate receipts of £16,250. How times have changed! Palace went ahead twice with goals from Mel Blyth and Gerry Queen but the final score was 2-2. Palace won only 6 League matches in that inaugural season and only just escaped relegation. Back then all the clubs didn't play their final league fixture on the same day. With the bottom 2 relegated in those days Palace finished their League season on April 6th with a win to finish third from bottom with Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland below them in the relegation spots. But Sunderland didn't finish their season until April 15th (at home to Liverpool) with Wednesday's final match being on April 22nd (at home to Man City). If either of the home sides were to win those matches they would have gone above Palace who would have been relegated. They both lost!

Football On This Day – 9th August 1996
Plymouth Argyle signed 38-year-old goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar on a 12 month contract despite the Zimbabwe international facing court proceedings for match fixing. Argyle’s manager Neil Warnock said ‘I realise he has got problems but what matters most is what he does on the pitch.’ He played in 36 of Plymouth’s 46 Second Division matches in 1996/97 and was later cleared of match fixing.

Football On This Day – 9th August 1997
Macclesfield Town made their debut in the Football League, defeating Torquay United 2-1 at the Moss Rose ground.
Link - a full history of Macclesfield in the Football League

10th August

Football On This Day – 10th August 1974
The Charity Shield match between Leeds and Liverpool was the first to be played at Wembley and the first to be decided on penalties but it is best remembered for the sending off of Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan.
Link - all the Charity Shield/Community Shield matches

Football On This Day – 10th August 1977
Liverpool signed Kevin Keegan’s replacement at Anfield – Kenny Dalglish. The Scot was bought from Celtic for £440,000 and became a Liverpool legend.

Football On This Day – 10th August 2003
Football finally arrived at the City of Manchester Stadium – then Eastlands – after its conversation from the stadium that staged the 2002 Commonweath Games. Manchester City’s first match was a friendly against Barcelona with Nicolas Anelka scoring the first goal at the ground in City’s 2-1 victory.

Football On This Day – 11th August 1991
At Matt Busby’s Testimonial match George Best appeared alongside Nobby Stiles, Bill Foulkes and Pat Crerard in a 7-a-side match between ex Manchester United and City stars which ended 3-3. In the main match Manchester United drew 1-1 with Jack Charlton’s Republic of Ireland side – 33,412 were at Old Trafford to pay tribute to Sir Matt.

Football On This Day – 11th August 1991
The most bizarre postponement? The Worthington Cup (League Cup) tie between Torquay and Portsmouth scheduled for Wednesday August 11th 1999 was called off because of...a total eclipse of the sun! No the problem wasn't that everything was going to go dark but the police deciding that they didn't have the manpower to police both the match and the influx of visitors expected in the area to witness the eclipse. The eclipse couldn't be put off - so the match was!
Link - postponed matches

12th August

Football On This Day – 12th August 1967
The 1967 Charity Shield (now the Community Shield) was played at Old Trafford between League champions Manchester United and FA Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur and is probably best remembered for one of the goals scored. Forwards on display included George Best, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves and Alan Gilzean but that memorable goal was scored by Pat Jennings....the Spurs goalkeeper! Jennings made a long clearance downfield from his own penalty area and the ball bounced once over the head of United 'keeper Alex Stepney into the net. The match finished 3-3 in front of 54,106 fans with the clubs sharing the trophy for the season.

Football On This Day – 12th August 1976
Fulham announced that they had signed George Best and Rodney Marsh. With Bobby Moore already at Craven Cottage the dream was surely one of promotion. The reality – they were almost relegated, finishing just one point outside the Second Division relegation zone.

Football On This Day – 12th August 1978
League champions Nottingham Forest beat FA Cup holders Ipswich Town 5-0 which was to be the highest winning margin in a Wembley Charity Shield match.
Link - all the Charity Shield/Community Shield matches

Football On This Day – 12th August 1995
On the opening day of the new League season two goalkeepers scored goals – Chris MacKenzie (for Hereford v Barnet) from an 80-yard downfield punt and Roger Freestone (for Swansea v Shrewsbury)  from the penalty spot.

Football On This Day – 12th August 1996
After the shortest reign of any Highbury boss – just 47 matches – Arsenal sacked manager Bruce Rioch. Johan Cruyff was the favourite to replace him but instead in September Arsenal would appoint an unknown Frenchman, Arsène Wenger.

Football On This Day – 12th August 2014
Plenty of goals on this day in the First Round of the Capital One Cup - the League Cup. Port Vale had a 6-2 home win over Hartlepool and Huddersfield won 5-3 at Chesterfield but most goals were scored at Dagenham & Redbridge who entertained Brentford at their Victoria Road ground. Visitors Brentford took a 2-0 lead and from then on the scoreline went 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-3, 3-4, 4-4 and in extra time 4-5, 5-5, 6-5 and 6-6 at the final whistle with 10 players having scored the goals. It was the first 6-6 draw in the competitions' history and only the second time 12 goals had been scored in a League Cup match. Brentford won the penalty shoot-out 4-2. The Daggers were Football League members from 2007 to 2016 and not once in those 9 seasons did they get past the first round of the League Cup competition!
Link - Dagenham's history in the Football League
Link - Brentford's history in the Football League
 

Football On This Day – 13th August 1997
It was a proud day for Derby County when they staged the first Premier League match at their new Pride Park ground. The match against Wimbledon was abandoned in the second half when the floodlights failed!

Link - abandoned matches







Football On This Day – 13th August 2004
Anfield legend Michael Owen moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid. He had a poor time in Madrid while, ironically, Liverpool won the Champions League for the first time at the end of the first season without him!

Football On This Day – 13th August 2016
Leicester City started the 2015/16 season as 5000-1 Premier League title no-hopers. By December 2015 Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was so sure that his former club wouldn't finish top that he tweeted that he would 'do the first MOTD of next season in just my undies' if Leicester did win the title. So, the major downside of Leicester's title success was that Lineker kept his promise on the first Saturday of the new Premier League season. I believe there was some debate whether his shorts could be classed as undies but me....well I just changed channels!
 

14th August

Football On This Day – 14th August 1971
After moving from Scunthorpe United in May Kevin Keegan made his League debut for Liverpool on the opening day of the 1971/72 First Division season, scoring after 12 minutes of the 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.

Football On This Day – 14th August 1980
One of the more unusual fixtures was staged at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground - a cricket match! Essex borrowed the ground - and importantly the floodlights - to host the first senior day-night match played in England with the West Indies providing the opposition in front of a crowd of 11,073. An artificial pitch was laid but a football pitch is not the ideal shape for cricket. Being long and thin it was an easy matter to hit sixes to the short boundaries - Graham Gooch hit a century in just 77 minutes and in one 18-minute spell Viv Richards scored 53 runs.
Link - football and cricket

15th August

Football On This Day – 15th August 1973
When Wolverhampton Sunday League side Oxbarn decided on a pre-season jaunt to Germany in August 1973 they wrote to the mayor of Mainz asking him to arrange a friendly against a club of similar standing to them. A match was arranged but something got lost in translation and believing the visiting club was Wolverhamption Wanderers the friendly was arranged against a local German League club. The Oxbarn side realised something was wrong when they saw the stadium they were to play in and the crowd that was there. They lost 21-0.

Football On This Day – 15th August 1987
Scarborough played their first match in the Football League and their programme notes started 'Today sees the greatest occasion in the history of the club. We have, at last, achieved Football League status and the goal of which we and thousands of our predecessors, both officials and fans, have dreamed for over a century.' To add to the dream their first opponents at their Seamer Road ground were one of the most famous names in the game - Wolverhampton Wanderers who were in their second season in the fourth tier. Sadly the dream turned into a nightmare. A day at the seaside saw many Wolves fans worse the wear for drink, violence broke out in the town and the ground, dozens of arrests were made, a food kiosk was ransacked, the start of the second half was delayed by 10 minutes and one of the Wolves fans who had climbed onto the roof of a stand fell 25 feet through it, thankfully escaping serious injury. A bleak day for football.
Link - Scarborough's full League history

Football On This Day – 15th August 1992
The first matches in the Premier League were played on this day with Brian Deane scoring the first goal after 5 minutes, for Sheffield United against eventual champions Manchester United.
Link - All first season Premier League results and table

Football On This Day – 15th August 2006
What might have been. West Ham’s Dean Ashton was picked to make his England debut against Greece in Steve McLaren's first match as England manager but on this day in 2006, the day before the match, he broke his ankle in training and missed the rest of the season. He eventually played one match for England, playing the first half against Trinidad in 2008, but the following year he announced his retirement, aged just 26, because of the long-term problems associated with the ankle injury.
 

16th August

Football On This Day – 16th August 1890
The first fixtures were played in the Scottish League with four matches played, Cambuslang hammering Vale of Leven 8-2 in one of them.

Football On This Day – 16th August 1980
They say that more dreams are shattered after the first match of the season than at any other time. Bristol Rovers didn't do too badly in their first Division 2 match of the 1980/81 season, drawing 1-1 with Orient (no Leyton in their name in those days!). Their problems started that evening though when a fire caught hold in the south stand of their Eastville ground, destroying the stand which housed the club offices and changing rooms. They were forced to play their next five matches on 'enemy' territory - Bristol City's Ashton Gate ground - and their season then went from bad to worse. They finished bottom and were relegated along with Bristol City who finished one place above them.
Link - Bristol Rovers results 1980/81

Football On This Day – 16th August 2006
Steve McClaren took charge of his first match as England manager, dropping David Beckham for the friendly against European champions Greece at Old Trafford which England won 4-0.

17th August


Football On This Day – 17th August 1964
Liverpool won 5-0 away to KR Reykjavik in a European Cup Preliminary Round tie - Liverpool's first match in a European competition. Those were the days before clubs chartered aircraft for away European ties and they had a long-winded journey to Iceland. They flew from Liverpool to London, then from London to Prestwick in Scotland. Having a few hours to spare manager Bill Shankly put the players on a bus to show them the area he grew up in - and that included a visit to the Butlins holiday camp! And then more excitement with a flight from Prestwick to Iceland.
Link - Liverpool results in Europe

Football On This Day – 17th August 1991
An amazing start to Barnet's life in the Football League after they became the fifth club to win automatic promotion to the League after finishing as GM Vauxhall Conference champions in 1990/91. Their first Football League match on 17th August 1991 saw them lose 4-7 at home to Crewe and three days later they drew 5-5 with Brentford in the League Cup, also at Underhill. Not long after they won 6-0 at Lincoln in the Fourth Division before eventually finishing the season in seventh spot.

Link - Barnet results 1991/92

Football On This Day – 17th August 1996
On the opening day of the Premier League season a 21-year-old player by the name of David Beckham hit the headlines when he scored for Manchester United with a lob over Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan which was hit from the half-way line. Two weeks later he made his England debut.

Football On This Day – 18th August 1979
After 11 League matches at the end of the 1978/79 season without letting in a goal Reading and their goalkeeper Steve Death conceded the first goal in 1103 minutes of League football in the opening day Division 3 2-2 draw with Brentford at Elm Park. Ironically it was an own-goal from Reading defender Stewart Henderson.

Links - Reading results 1978/79 & 1979/80

 

Football On This Day – 18th August 1987
Liverpool’s first home match of the season – against Charlton – was postponed after the collapse of a Victorian sewer under the Kop. Their next two scheduled home matches suffered the same fate but it didn’t cause Liverpool much of a problem – they were unbeaten in their first 29 League matches of the season and comfortably won the League championship.
Link - Liverpool results & League table 1987/88

Football On This Day – 19th August 1975
In the second League match of the season Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney became so animated when shouting at his own defenders that he dislocated his jaw and had to be taken to hospital!
Link - Footballing injuries

Football On This Day – 19th August 1982
Newcastle United signed 31-year-old Kevin Keegan from Southampton for £100,000 and a reported £5000 a week wages.

Football On This Day – 19th August 1995
After watching Manchester United lose their opening-day Premier League fixture 3-1 at Aston Villa Match of the Day commentator Alan Hansen was critical of United and famously said ‘you’ll never win anything with kids’. The kids included David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville and they went on to win a League and Cup double that season!
Link - Manchester United results and table 1995/96

Football On This Day – 19th August 2005
Chelsea finally confirm the purchase of Michael Essien from Lyon for around £24.5m, a record amount for Chelsea at the time. Value for money?

Football On This Day – 20th August 1960
John Trollope made his Football League debut for Swindon Town in a 1-1 draw with Halifax Town. He went on to make 770 League appearances for Swindon, still the most any player has made for a single club.

Football On This Day – 20th August 1971
Manchester United played a home match...at Liverpool's Anfield ground! Crowds problems had seen the FA close Old Trafford for the first two League matches of the 1971/72 season so on 20th August 1971 United played their first home First Division fixture of the season against Arsenal at Anfield. A 27,649 crowd saw Arsenal beaten 3-1. Three days later they completed their punishment with a home match at Stoke City's Victoria ground where a 23,148 crowd saw another 3-1 win, against WBA.

Link - Manchester United's results and table 1971/72
 

Football On This Day – 20th August 2022
The goal Harry Kane scored for Spurs in the Premier League match against Wolves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium proved to be a favourite with the statisticians. It was the 1000th goal Tottenham had scored at home in the Premier League and they became the fifth club to achieve that milestone after Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. It was his 185th Premier League goal for Spurs making him the highest goalscorer for any single club in the Prem. The previous holders of that record were Manchester City's Sergio Agüero with 184 goals and Wayne Rooney of Manchester United on 183. It was also Harry Kane's 250th goal for for Spurs in all competitions. Oh, and the result against Wolves - it was the only goal in the match and so won a valuable three points for the Londoners!

21st August

Football On This Day – 21st August 1965
In the Bolton v Charlton Second Division match Charlton goalkeeper Mike Rose was injured after 11 minutes and left the pitch. Full back John Hewie took his place in goal and Keith Peacock came on as substitute – the first sub in the Football League. At the time each club was only allowed one sub a match and then only to replace an injured player.

Football On This Day – 21st August 1978
Jock Stein becomes manager of Leeds United, but moved on just six weeks later when he became the Scotland manager.

Football On This Day – 21st August 1996
Alan Shearer made his home Premier League debut for Newcastle against Wimbledon on this day in 1996 – and of course scored. His late goal sealed a 2-0 Newcastle victory and he took the first step to achieving legend status at St James' Park.
Link - Newcastle United's results and table 1996/97
 

Football On This Day – 22nd August 1964
Match of the Day made its debut on the TV screens. Only the highlights of one match was shown in those days and the BBC 2 audience for the first of those – Liverpool v Arsenal – was believed to be little more than the attendance at the match itself.
Link - Football in the Media

Football On This Day – 22nd August 2007
Germany were the last side to defeat England at the old Wembley stadium and on this day in 2007 they became the first country to defeat England at the new Wembley. Frank Lampard scored England’s goal in the 1-2 defeat.
 

23rd August

Football On This Day – 23rd August 1958
A few firsts at Scunthorpe's first home League match of the season, a 1-1 Second Division draw with Ipswich Town. It saw Scunny's first ever match in the second tier of the Football League, their first League match as Scunthorpe United (they had previously been Scunthorpe & Lindsay United) and - for those of you interested in ground architecture - it saw the official opening of the first cantilever stand in British football. The cantilever stand - a stand with no roof supports to block the view - was built on the cheap by a local steel company hoping to use it as a showcase for other clubs. It survived until the Old Show Ground staged its last match in May 1988 before the club moved to Glanford Park. The cantilever stand is pictured below during demolition of the old ground which was inevitably replaced by a supermarket.

On the same day that Scunthorpe were making their first appearance in the second tier of the League (Saturday August 23rd 1958 - see above) Brighton & Hove Albion were doing exactly the same thing. They do say that the one day of the season when most fans have their dreams shattered is the opening day of a new season and that was certainly the case for Brighton & Hove fans at the start of the 1958/59 season - they lost 9-0 at Middlesbrough! That scoreline still ranks as Brighton's record League defeat and Middlesbrough's record League victory with five of those goals being scored by one Brian Clough, the most he ever scored in a single League match. Brighton played the return match against Middlesbrough at the Goldstone ground on December 20th 1958 and did a tad better in that match - they only lost 6-4 with Cloughie scoring a hat-trick in that one!
Link - Brighton results 1958/59
 

Football On This Day – 23rd August 1978
The summer signings by Tottenham of Argentine World Cup stars Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa meant an eagerly-awaited home League debut for the duo. A ticker-tape welcome and 47,892 fans were at White Hart Lane on this day in 1978 to give them that welcome. But visitors Aston Villa hadn’t read the script – Villa (the Aston Villa variety) beat newly-promoted Spurs 4-1.
Link - Tottenham's results and table 1978/79

Football On This Day – 23rd August 1986
Hartlepool United’s Victoria ground hosted two League matches on this day in 1986. In the afternoon Hartlepool entertained Cardiff in a Division 4 match (1-1 draw, attendance 2800) while in the evening neighbours Middlesbrough – whose own Ayresome Park ground had been closed by the Official Receiver because of serious club debts – borrowed the Victoria ground for their Division 3 match against Port Vale (2-2 draw, attendance 3690).

Football On This Day – 23rd August 2015
The Major League Soccer meeting of LA  Galaxy and New York City was hyped up as the 'British Invasion', the first meeting of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the MLS. But as is often the case reality didn't match the hype - Gerrard played but Lampard didn't with Robbie Keane scoring twice in Galaxy's 5-1 thumping of NYC.

Football On This Day – 24th August 1949
Bomb damage had seen Old Trafford closed for the first three post-war seasons with Manchester United setting up home at Manchester City's Maine Road ground. But against Bolton at the start of the 1949/50 season United came home and life at Old Trafford resumed. A crowd of 41,748 saw United beat Bolton 3-0.
Link - Manchester United's results and table 1949/50
 

Football On This Day – 24th August 1968
On August 24th 1968 The First Division fixture between Nottingham Forest and eventual champions Leeds United was halted when a fire broke out in the Main Stand at the City Ground. Although the wooden stand was destroyed in similar circumstances to what would happen  at Valley Parade 17 years later thankfully none of the 31,126 fans present at the ground that day suffered injury. The match was abandoned shortly before half time with the score at 1-1.
Link - Nottingham Forest' results and table 1968/69

25th August

Football On This Day – 25th August 1928
Arsenal (Division 1 at Sheffield Wednesday) and Chelsea (Division 2 v Swansea) became the first Football League sides to have numbers on their shirts to help identify players.

Football On This Day – 25th August 1928
The opening day of the 1928/29 League season saw Bradford City beat Rotherham United 11-1 at Valley Parade – still Bradford City’s record League win and Rotherham’s record League defeat.  

Football On This Day – 25th August 1990
Eccentric was a word often used to describe the former Everton and Wales goalkeeper Neville Southall. One of those eccentric episodes came on the opening day of the 1990/91 League season when newly-promoted Leeds had taken a 2-0 half-time lead at Goodison. Rather than return to the dressing room Southall sat in the goalmouth throughout the interval. There was speculation that he was fearful of a bollocking from manager Colin Harvey or that it was an incredible sulk but Southall later said he did it to 'clear his head'. Taking a Paracetamol would have been a cheaper option - Everton fined him a weeks' wages!

Football On This Day – 25th August 1992
Just 10 days after the Premier League had kicked off Eric Cantona became the first player to score a hat-trick in the competition. The Frenchman - then a Leeds United player - scored three times in the 5-0 defeat of Tottenham at Elland Road. Earlier in the month Cantona had scored a hat-trick for Leeds in their 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the Charity Shield at Wembley.
Link - hat-tricks

Football On This Day – 25th August 1996
The big transfer story at the start of the 1996/97 season was would Alan Shearer join Manchester United? He didn't - he moved from Blackburn to Newcastle - but United did sign an almost unknown 23-year-old forward from Molde in Norway, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian scored twice in his first match for United reserves at Oldham reserves and four days later - on Sunday 25th August 1996 - he made his first team debut for the Reds. He scored the equaliser just six minutes after coming on as a sub, replacing David May,  in the 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford. He became something of a 'super-sub' in his 11 years at Old Trafford and scored 91 goals in his 235 Premier League appearances for United. Spells as manager at Cardiff City and back at Molde preceded his return to Old Trafford as manager when taking over from Jose Mourinho in 2018.

Football On This Day – 26th August 1995
It was touch and go whether Middlesbrough’s new ground would be completed in time but on this day in 1995 the Riverside Stadium hosted its first match, a 2-0 Premier League victory over Chelsea. Craig Hignett scored the first goal at the new stadium in front of a crowd of 28,286. Fans were given a vote on the name of the new stadium at the last match at the old Ayresome Park ground with the choices available being the Middlehaven Stadium, Erimus Stadium and Teesside Stadium as well as the Riverside.
Link - Middlesbrough's results and table 1995/96

Football On This Day – 26th August 1993
Despite guiding his side to a top ten place in each of his three seasons in charge Manchester City player-manager Peter Reid was sacked after City managed just a single point from their first four Premier League matches of the season.


Football On This Day – 26th August 2014
On the same day they lost 4-0 at MK Dons in the League Cup Manchester United opened their cheque book to pay out a British transfer fee record of £59.7m for Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria. United had made an abysmal start to the season under new manager Louis van Gaal and perhaps David Moyes wasn't as bad a manager at Old Trafford as he had been made out.....and didn't the internet humour have a great time!
Link - Manchester United's results and table 2014/15

Football On This Day – 27th August 1986
Having lost their Eastville ground to the developers Bristol Rovers played their first match at their new home – non-league Bath City’s Twerton Park. The start of their Littlewoods Cup tie against Reading was delayed 15 minutes to allow all the 3,760 crowd to get in – Reading won 2-1.

Football On This Day – 27th August 1988
Unfinished building work on the East Stand saw Tottenham’s first home League match of the season – against Coventry – postponed and delayed the League debut of a major Spurs summer signing – one Paul Gascoigne.
Link - Tottenham's results and table 1988/89

Football On This Day – 27th August 1988
Tony Cottee needed to impress on his debut for Everton - his £2.2 million summer move from West Ham to Goodison made him the most expensive purchase ever by a British club. He did impress - scoring after 34 seconds and completing a hat-trick in the 4-0 defeat of Newcastle United. 
Link - Everton's results and table 1988/89

Football On This Day – 27th August 2021

It's funny how quickly sentiments can change in football. As the early season transfer deadline approached the big story was would Harry Kane move from Spurs to Manchester City but it was would Cristiano Ronaldo move from Juventus to Manchester City that was really raising the temperature. Ronaldo was a legend in Manchester but he achieved that legendary status when playing in the red of Manchester United between 2003 and 2009 and the prospect of him playing in the blue of Manchester City appalled United fans. A popular picture of the time was of a United supporter burning his previously treasured Ronaldo shirt in protest. City fans though believed that even at 36 years old Ronaldo was still one of the best players in the world and would ensure City's continued dominance. Then on August 27th it was announced that Ronaldo had agreed to return to Manchester.....to rejoin United! City fans then said they were relieved that they wouldn't be signing a football OAP while United fans soon set new records for ordering Ronaldo number 7 shirts. Such is football!

Football On This Day – 28th August 1920
The first match that a club play in the Football League is always going going to be an important part of that clubs history. On a lighter side the win or loss in that first match will, for a time anyway, be the record League win or loss they had recorded. OK thats a record which will probably change the in the following week or two as well the following season or two, but that's not always the case. Swindon Town played their first ever League fixture on Saturday 28th August 1920, a Third Division home match against Luton Town. Swindon were 5-1 up at half time and Harold Flemming went on to score 4 in what became a 9-1 Swindon win. Over a century has passed since that first match but that 9-1 victory in it is still Swindon's record win in the League. Mind you a week later Swindon were beaten by Luton in the return fixture!
Link - Swindon Town results 1920/21

Football On This Day – 28th August 1982
David Seaman, one of England’s greatest goalkeepers, made his debut in the Football League. Released by the club he had supported as a boy, Leeds United, without playing for them in the League he had joined Fourth Division Peterborough United in August 1982. He first League match was at Stockport’s Edgeley Park on the opening day of the 1982/83 League season – 2,003 souls saw Stockport and Posh draw 1-1.

Football On This Day – 28th August 1994
Robbie Fowler scored what was then the quickest hat-trick scored in the Premier League, his three goals in the Liverpool v Arsenal match at Anfield being scored in just 4 minutes 33 seconds. The record lasted until Sadio Mané scored 3 in just 2 minutes 56 seconds for Southampton against Aston Villa in May 2015.

Football On This Day – 28th August 2007
It was a day when we all realised that the good health of footballers could never be taken for granted. It was announced that Seville player Antonio Puerta had died, three days after he had collapsed with a heart attack in a La Liga match against Getafe. Later in the day the Carling Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Leicester City was abandoned at half-time after City defender Clive Clarke suffered a heart attack in the dressing room. Thankfully he recovered although he had to retire from playing without making any further first-team appearances.
Link - abandoned matches

Football On This Day – 28th August 2011
Manchester United beat Arsenal 8-2 in a Premier League match at Old Trafford, the first time Arsenal had conceded 8 goals in a League match since 1896.
Link - Manchester United's results and table 2011/12

29th August

Football On This Day – 29th August 1925
After just their first League match Burnley fans knew they were in for a tough First Division season – they lost 10-0 at Aston Villa. Burnley conceded 108 League goals during the season – but weren’t relegated!

Football On This Day – 29th August 2020
Well, you could easily think the picture below is of a pre-match training session at Wembley - in fact it is of the moment when the first major bit of silverware of the 2020/21 season was decided. Tragically coronavirus had ensured that stadiums empty of fans would be the norm. That included Wembley for the Arsenal v Liverpool Community Shield encounter. After finishing level at 1-1 the match went to penalties with Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pictured scoring the winner in Arsenal's 5-4 shoot-out victory.

30th August

Football On This Day – 30th August 2004
Despite Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd not wishing to be known as ‘the man who shot Bambi’ on this day in 2004 he sacked manager Sir Bobby Robson. The Magpies hadn’t won any of their first four Premier League matches of the new season.

Football On This Day – 30th August 2005
Newcastle United confirmed that they had finally signed Michael Owen from Real Madrid for a then £16.8 million club record transfer fee. The year Owen had spent in Spain after his move from Liverpool was not his most successful making 36 La Liga appearances - many as a sub - and scoring 13 goals in those matches. He had hoped for a return to Anfield but Liverpool weren't prepared to meet the transfer fee which saw Owen sign for Newcastle where he stayed for 4 injury-blighted years. August 30th was a notable date for Michael Owen and Newcastle - seven years earlier on August 30th 1998 a teenage Michael Owen had scored a 15-minute hat-trick for Liverpool in their 4-1 Premier League defeat of Newcastle at St James' Park.

31st August

Football On This Day – 31st August 2002
UniBond Division 1 side Stocksbridge Park Steels had their moment in the national headlines when they beat Oldham Town 17-1 in an FA Cup Preliminary Round tie. The Sheffield club's Paul Jackson scored 10 goals and equalled the FA Cup record set by Chris Marron with South Shields in 1947. Ted MacDougall of Bournemouth set the record for the competition proper in 1971 with nine goals against Margate.

Football On This Day – 31st August 2004
Wayne Rooney’s view that ‘Once a blue, always a blue’ came back to haunt him when on this day in 2004 when the 18 year old moved to the reds…..of Manchester United. The blues he left behind were not too chuffed despite the promise of up to £27m entering the Goodison bank account.

Football On This Day – 31st August 2006
With the transfer window closing at midnight August 31st was always going to be a busy time for completing transfers and that was certainly the case in 2006. Argentine World Cup players Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez were on the wants list of many clubs, including the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan. It came as a bit of a surprise then when they both moved from their club side, Corinthians of Brazil, to mid-ranking Premier League side West Ham United on 31st August 2006. It proved to be a disaster. Between them they only made 31 Premier League outings for the Hammers before Tevez moved to Manchester United and Mascherano to Liverpool. A dispute then arose regarding third party ownership of the two players - had they been owned by West Ham or still owned by those in charge of Corinthians - Media Sports Investments. The FA later fined West Ham £5.5 million for discrepancies with that transfer. West Ham escaped a points deduction for that offence which would have seen them relegated and Sheffield United saved from relegation. Sheffield United then claimed for the lost revenue suffered from that relegation which cost the Londoners another £18 million. Ouch!