1996 – Coppell Quits City

AS Mark Hughes wonders how many more points he can drop before the Abu Dhabi United group get an itchy trigger finger, it’s back to 1996 when the City job saw enough managerial changes to make even Jesus Gil blush. Find out what happened here.

1975 – Who’s the Pisshead in the Black?

FOOTBALL and booze have got a long history together. Whether it’s George Best lamenting that “I spent a lot of money on booze birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered,” England’s infamous Euro ‘96 dentist chair celebration or Paul McGrath turning out half-tanked, the two have always gone hand-in-hand. Most of the time though, football’s drinking culture doesn’t involve the referee, but today in 1975 German official Wolf-Dieter Ahlenfelder turned up to officiate a Bundesliga clash after a few too many pre-match shandies. Read more.

Let’s all laugh at referees.

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1999 – Spurs Derby Joy

Tottenham have enjoyed little success over Arsenal recently and you have to go back to this day in 1999 for the last time Spurs came out on top in a League match. Read more here.

2005 – Hearts of Darkness

EVER heard the one about the Lithuanian banker, title-challenging Scottish club and a convicted sex offender? Welcome to Heart of Midlothian, Scotland’s most colourful club, where today in 2005 former Portsmouth manager and convict, Graham Rix took over the table-topping side. Click here for more.

Team bonding, Romanov style.

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1986 – Fergie Storms In

IN the history of good decisions, this one was a belter. You have to tip your hat to the big cheeses at Old Trafford because it was on this day in 1986 that Sir Alex Ferguson was appointed Manchester United manager. Read more.

2004 – Kidnap!

Today in 2004 the mother of Brazilian superstar Robinho was kidnapped by bandits who then demanded a ransom from the player for her release and ordered him not to play football while they had her. Read on here.

A young Robinho showing he’s got the skills to pay the (in this case very gritty) bills.

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1932 – Mind the Gap

IF you had to pin down Arsenal’s current position at the sharp end of football to just two men, one would have the be Arsene Wenger. The other, without a doubt would be Herbert Chapman. Read what he was up to today here.

1956 – Huddersfield Shanked

WITH Huddersfield wallowing around in the third flight of English football it’s easy to forget that two of the greatest managers of all-time have sat in the dug-out at their former Leeds Road home. The first was Herbert Chapman, who led them to three successive titles in the 1920s and the other was Bill Shankly, who was appointed today in 1956. Read more.

“All good pals and jolly good company.” Quite.

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2001 – Guardiloa’s Pepped-Up

SINCE Barcelona legend Pep Guardiola took over the managerial reigns at the Camp Nou last summer he’s not done a bad job, with trophies and goals galore. It was a different story today in 2001 though, as the Spanish midfielder failed a drugs test. Read more here.

1945 – The Russians are Coming

CROYDON airport, November 4th 1945. As war-ravaged England struggles to get over the hardships of six years of conflict an aeroplane touches down from Moscow bringing some much needed excitement to the capital as Dynamo Moscow became the first Soviet club to visit the UK. See how they got on here.

Hyperbole-tastic Pep Guardiola video

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1999 – The Life of Brian
HE’S not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy! Well, perhaps not naughty, but certainly not the managerial messiah.

It was on this day in 1999 that Brian Kidd proved what Steve McLaren is proving daily, namely that good number twos very rarely make good number ones, when he was sacked as Blackburn Rovers manager. Read on here.

1997 – Lights, Camera, Corruption

TODAY in 1997 West Ham United were hosting Crystal Palace in an evening Premiership fixture between the two London sides. Find out what dodgy dealings went on here.

Just because you can do this, doesn’t mean you’ll be a good gaffer…

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1997 – Game, Set, Match

CROSSING over from one professional sport to another is rarely a good idea. Think Dwain Chambers and Sir Clive Woodward for recent examples, but today we are looking at a match made in Hull between football and tennis. Click here to find out what happened.

2002 – Watch Out Alfie, Keano’s Back

“I’d waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***. And don’t ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.”

And so it was proved that the pen was mightier than the sword, as Roy Keane’s autobiography got him in a spot of bother with the FA, who invoked a five match ban that ended today in 2002 following his x-rated challenge on Alf-Inge Haaland in the 2001 Manchester derby. Read more.

Roy v Alf, rounds one and two.

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2006 – Milan Hits the Midlands

LEICESTER City fans have been put through the mixer a fair bit the last few seasons, having to endure administration, relegation and even a strike force led by Adi Akinbiyi. Today in 2006 another dodgy character came onto the scene as Milan Mandaric bid to take over the Foxes. Read more.

1994 – Out With Ossie

PINCH punch, first of the month and here at OTFD we’re kicking November off with another managerial casualty.

Despite losing his job in the most underhand way, poor old Martin Jol can at least console himself with the fact that it was ever thus at Tottenham. It was on this day in 1994 that Spurs dispensed with the services of Osvaldo Ardiles as manager, just 16 months after giving him the job. Read the whole story here.

Ossie and the Spurs team in happier days

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2002 – Halloween Horror Show in Madagascar

WHATEVER seasonal misfortunes befall you tonight, we’re sure it won’t be as scary as what fans of Madagascan side Stade Olympique de L’Emyrne (SOE) had to endure, as today in 2002 they saw side fall to a record-breaking 149-0 loss. Click here for the whole story.

1990 – A Sticky End For Holy Harvey

WE think one of the best things about OTFD is that sometimes we get to feature some of the less celebrated characters in football that may have slipped from the game’s consciousness in recent times.

Today is one of those days, as it was on this day in 1990 that legendary Everton player Colin Harvey proved he wasn’t such a legendary manager when the Toffeemen gave him his P45. Read more.

Colin Harvey’s finest move

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1997 – The Eng of El Diego

HE was the greatest footballer of his generation and perhaps of all time, but all good things have to come to an end. Today in 1997 Diego Armando Maradona hung up his boots, bringing his explosive career to a close on his 37th birthday. Read more.

2004 – Lord of the Manor of Frodsham

WHEN Gerard Houllier was winding down his time as Liverpool manager, the club still allowed him to press on with one of their most expensive signings ever. Houllier had been casting flirtatious glances at Djibril Cisse for months and finally managed to negotiate a deal to bring the Frenchman to Anfield for around £14m in the summer of 2004. Click here to find out what went wrong.

Ouch.

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2004 – A Punishment Not To Be Sniffed At

WE’RE coming over all Bram Stoker on you today, as we’ve got a tale of an (alleged) bloodsucker from Transylvania. Romanian misfit Adrian Mutu was fired by Chelsea today in 2004 following his failed drugs test. Click here for the whole story.

2003 – Forgetful Ferdinand

WE’VE all been guilty of forgetting things once in a while, a friend’s birthday here, a wedding anniversary there, but not many memory lapses can have been as costly as the one Rio ‘Memory like a sieve’ Ferdinand had in the autumn of 2003. Read more.

Mutu will need more of this to pay off the £14m that Chelsea are after

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1933 – The Angel With Bent Legs

ASK anyone around the world who the best ever Brazilian to play the game was and they’ll usually say Pele. Head into Brazil though, ask the same question and any self-respecting passionate follower of the beautiful game will tell you all about a bow-legged right-winger who holds a dearer place in their hearts than everyone’s favourite viagra salesman. That man was Garrincha, who was born today in 1933. Read more.

2003 – The Joy of Cesc

A 1-1 draw in the League Cup between Arsenal and Rotherham today in 2003 doesn’t sound like the most exciting of occasions to base today’s nugget of footballing history on, but one of Arsene Wenger’s young charges was making his debut that day, and he’s proved to go on to be not too shabby at this football lark. Click here for more.

Much more interesting than Pele.

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2006 – Pressley’s All Shock Up

IT’S up to Scotland today for a look at one of the maddest characters in the game, Hearts chairman and former Soviet submarine commander Vladimir Romanov who was at the mercy of a player revolt, lead by captain Steven Pressley today in 2006 when threatened to sack the whole squad if they failed to win their next match. See what went down here.

1957 – Hoddle Arrives
THE year is 1957. In Italy the Treaty of Rome is signed establishing the European Economic Community; in the USA Elvis Presley buys Graceland; and on this day in Hayes, Middlesex, Glenn Hoddle was born. Read more here.

Hoddle showing he had the skills to pay the bills. Well, it was either this or the Diamond Lights clip…

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1996 – Saints Humble the Red Devils

SIR Alex Ferguson has turned Manchester United into such a consistent winning machine over the past 20 years that it’s always nice to watch them get beaten once in a while, especially when they get a very rare hammering.

Today in 1996 Southampton recorded one of their most impressive results ever when they trounced Fergies team 6-3 at The Dell. Read more here.

1863 – Ezer is a geezer who likes to muscle in
IT all sounds so Dickensian: a cold, foggy autumn night in Victorian London, the Freemason’s Tavern in Great Queen Street, and the protagonist, Ebenezer Cobb Morley.

No this is not the beginning of Great Expectations or David Copperfield; this is the beginning of the Football Association. Click here for more.

Le God.

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2000 – Cilla Strikes Back

FOOTBALL has managed to upset a lot of people over the years – it has even been the cause of wars, but it was on this day in 2000 that the beautiful game crossed swords with a national treasure, and lost. Click here for the full story.

2007 – Jol’s Last Stand

FANTASTICALLY wide ranging and descriptive though the English language can be, there are occasions when it falls short and emotions it cannot quite express succinctly. Read on here.

Jol’s last day at work.

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1857 – The Oldest Club in the World

WHEN your team’s nickname is simply ‘The Club’, you’ve got to have a bit of history to back it up. And history is one thing that Sheffield FC have more of than anyone else, as they are the world’s oldest club, established today in 1857. Read more here.

2004 – Pizzagate

OVER the seventeen seasons since the inception of the Premier League one clash has regularly stood above the rest. Whether it’s tunnel bust-ups, on-the-pitch brawls or Martin Keown’s goading, Manchester United and Arsenal clashes are always entertaining.

Today in 2004 the two rivals served up another tasty clash that took the animosity between them to new, evermore amusing levels: a food fight! Click here for the whole story.

Sadly we’ve only got the on-the-pitch action for you.

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1999 – Kanu Believe It!

LAST season Liverpool may have monopolised the late comeback, but they haven’t yet left it quite so late as Arsenal did today in 1999. With 15 minutes left the Gunners were 2-0 down to rivals Chelsea and it was looking like all three points were lost. Read on here.

1963 – The Stars Come Out For The FA’s Centenary

HOW are your birthday plans coming on for this year? Night out on the town? Dinner party? Bet it won’t be as grand as when the FA celebrated reaching the grand old age of 100, as Sir Alf Ramsey’s England team took on the best of the rest at Wembley Stadium, today in 1963.
Click here to read all about it.

Kanu, 47, scores a beaut.

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1929 – The Man in Black

SO who’s the greatest goalkeeper ever to play the game? Schmeichel? No, his nose was too red and he was rubbish on Strictly Come Dancing. Dino Zoff or Gianluigi Buffon? Nope, even you’d look good behind those Italian defences. Our vote goes to the Russian Lev Yashin who was born today in 1929. Read more here.

1988 – Triple Vision

SOUTHAMPTON FC was always described as a ‘family club’ but during the 1980s it was literally true as the Wallace brothers came up through the youth system into the first team. On this day in 1988 when all three of the brothers lined up for Southampton in a match against Sheffield Wednesday at the Dell which ended 1-1. Click here for the full story.

The Black Spider in full effect.

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2000 – Ugo’s in at Boro

SUPPORTERS of Bryan Robson’s managerial prowess always used to point to his success at Middlesbrough in his first job as a gaffer. Read more here.

2000 – Shepherd You Old Spoil-Sport

It was on this day in 2000 that one-time FA chief exec and current postman Adam Crozier decided that a 67-year-old man who could never remember his player’s names was the guy to buck England’s ideas up. Click here for the whole story.

Downfall riff number 2,080: Hitler’s not impressed with the potential return of Freddie Shepperd

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1996 – Keegan’s Revenge

NEWCASTLE in living-up-to-fan’s-expectations-shock-horror! Believe it or not, once in generation Newcastle seem to come up with a performance and result that their supporters believe is their destiny.

Today in 1996 Gallowgate’s finest witnessed the high-point of the (first) Kevin Keegan era when they beat Manchester United 5-0 at St James’. Read more.

1990 – Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting

HERE at OTFD we believe that fighting isn’t big or clever and there’s no place for it on the football pitch. Yeah right. Nothing beats a good set of footballing handbags, which is exactly what happened at Old Trafford today in 1990 when Manchester United and Arsenal got stuck into each other. Click here for the full story.

Manchester United fans look away now.

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2002 – ‘Remember the name: Wayne Rooney’

A FEW years ago now I turned up on a Saturday afternoon at Goodison Park expecting to see Arsenal outplay and certainly defeat a well organised and spirited, but nevertheless limited Everton team.

After going a goal down, the Toffeemen had managed to equalise through Tomasz Radzinksi and with ten minutes to go it looked like they were going to pull off a creditable draw against the gunners who were on a 30 match unbeaten run.

Cue 16-year-old Wayne Mark Rooney to enter stage left. Young Rooney was already being talked about on Merseyside as something a bit special but he was largely an unknown quantity elsewhere. Not for long, as it was on this day in 2002 that the Roondog scored his first Premier League goal. Click here for the full story.

1993 – Norwich Stun Bayern

IT’S back to 1993 today and a look at the best English result on the continent since D-Day. Back when the Uefa Cup was more than a chance for Harry Redknapp to rest his starting XI, plucky little Norwich City became the only British club to ever beat Bayern Munich in their Olympic Stadium. Read on here.

Seems a very long time ago now…

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2005 – Haynes Passes Away

TO get a mention here at OTFD, let alone your own entry, you have to fulfil certain criteria. You must have had some impact on the world of football, and either been truly exceptional, truly awful, or just truly funny.

Today’s subject was an exceptional player, but his impact on the game went way beyond his footballing talent.

It was on this day in 2005 that Johnny Haynes, latterly of Fulham and England, died aged 71, following a road accident the previous day. Read the full story here.

2005 – Record Breaker

IAN Wright and Thierry Henry never played together, the former having left Arsenal a year before the latter arrived in North London.

Between them the two strikers bagged an incredible 411 goals for the Gunners and it was on this day in 2005 that Henry took Wright’s crown as the club’s record goal scorer. Click here for the whole story.

Plenty more where these came from

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1973 – England Pole-Axed

SEVEN years earlier, Sir Alf and his England side had been the toast of the nation, having reached football nirvana in the 1966 World Cup final. But today in 1973 was a different story, as England fell short in their attempts to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, as Poland held them to a 1-1 draw at Wembley. Read the full story here.

1919 – Cash in the Attic

Like a football version of Atlantis, Leeds City is the ancient lost club of football, and it was today in 1919 that the book was closed on the final sorry chapter in its history. Click here for the whole story.

The beginning of the end for Sir Alf.

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2004 – Messi Makes His Mark

ANYTIME over the last twenty years that half decent Argentinian youngster comes to the fore, he’s immediately been dubbed ‘the new Maradona’. Players such as Ariel Ortega, Carlos Marinelli, Andres D’Alessandro and Javier Saviola are just some of the poor souls that have been burdened with the tag and not lived up to the hype.

Today in 2004 saw the Barcelona debut of perhaps the closest player we’ve got to El Diego yet, when Lionel Messi took the field for Los Cules against their local rivals Espanyol. Click here for more.

2002 – Same Old England

TODAY we’re looking at a game that encapsulates the frustration of following England. Dodgy goalkeeping error? Check. New player on the left? Check. Hot-head striker losing their rag when the tough gets going? Check. Failure to beat one of international football’s minnows? Check. Back in 2002 it was the turn of Macedonia to frustrate England as they held them to a 2-2 draw at St. Mary’s. Read on here.

Safe to say he’s kicked on a bit since his debut.

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1999 – Stan the Man

Stan the Man Collymore has seen the highs of playing for Liverpool and England and the lows of tabloid stories about his relationship with Ulrika Jonsson and his fondness for car parks.

It was on this day in 1999 however that a reluctant Stan was forced to crawl back to Villa after a loan spell at Fulham did not turn into a permanent deal. Click here for the whole story.

1973 – Cloughy Quits Derby

IF you thought that signing Robbie Savage was the most foolish thing Derby County have ever done then think again. Today in 1973 chairman Sam Longson’s ego got the better of him as he forced County manager Brian Clough out. Read the full story.

We miss Ol’ Big ‘Ead.

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1996 – Don’t Mention the War

THEY say timing is everything in comedy – a principle well-known funny man and some-time goalkeeper Mark Bosnich should really have listened to.

For example Mark, if you decide it would be absolutely side-splittingly hilarious to do a quick Nazi salute, probably best to time it so you are not standing on a football pitch surrounded by 40,000 baying Spurs fans – many of them Jewish.

It was on this day in 1996 that Bosnich was hauled before the FA beaks after they had a sense of humour failure and charged him with misconduct for his comedy-gold gag. Click here for the whole sorry story.

2006 – Goalkeeper’s Folly

On this day in 2006 two Chelsea goalkeepers had to be carried from the field of play after coming a cropper during their match at Reading. Read on here.

Ouch.

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1993 – Did He Not Like That

England met Holland in the de Kuip Stadion in Rotterdam for the decisive game of the 1994 World Cup qualification campaign today in 1993. The victors would be in the box seat for qualification while the losers would be contemplating a long football-less summer in 1994. Find out what happened here.

1894 – First Ever Merseyside Derby

WHERE would football be without it’s derbies? Passion, glory, local bragging rights and sometimes even silverware are up for grabs when two great rivals meet. Today in 1894 saw the first installment of English football’s biggest derby, as Everton and Liverpool fans were telling each other to ‘calm down’ as the Merseyside Derby was played out for the first time. Click here for the whole story.

Graham Taylor lets the hacks have it

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1993 – He Walked the Line

IT was on this day in 1993 that the man who won England the world cup in 1966 popped his clogs.

Geoff Hurst? Bobby Moore? Sir Alf Ramsey? No, it was on this day that Tofik Bakhramov passed away. Read all about it here.

2005 – England Book Their Place in Germany

England booked their place in the 2006 World Cup at a chilly Old Trafford today in 2005, to set up another summer of metatarsal and penalty shoot out woe. Click here for the full story.

Cheers Tofik!

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2005 – George Weah Runs for President

BACK in the old days, when a player hung up his boots he’d buy a local pub and spend his days sat on a bar stool telling the punters all about his past glories. Nowadays they earn more in a year than most of us will in a lifetime, so once a player’s time is up, the world’s his oyster. Whereas most choose to spend their days on the golf course and pile on the pounds, you get the occasional ex-pro who has loftier ambitions. None have exemplified this more than former World Player of the Year George Weah, who today in 2005 ran for president in his native Liberia. See how he got on here.

1992 – Gazza Being Polite? Nor-way!

If anyone in the UK has watched the recent re-runs of An Impossible Job, the excellent documentary that followed Graham Taylor’s England team in their efforts to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, then you’ll remember what a loose cannon Paul Gascoigne was.

Today in 1992 Gazza came up with one of the more funny moments in recent football history. When quizzed by a hack from England’s next opponents, the ‘Fog on the Tyne’ hitmaker was asked if he had anything to say to the people of Norway. Click here for his not-so-diplomatic answer.

Diego who?

Related posts:

1. June 1 – Hoddle Drops Gazza Glenn Hoddle called time on Paul Gascoigne's England career today...
2. December 30 – Gazza Books the Ref AT THIS time of year we all like to have...
3. August 29 – Becks Runs the Gauntlet and Football Mourns Beckham faces the music back home, as football mourns. ...

2006 – Bellamy in the Dock

OCCASIONALLY the worlds of football and criminal prosecutions converge, and when they do, either Joey Barton or Craig Bellamy are usually involved.

Today we are focusing on the Welsh wonder who was due to appear in court on this day in 2006. The striker who trained at the Robbie Savage school of being a hated footballer, was accused of bringing a little bit of his famed mouth to the streets of Cardiff and he was charged with assaulting Sophie Palmer, 19, and Holly Smith, 20, in the Number 10 night club in Cardiff in February 2006. Click here for the whole story.

2002 – Sergeant Wilko Takes Charge

SO you’re two months into the season and your club’s languishing in the relegation zone having made a dismal start. The manager’s got to go, so who do you bring in? How about the last Englishman to land the title, who’s also the only man to manage the England side twice and the one that the FA had installed as their technical director? This was the logic that Sunderland Chairman Bob Murray showed today in 2002, when he gave Howard Wilkinson the reigns of his club. How could it fail? Er… Click here and find out.

When he’s good he’s good, but when he’s bad…

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