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 FOOTBALL ON THIS DAY.....     

February 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 September over the years.

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1st February

Football On This Day - 1st February 1936
A record-equalling high scoring day in the Football League with 209 goals being recorded in the 44 matches played. These included a 12-0 win for Chester over York City and Chesterfield beating Crewe Alexandra 6-5 away. In addition to Chesterfield there were 6 goals each for Coventry, Walsall, Watford, West Brom and West Ham and six more clubs scored 5 apiece.
Link - Record goals in one day

Football On This Day - 1st February 2003
They say that when you are down nothing seems to go your way and that certainly seemed to be true for Sunderland back in the 2002/03 season. Bottom of the Premier League on 1st February 2003 they were up against Charlton Athletic at the Stadium of Light. Remarkably Sunderland scored 3 goals in 7 first half minutes through Stephen Wright and Michael Proctor (2) - but the most remarkable thing was all three were own goals! Sunderland did score one at the right end in the second half - a penalty - but bottom of the table they remained. Did they do any better in the remaining 12 Premier League they played to the end of the season? No - they lost all 12.
Link - Sunderland results and table 2002/03

Football On This Day - 2nd February 1929
At 38 years and 2 days of age Andy Cunningham of Newcastle United became the oldest player ever to make his debut in the Football League, against Leicester City at St James' Park. The former Rangers player and Scottish international later became player-manager of the Magpies.

Football On This Day - 2nd February 1929
It's not unknown for goalkeepers to score from penalties - Alex Stepney scored a couple in the League for Manchester United - but its a tad unusual. Back on 2nd February 1929 Newport County 'keeper Jimmy Maidment hit the headlines when he took two penalties for Newport in a Third Division (South) match. He scored one but missed the other in the 4-1 victory over Torquay United. In his career total of 219 League outings for Newport he scored 3 goals, all from the penalty spot.
Link - Penalties

Football On This Day - 2nd February 1946
On this day in 1946 Arsenal's Kevin O'Flanagan played for Northern Ireland against Scotland in Belfast. Seven days before that he had played for Ireland against France in Dublin....at rugby! And he was pretty good at athletics as well! A doctor, he was one of the last amateurs to play first-team football for Arsenal - he needed to remain an amateur sportsman to continue playing rugby union. The 'Flying Doc' made 14 League and 2 FA Cup appearances for Arsenal in 1946, scoring twice.

Football On This Day - 2nd February 1991
Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, the only League defeat suffered by the Gunners on their way to the 1990/91 Premier League title. Arsenal were without captain Tony Adams who was in prison serving a sentence for a drink driving offence.
Link - all Arsenal's results/tables

Football On This Day - 2nd February 2013
Hartlepool United beat Notts County with goals from Peter Hartley and James Poole. So that’s Hartley and Poole score for Hartlepool….


 

Football On This Day - 3rd February 1954
On this day in 1954 Arsenal goalkeeper George Swindin was signed by the then non-leaguers Peterborough United on a free transfer as their player-manager. He spent four years in charge of Midland League Peterborough and did much to prepare them for League membership. That came in 1960 but by then Swindin had returned to Highbury - as Arsenal manager. Those were the days - can you imagine any of the big clubs now dipping into non-league football to recruit their manager?


Football On This Day - 3rd February 1960
It's not always a great idea to earn a replay against a bigger side in the FA Cup. In the 1959/60 season Crewe Alexandra drew 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur at Gresty Road in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. Four days later - on February 3rd 1960 - they visited White Hart Lane for the replay. Spurs won 13-2!
Link - FA Cup results 1959/60

Football On This Day - 3rd February 1974
Just two weeks after the first Football League matches were played on a Sunday Swindon Town player Jimmy Allan became the first League player to refuse to play on a Sunday for religious reasons. He missed the Division 2 match between Swindon and Bolton at the County Ground on 3rd February 1974 and despite Swindon manager Les Allen saying that he respected the views of the devout Christian goalkeeper Jimmy Allan found himself missing from a few more matches after that. Prior to the Bolton fixture he was an ever-present in the 27 League matches Swindon had played in 1973/74 while after the Bolton fixture he was only selected for two of the next eight League games.
Link - Sunday football

Football On This Day - 3rd February 1984
Millionaire publisher Robert Maxwell made a £10m bid for Manchester United. It wasn't successful - £10m seems like petty cash in modern football valuations.

Football On This Day - 3rd February 2007
Ever fancied sponsoring the stand of your local club - as the National Lottery ad once went 'It could be you'. For former Tesco worker Karen Child it proved to be her in February 2007 when a £1 lucky dip saw her win a Lotto jackpot of £8,471,383. The cheque was presented to her a few days later at Old Trafford but it was her local club, Chesterfield, who soon benefited from her generosity. She sponsored the Kop end at Chesterfield's former home at Saltergate and then the south stand at their new ground became the Karen Child Stand. Me, I'd be grateful enough to win enough to be able to buy a programme!

4th February

Football On This Day - 4th February 1948
Transfer fees were going mad with a new record transfer fee being set on 4th February 1948 when Len Shackleton made the short move from Newcastle to Sunderland. At £50 more than the previous record the £20,050 fee was as newsworthy as the £50m fee is nowadays. His debut for Newcastle in 1946 was probably the perfect one - he scored 6 goals for the Magpies in their 13-0 defeat of Newport County. Later in his autobiography one of the chapters was entitled 'What the average director knows about football' - it was blank!
Link - Debuts

Football On This Day - 4th February 2017
When Sunderland beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park in a vital Premier League relegation encounter there was one particularly relieved player - Sunderland's Jack Rodwell. The midfielder hadn't started a Premier League match that ended in a victory for his side since May 7th 2013. That run had lasted 39 matches - 2 for Manchester City and then all his first 37 League starts for Sunderland. Even then though he suffered a disappointment against Palace - an injury saw him subbed early in the second half.

Football On This Day - 4th February 2017
The trouble with a manager getting a touchline ban is usually means that they end up sitting with the plebs...that us us supporters! And that can be an uncomfortable experience as Arsène Wenger found out when sitting with the paying spectators at Stamford Bridge during a four-match touchline ban received at the start of 2017 for abusing a fourth official. The Arsenal manager sat next to an Arsenal fan who was his gardener - but the Frenchman had no idea who he was! “But I do have a big garden..." was Wenger's get-out clause! 

Football On This Day - 5th February 1913
A century or so ago massive attendances saw some serious crowd problems. A sell-out crowd at a Manchester City v Sunderland FA Cup tie was abandoned when spectators encroached onto the pitch. Four days later - on February 5th 1913 - the replay was staged at Roker Park and another capacity crowd saw spectators injured, as reported in the national press (below). Sunderland won the League title in 1912/13 but missed out on the double when Aston Villa defeated them in the FA Cup final. The attendance for that final, at the Crystal Palace, was a mahoosive 120,081 with only the 1923 FA Cup final ever having topped that figure for a football match in England.

Football On This Day - 5th February 1972
In a Fourth Round FA Cup replay Southern League Hereford United defeated First Division Newcastle United 2-1 on a quagmire of a pitch at Edgar Street. It was the first time in 23 years that a non-league side had defeated a First Division side in the FA Cup. Newcastle took the lead in the 82nd minute, against the run of play, with a goal from Malcolm Macdonald. With only 4 minutes remaining Ronnie Radford equalised with a spectacular 30-yard effort and during extra time Ricky George hit the winner. Amazing. The famous 'Oh, what a goal! Radford the scorer, Ronnie Radford' quote was said by John Motson in his Match of the Day commentary that evening. The 26-year-old Motty was in his very early days on TV and later credited that match as being his big break-through in TV. He later wrote is his autobiography 'It changed my life because my boss on Match of the Day realised I could be trusted to commentate on a big match.'
Link - FA Cup results 1971/72

6th February

Football On This Day - 6th February 1958
One of the saddest days in football history - the date of the Munich air crash. Manchester United were returning from a European Cup match in Yugoslavia against Red Star Belgrade and the aircraft they were travelling in made a refuelling stop in Munich. In the wintery conditions the aircraft hit a slushy area on the runway and failed to take off, ploughing through the fence at the end of the runway and hitting a house. The crash claimed 23 lives - players, club staff, journalists, crew and other passengers. A tragedy for all the victims, a tragic day that will never be forgotten.

Football On This Day - 6th February 1961
Danny Blanchflower found footballing fame with Tottenham and Northern Ireland but he was also very much his own man. On this day in 1961 - while he was captaining Spurs to the first League and FA Cup double in the 20th Century - he became the first person to turn down the invitation from Eamonn Andrews to accept the red book and appear on TV's This Is Your Life. He said 'I consider the programme to be an invasion of privacy.....nobody is going to press gang me into anything.' At the time the programme was show live forcing the BBC to screen a reserve programme on the night.

Football On This Day - 6th February 1965
Sir Stanley Matthews made his final appearance in the League for Stoke v Fulham at the Victoria Ground. He made made his debut for Stoke back in 1932 and had celebrated his 50th birthday days before the Fulham match and so became the oldest player to play in the top flight. In later years he said he regretted retiring when he did and could have played on for another couple of years!

Football On This Day - 6th February 1988
A First Division match at Plough Lane on this day in 1988 brought together opposing clubs Wimbledon and Newcastle United and opposing players Paul Gascoigne and Vinnie Jones. The clubs fought out a forgettable 0-0 draw but the meeting of the players resulted in an iconic image that will never be forgotten. Much has been said about the incident that must have been reproduced a million times on everything from posters to t-shirts but the best quote I think came from George Best - "Hard men? Well, there was that picture of Vinnie Jones holding Gazza's wotsits. In my day we called someone who did that a poof."

Football On This Day - 6th February 1999
On the 41st anniversary of Munich, top of the table Manchester United visited bottom of the table Nottingham Forest in a Premier League fixture. United brought on Ole Gunnar Solskjær as a sub in the 72nd minute with the Norwegian scoring 4 times in a 10 minute spell to help United to a 8-1 away victory. United went on to win the title, Forest finished bottom with the scoreline remaining a record Premier League away win until Leicester won 9-0 at Southampton in 2019.
Link - 1998/99 Premier League table and all the results.

7th February

Football On This Day - 7th February 1925
The date of one of the most unusual player transfers in English football history. Albert Pape started the day as a player for Second Division Clapton Orient (now Leyton Orient) and travelled by train with his team-mates for a league match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Before his departure from London representatives of the two clubs had spoken on the phone and had agreed in principle for Pape's transfer from Orient to United for a £1070 fee. When the Clapton Orient players arrived at Manchester's Piccadilly Station around mid-day United manager John Chapman was there to negotiate terms with Pape. Terms were agreed and the paperwork was wired from the Manchester General Post Office to the Football League and the FA and about an hour before kick off Albert Pape was confirmed as a Manchester United player. In the morning he was expecting to play for Clapton Orient against Manchester United but in fact turned out for Manchester United against Clapton Orient. Not only that he scored a goal for his new club in their 4-2 victory over his old club!




Football On This Day - 7th February 1970
George Best gave a masterclass performance when he scored 6 goals in an FA Cup Fifth Round match at the County Ground home of Northampton Town. Manchester United won the match 8-2. Northampton's goalkeeper, Kim Book, later said 'not even the Berlin Wall could have stopped Best that day' while Ray Fairfax, Bests' marker, said 'the closest I got to him was when we shook hands after the game.'
Link - FA Cup results 1969/70
 

8th February

Football On This Day – 8th February 1921
The Bower Fold has been the home ground of Stalybridge Celtic since the club’s formation in 1909. Despite having been members of the Football League for a couple of seasons the highest attendance for a Stalybridge Celtic fixture at the ground was in the FA Cup - 9,753 were present to see them lose 2-0 to West Bromwich Albion in a First Round replay back on 17th January 1923. That wasn't the biggest crowd at the ground though. That was recorded on 8th February1921 for a friendly match – between the Dick, Kerr Ladies team and a Rest of Lancashire XI. The official attendance was 10,400 but it was estimated that over 13,000 were present. Women’s football had become incredibly popular during the First World War with the Preston works side – Dick, Kerr Ladies – being the most popular of the lot. In the match at Stalybridge Dick, Kerr Ladies beat the Rest of Lancashire 10-1 with £600 being raised for the Ashton-under-Lyne Infirmary. Later in 1921 the Football Association banned clubs under their control from staging women’s matches at their grounds – for the safety of women they said!


Football On This Day – 8th February 2000
The day of the match that led to my favourite newspaper headline being printed - mighty Celtic were beaten 3-1 at home by part-timers minnows Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a Scottish Cup tie. In a take on the song in Mary Poppins - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - the headline read 'Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious'. In addition to the headline the result also saw the sacking of the Celtic manager, John Barnes, with the former England player being replaced by Kenny Dalglish.

Football On This Day – 8th February 2012
Two stories dominated the sporting news on this day in 2012. First of all Fabio Capello resigned as manager of England. The FA had gone over the Italian’s head to deprive John Terry of the England captaincy following the controversial Anton Ferdinand incident and Capello, believing his authority had been undermined, resigned as a result. On the same day at Southwark Crown Court Harry Redknapp was cleared of tax evasion having been accused of accepting secret untaxed bonus payments while manager of Portsmouth. Inevitably the press connected the two stories believing that ‘Arry’s acquittal removed the only obstacle to him becoming the new England manager. Well, it didn’t quite happen like that – but should it have done?

Football On This Day – 8th February 2015
One of the more unusual managerial appointments (and there have been some unusual ones!) - came on 8th February 2015 when Steve Harmison was appointed boss of Ashington FC. Harmiston was a former Durham and England fast-bowler who had played 63 times for England and had taken 226 Test wickets. Ashington FC were in the Northern League and had a usual home attendance of around 200. Harmison explained that it was his hometown club, he played for them before he joined Durham and trained with them while a Durham cricketer. But his first footballing love was Newcastle United! He resigned from the job in October 2017.
Link - Football & Cricket

Football On This Day – 9th February 1974
It seems that Johan Cruyff was not only a great footballer but also a persuasive husband! When his wife was expecting their third child the story goes that he persuaded her to have a caesarean so the child could be born early in a two-week break his club - Barcelona - had from competitive football. That would leave him time to prepare for their next match, against Real Madrid! So on 9th February 1974 his only son was born in Amsterdam and was named after the patron saint of Barcelona and Catalonia, Sant Jordi (Saint George in English). Jordi Cruyff was also to become a Dutch international footballer with his clubs including Manchester United and Barcelona. And the match against Real Madrid? Johan Cruyff was man of the match in his first El Clásico and scored a goal in Barcelona's 5-0 win at the Santiago Bernabéu. Not a bad week in his life then!

Football On This Day – 9th February 1979
Trevor Francis became the first £1m British footballer when moving from Birmingham City to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. Cloughie insisted that he only paid £999,999 for Francis but with add-ons the total fee was over £1.15m. The new record fee was over double the old record set just the previous month when David Mills moved from Middlesbrough to WBA.

Football On This Day – 9th February 1985
Forty years after the end of the conflict the Second World War saw the postponement of a Football League match in 1985. An unexploded Second World War bomb found near Sheffield United's Bramall Lane ground forced the postponement of their Second Division fixture against Oldham Athletic. After the bomb was safely disposed of the match was played 3 days later.
Link - Postponed matches

Football On This Day – 10th February 1975
Southern League Wimbledon played a ‘home’ FA Cup 4th Round replay against League champions Leeds United at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park before a mahoosive 45,071 crowd. After winning at First Division Burnley in the Third Round and drawing at Elland Road in the Fourth the non-leaguers lost by the only goal of the match – an unlucky deflection – in the replay against Leeds. Thirteen years later Wimbledon beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final!
Link - FA Cup results 1974/75
 

Football On This Day – 10th February 1996
When a player moves from Italy's Serie A to join Grimsby Town - and pays half the transfer fee out of his own pocket - you can imagine he would become a fans' favourite. Sadly though the main memory of Ivano Bonetti in darkest Lincolnshire wasn't of him on the pitch but the infamous 'chicken wings' incident. After a 3-2 defeat away to Luton Town on Saturday 10th February 1996 (just a month after they had beaten Luton 7-1 in an FA Cup tie) Grimsby manager Brian Laws confronted the former Juventus player about his lack of effort and the confrontation ended when Laws threw a plate of chicken wings at Bonetti, breaking his cheekbone. And that certainly made the headlines!
Link - Injuries

Football On This Day – 10th February 2002
When former Spurs favourites Paul Gascoigne and David Ginola teamed up for a Tottenham Legends charity match against Inter Milan at the new Spurs ground in March 2019 it proved a very popular photo opportunity. But the two did once play together in the Premier League - for about 20 minutes - in the colours of Everton on 10th February 2002 against Arsenal at Goodison Park. David Ginola made his debut for Everton in that match with Gazza coming on as a late sub. Ginola only ever made five League outings for Everton with the Arsenal match being the only one they played together in the Premier League. Arsenal won 1-0. 

11th February

Football On This Day - 11th February 1939
One of the great grounds in English football - Molineux - recorded its record attendance with 61,315 being present to see Wolves defeat Liverpool 4-1 in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup. That beat the previous record attendance, set against Arsenal in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup a year previously, by just 48 fans. The current ground capacity is just a little over half those two pre-war attendances. After their 1939 victory over Liverpool Wolves went on to reach the FA Cup final where they suffered a major upset, losing 4-1 to Portsmouth, to finish the last completed season before the Second World War in second place in both the League and FA Cup.
Link - Wolves League & Cup history

Football On This Day - 11th February 1998
At just over 18 years of age Liverpool striker Michael Owen became England’s youngest international of the 20th Century when he made his debut against Chile at Wembley. Chile won 2-0. Owen went on to score 40 goals in 89 England appearances, his last appearance being against France in 2008.

12th February

Football On This Day – 12th February 1955
Duncan Edwards of Manchester United and England was regarded as the superstar of his generation – but forget the wealth of the modern star player. After playing in a local derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford on 12th February 1955 (which City won 5-0) he was later caught by the police riding home on his bike without lights. He was fined five bob (25p) by the courts and two weeks wages by Manchester United for bringing their name into disrepute. Tragically he was killed at Munich in 1958.




Football On This Day – 12th February 2003
Seventeen-year-old Wayne Rooney became the youngest English international – a record later beaten by Theo Walcott – when he made his England debut in the friendly against Australia at Upton Park. The first England v Australia international played in England is perhaps best remembered as the match in which England fielded two teams – all 11 players who started the match were substituted at half time. Australia won the match 3-1.

Football On This Day –  13th February 1909
Now this one takes some believing - but its true. The Second Division fixture at Turf Moor between Burnley and Grimsby Town on this day in 1909 saw four separate penalties being awarded to the home side. Amazingly three of those penalties were saved by the Grimsby goalkeeper Walter Scott - and they were saved by the 'keeper not hit wide by the penalty takers. Burnley did score from the other penalty - but hey wouldn't it be great to have a keeper like that playing for England in penalty shoot-outs! Burnley won the match 2-0 with Grimsby playing with 10 men for 70 minutes because of an injury - no subs in those days. 

Football On This Day –  13th February 1999
A unique match in the history of the FA Cup. Arsenal beat Sheffield United 2-1 in the Fifth Round at Highbury but at Arsenal’s request the match was replayed. Just before Arsenal’s winner Sheffield United goalkeeper Alan Kelly had kicked the ball out of play to allow an injured player to receive treatment. Ray Parlour restarted the match with a throw-in intended for a Sheffield United player but Arsenal’s Kanu intercepted the ball and centred for Marc Overmars to score the winner. Kanu was making his debut for Arsenal which was his first match in English football and later said he was unaware of the circumstances and believed it was an attacking move. Although no actual law had been broken an unwritten rule had been and the match was replayed. Arsenal won that one 2-1 again, fairly this time!
Link - FA Cup results 1998/99

14th February

Football On This Day - 14th February 1925
Well, there wasn’t much love around when Liverpool played Newcastle in a First Division fixture on Valentines Day 1925. A century or so ago sendings-off were very rare with Liverpool only having two players dismissed in their first 1000 League matches. But that figure was then doubled in the match against Newcastle at Anfield with Newcastle seeing one of their own players also receiving marching orders. First to go was Liverpool’s Jock McNab for kicking an opposition player and he was followed a few minutes later by team-mate Walter Wadsworth and Newcastle’s Tommy Urwin. A hard challenge on Urwin by Wadsworth was followed by Wadsworth throwing a lump of mud at Urwin and then Urwin punching Wadsworth in the face! Legend has it that the two Liverpool players were having a moan about the events in the dressing room when a director came to see them there and McNab quipped ‘Bloody hell, has the ref started to send the directors off now?’

Football On This Day - 14th February 1931
What a contrast! In only their eleventh season as a League club Watford reached the last 16 of the FA Cup for the first time in their history. That 5th Round tie against Birmingham at St Andrews attracted the highest attendance ever to watch Watford up to that date - 49,757. Just two days later - Monday February 16th - Watford were back in League action (Division 3 South) playing Thames at the vast 100,000+ capacity West Ham Stadium (not where WHU played)- in front of a crowd of just 853 fans! The Hornets lost both matches.
Link - Watford results 1930/31

Football On This Day - 14th February 1973
Bobby Moore won his 100th England cap and Willie Ormond took charge for the first time as Scotland’s manager in the friendly international at Hampden Park. England came out on top with a 5-0 victory which equalled Scotland’s worst ever home defeat.

Football On This Day - 14th February 2014
Valentine’s Day 2014 saw Premier League bottom club Fulham change managers, René Meulensteen being replaced by Felix Magath. Magath was the first German to manage in the Premier League and his sides had won 3 Bundesliga titles in his native Germany. But in England his Fulham side managed just three wins in his 19 League matches in charge before he was sacked in September after relegated Fulham found themselves bottom of the Championship with just a single point from their first seven League fixtures of the season. But that dismal record isn’t what Magath was best remembered for – his main claim for fame was the treatment he ordered when Brede Hangeland suffered a thigh injury. He over-ruled the traditional treatment and ordered that the club captain place a slab of cheese soaked in alcohol over the injured thigh!
Link - Injuries
 

Football On This Day – 15th February 1993
As a player Ian Porterfield is probably best remembered as the scorer of the only goal in the 1973 FA Cup Final when Sunderland beat Leeds United. Less well known perhaps is the record he set as a manager -  he was the first Premier League manager to be sacked! Porterfield managed Chelsea in 1992/93, the first season of the Premier League, and on December 5th 1992 Chelsea beat Spurs 2-1 at White Hart Lane to occupy fourth place in the table. They were looking like surprise title contenders – but then things changed! They didn’t manage a win in their next 11 League outings, dropped to mid-table and on Monday 15th February – two days after Aston Villa had beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their 29th League outing of the season – Ian Porterfield received his marching orders and was replaced by a former Stamford Bridge favourite, David Webb. But he had set that record that will be his for ever – the first Premier League manager to be sacked!

Football On This Day – 15th February 1995
England fans disgraced themselves in Dublin forcing the friendly match between the Republic of Ireland and England at Lansdowne Road to be abandoned. When Ireland took a 1-0 lead with a David Kelly goal in the 23rd minute a section of England ‘fans’ ripped up seats in the upper stand and threw them onto spectators below. No further play was possible and for only the third time an England match was abandoned.
Link - Abandoned matches

Football On This Day – 15th February 2003
It's rare for a footballing injury to make the front pages - but this one was bound to! After Arsenal had beaten Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford in the Third Round of the FA Cup United manager Alex Ferguson had kicked a boot in the changing-room in frustration. Nothing newsworthy in that - he was well remembered for his moments of anger. But the boot hit 'Golden Balls' David Beckham in the face causing a cut over his left eye which needed stitches. Now that hit the headlines.

Football On This Day – 16th February 1929
Ashington spent 8 seasons in the Football League in the 1920s, their last season being 1928/29. They finished bottom of the Third Division (North) that season conceding 115 goals with their worst defeat being 8-2 at home to eventual champions Bradford City. On this day in 1929 Ashington suffered another major defeat at their Portland Park ground that season, 4-7 against Doncaster Rovers with Tom Keetley scoring 6 of the Doncaster goals. That was – and still is – the record goals scored by a Doncaster player in a League match while the 180 League goals he scored in his Doncaster career also remains a Rovers record. Amazingly Tom was one of six Keetley brothers who played in the Football League including four – Tom plus Harry, Joe and Frank – who turned out for Doncaster Rovers.
Link - Ashington results and tables in the Football League

 Football On This Day – 16th February 1952
In the days before substitutes injured players were often expected to stay on the pitch and do their duty. On this day in 1952, Stoke goalkeeper Dennis Herod suffered a first half injury in a Division 1 match against Aston Villa at Villa Park. He was patched up and sent out for the second half and asked 'to make a nuisance of himself' on the left wing. He did just that - and scored the winning goal in Stoke's 3-2 victory. His injury - a broken arm!
Link - Injuries

Football On This Day – 16th February 2000
Footballers behaving badly again hit the headlines on this day in 2000 when Leicester City were kicked out of the exclusive La Manga resort in Spain. Leicester were taking a mid-winter break prior to their League Cup final against Tranmere Rovers but with their players generally misbehaving and Stan Collymore emptying the contents of a fire extinguisher over players and guests their stay was cut short. The club got the players to pay for the damage and fined the person they thought the ringleader – Stan Collymore – two weeks wages. Not bad seeing that he had only been signed by City a week earlier!

Believing that was behind them Leicester City visited La Manga again in March 2004. This time six players were arrested and appeared in court accused of sexual aggression. Three of them – Paul Dickov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair spent a week in prison before the charges were dropped. I understand Leicester City now go to Skegness for their winter sun!

Football On This Day – 17th February 1934
What is still a record crowd for a match at Hillsborough was set when Sheffield Wednesday played Manchester City in an FA Cup 5th Round tie – 72,841. The match ended 2-2 but City won the replay and went on to win the FA Cup for the second time in their history. Hillsborough hosted its first match in 1899 when it was known as Owlerton, the stadium becoming Hillsborough in 1914. The current capacity of Hillsborough is a little under 40,000.
Link - FA Cup results 1933/34

Football On This Day – 17th February 1973
In the First Division fixture at Molineux between Wolves and Newcastle brothers Kenny and Terry Hibbitt were on opposing sides - Kenny scored for Wolves and Terry equalised for Newcastle in the 1-1 draw.

Football On This Day – 17th February 2018
Players were literally quaking in their boots on this Saturday afternoon in South Wales. The worst earthquake to hit the country in ten years - it had a 4.4 magnitude - was felt between Liverpool and Devon but it had its epicentre in South Wales. It saw the referee in the Welsh League match between Port Talbot and Taff's Well stop play for a spell in the first half, surely a unique experience for all concerned!

Football On This Day – 18th February 1931
Dixie Dean's two goals in the 5-2 Second Division victory over Barnsley at Goodison meant that he had scored in 12 consecutive Football League matches. The run had started on December 6th and in those 12 matches Dean had scored 23 times to help Everton to some amazing victories which included a 9-1 home win over Plymouth and a 7-0 victory at Charlton. Dixie Dean scored 39 of Everton's club record 121 League goals that season (plus another 9 in the FA Cup) which saw them finish as champions in their first season in Division 2. Three seasons earlier he had set a goalscoring record that stands to this day when scoring 60 League goals in a season.
Link - All Everton's results since 1888/89.
Link - Goals and their Goalscorers.

Football On This Day – 18th February 1987
England visited Madrid and beat Spain 4-2. Gary Lineker scored all four England goals and manager Bobby Robson - who was celebrating his 54th birthday - gave Tony Adams his international debut. Those were the days!

Football On This Day – 18th February 2017
A Guinness world record was set at the Rochdale v Charlton Athletic League 1 fixture - Derby fan Ed Wood reclaimed the record for attending matches at all the League grounds in England in the shortest time. He had started his quest at the League 1 match between Bristol Rovers and Oxford United on August 14th 2016 and 189 days later at Spotland had visited the 93 League grounds – that’s the 92 Premier and Football League grounds plus the Shielfied Park home of Berwick Rangers, the Scottish League side who had their home in England. The original record of 264 days was set by Mike Jones and Bob Wilson in the 1968-69 season (no Sunday matches in those days), Ed Wood reduced that to 243 days in 1991/92 before Ken Ferris lowered it to 237 days in the 1994/95 season. To reclaim that record Ed had taken a six-month unpaid holiday from Lloyds Bank and he raised money for Prostate Cancer UK during his travels. The new record is virtually a match every two days on average and on four occasions Ed attending two matches in a day - can the record be beaten?

Football On This Day – 18th February 2023
Most clubs have celebrity supporters - the bigger the club the more celebrities seem to support them! Back in 2008 Hollywood legend Tom Hanks announced that he was an Aston Villa fan when attending the premiere in London of his film Charlie Wilson's War. It wasn't the clubs' history or their style of play which appealed to him but he liked their 'old world name'. He said that  'Aston Villa sounds like a lovely little place... it sounds like a spa.' Anyway to be fair to him he saved up hard for a plane fare and a ticket and on Saturday 18th February 2023 the curtain was raised for his first visit to Villa Park for a match, Arsenal being the visitors in the Premier League. As if scripted Villa took the lead in five minutes through Ollie Watkins and twice led before two Arsenal stoppage time goals finally gave the Londoners a 4-2 win which took them to the top of the table.

Football On This Day – 19th February 1910
On Saturday 19 February 1910 Old Trafford staged its first match when Manchester United met Liverpool in a First Division match. Not that it was called Old Trafford in those days but the ‘United Football Ground’ which just hasn’t got the same ring about it has it! Originally planned as a 100,000 capacity stadium by the time it was built the capacity of the vast terraces had been reduced to 80,000 with about 45,000 present at that match against Liverpool. United’s Sandy Turnbull scored the first goal at the new ground but visitors Liverpool spoiled the party, winning 4-3.
Link - All Manchester United's results and tables

Football On This Day – 19th February 2008
The day before they were due to play AC Milan in the Champions League the main talking point in the Arsenal camp seemed to be why their goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia, had been special permission to go home at lunch-times to see his wife. The Daily Mail reported that she thought that the house was haunted and didn't like being left alone in it. The house was built on the site of a former psychiatric hospital and she claimed to have seen a ghost - a monk carrying a candle - by their bed. The following day Arsenal - without Almunia - drew 0-0 with defending champions AC Milan at the Emirates but a couple of weeks later - with Almunia - they became the first English club to beat AC Milan in the San Siro to earn a quarter-final tie with Liverpool.
Link - Arsenal results 2007/08

Football On This Day - 20th February 1922
On Monday February 20th 1922 Bill Poyntz of Leeds United got married in the morning and later in the day scored a hat-trick at Elland Road in the 3-0 Second Division victory over Leicester City. Nine days before he had become the first Leeds player to be sent off in a League fixture. An eventful few days!
Link - FA Cup results 1925/26

Football On This Day – 20th February 2017
After non-leaguers Sutton United played Arsenal in the 5th Round of the FA Cup amazingly the main talking point was about a photograph….of a bloke eating a pie! The gentleman in question, the 46-year-old 23-stone Wayne Shaw, was probably no stranger to the eating of pies but the photograph was taken during the match while he sat on the subs bench – he was the Sutton substitute goalkeeper! The story soon became less humorous when it was claimed that it was a publicity stunt for a bookmaker and that bets had been made that he would be photographed eating a pie during the match. The FA launched an investigation, Shaw resigned from Sutton the day after the match and was offered a pie-tasting job as Morrison’s supermarket – oh, and  Sutton put up a good display in a 2-0 defeat with the Gunners going on to win the FA Cup for a record 13th time.
Link - FA Cup results 2016/17

Football On this Day – 21st February 1972
A Third Division side staging a friendly on a cold Monday night in February doesn't sound the sort of match that would excite the imagination does it. But 54,437 turned up at Villa Park to see a friendly between Aston Villa and Brazilian side Santos...for perhaps more accurately to see Pele play! And the Brazil legend didn't disappoint putting on a dazzling display for the Villa faithful although it was Edu who scored the Santos goal in their 2-1 defeat.

 

Football On this Day – 21st February 1995
Arsenal sacked manager George Graham after a Premier League investigation had found that he had taken a £425,000 ‘bung’ from agent Rune Hauge when arranging the transfer of two players to Arsenal, John Jensen and Pal Lyderson, who were both clients of Hauge. Later that day under caretaker manager Stewart Houston Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 1-0, their first home League win since October.

Football On this Day – 21st February 2004
If you ever think of leaving a match early to miss the rush just think of what you might miss! Back on this day in 2004 Charlton were beating Blackburn 2-1 in their Premier League clash at The Valley. In the last minute of normal time Blackburn were awarded a corner and desperate for an equaliser their goalkeeper Brad Friedel went forward to join the attack – and he scored! It was the only goal the American scored in over 600 league and cup games he played in this country. But his involvement in the game wasn’t over. With seconds of added time remaining he had to retrieve the ball from the back of his net – Charlton had scored the winner in the 3-2 victory. Early leavers would have missed all that!

Football On this Day – 21st February 2007
Well, the headlines on this day were all about Liverpool winning in Barcelona to become the first English club to win a Champions League match at the Nou Camp but the main story seemed to be about a fall-out between two of the Liverpool players. At a team bonding evening at the pre-match training camp in Portugal two Liverpool players – Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise – had an argument about a karaoke performance which was allegedly followed by a violent confrontation between the two involving a golf club. Both the players were selected for the Barcelona game and scored a goal each in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory but it was Craig Bellamy’s goal celebration that became the talking point – he swung an imaginary golf club!

Football On this Day – 21st February 2009
It was literally men against boys in the Conference fixture between Weymouth and Rushden & Diamonds. A financial crisis forced Weymouth to field a youth team and the Diamonds ran out 9-0 winners. That was the record defeat for Weymouth, the record victory for Rushden & Diamonds and equalled the biggest thumping in Conference history. Weymouth played 14 more Conference matches that season after the Rushden defeat picking up only one point and scoring just 4 goals (one of those an og!). They were duly relegated but survived their financial problems although ironically it was the Diamonds who soon went bust. A financial crisis of their own saw them  expelled from the Conference in June 2011 and a month later they went bust.
Link - Rushden & Diamonds in the Football League.

Football On This Day - 22nd February 1956
Floodlights started appearing at Football League grounds in the early 1950s but opposition from the FA and Football League at that time prevented competitive matches being played under lights. It wasn’t until November 1955 that two Football League clubs played an FA Cup tie under floodlights and at the Football League AGM in June 1955 the rules were changed to allow League matches to go ahead under lights. The first Football league match to be played under floodlights was at Fratton Park on Wednesday 22nd February 1956 when Portsmouth entertained Newcastle United in a First Division fixture that kicked off at 7pm. Goals from Bill Curry and Vic Keeble saw Newcastle record a 2-0 win in front of 15,831 fans. Where would we be without them now?

Football On This Day - 22nd February 1991
’King Kenny’ abdicated at Anfield. Kenny Dalglish resigning at Liverpool was the shock news of the day – if not the season. He had first joined Liverpool in 1977 when Bob Paisley paid a British record transfer fee of £440,000 to Celtic for him and had become player-manager in 1985, just before the Heysel tragedy. During his career at Liverpool the club had won practically everything many times over but it seems that the stress of the job finally took its toll on the Scot.

Football On This Day – 22nd February 2003
Leicester fans had an unusual decision to make during half-time in the match against Wimbledon on Saturday 22nd February 2003 - the name of their club! Until 1919 the club had been known as Leicester Fosse and they were considering reverting to that name. But the fans were given the final say - each was given a card showing a C for City on one side and an F for Fosse on the other. In a show of cards at half-time the  Cs won by a mile...and Leicester City they remained.
 

23rd February


Football On This Day - 23rd February 1966
Just five months before England met West Germany in the World Cup final the two countries met in a friendly at Wembley. Manager Alf Ramsey obviously had a good idea what his best team was as nine of the players who were to become World Cup winners were in the starting line-up in that match, Geoff Hurst winning his first cap. The two players who started in the match on this day in 1966 who didn't play in July were Keith Newton and Norman Hunter who were replaced in the World Cup final team by Ray Wilson and Martin Peters. Nobby Stiles scored the only goal of the match, the only goal he scored in his England career.

Football On This Day - 23rd February 1983
Football often seems like a TV soap opera but on February 23rd 1983 the two did seem to merge into one. It was a big night at Old Trafford where Manchester United entertained Arsenal in a League Cup semi-final with Wembley just 90 minutes away. It was also a big night for Manchester’s TV soap opera – Coronation Street – which attracted its biggest viewership of the year for an episode which was another north v south encounter. How would Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) sort out her tangled love-life? Would she choose the northerner – her husband Ken – or the Cockney boyfriend – Mike Baldwin? One of the biggest cheers of the night at Old Trafford came when it was announced that she had chosen Ken. That was 1-0 to the north which became 2-0 when Manchester United won through to the Wembley final. All was well north of the Watford Gap!

Football On This Day – 23rd February 2017
After managing unfashionable 5000-1 outsiders Leicester City to the Premier League title in 2015/16 you would have thought that Claudio Ranieri would have had a job at Leicester for life – but he was sacked just 9 months later! Apart from leading Leicester to the title he had increased expectations at the King Power Stadium and in February 2017 with defending champions Leicester hovering just above the relegation area and with no league win or even league goal since December pressure on him grew. On February 23rd, just two weeks after the City owners had offered him their ‘unwavering support’ and despite club vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (some Scrabble score there) describing him as ‘the most successful Leicester City manager of all time’, Ranieri was sacked. The decision was widely condemned with Gary Lineker describing it as ‘inexplicable, unforgivable and gut-wrenchingly sad’. Rumours were rife that Ranieri had ‘lost’ the dressing room and that certainly looked the case when the same players won their first six matches for new manager Craig Shakespeare – a winning run they didn’t even manage in the title-winning season. Leicester finished safely in a mid-table position and they were ordinary again!

Football On This Day - 24th February 1951
In the Southend v Swindon Division 3 (South) fixture played on this day in 1951 away side Swindon took a 2-0 lead and must have been hoping for a win. At the end of 90 minutes those hopes had been shattered - they had lost 8-2!

Football On This Day - 24th February 2004
Bournemouth's James Hayter scored the quickest hat-trick in Football League on Tuesday February 24th 2004 in a 6-0 Division 2 victory over Wrexham at Dean Court. Brought on as a substitute with only six minutes remaining he scored a hat-trick in just 2 minutes 20 seconds. His parents and brother were at the match but 10 minutes before the final whistle and with no sign that James would make an appearance they left early to catch a ferry back to their home in the Isle of Wight and so missed the history-making achievement.
Link - hat-tricks
 

Football On This Day - 25th February 1967
An FA Amateur Cup 4th Round match between Highgate United and Enfield ended in tragedy. A bolt of lightning hit the centre of the pitch knocking over several players and tragically one of those, the Highgate centre-half Tony Allden, died in hospital the following day from his injuries.
Link - full story, abandoned matches

Football On This Day - 25th February 2016
All the footballing headlines that day centred on 18-year-old Marcus Rashford of Manchester United who made his first-team debut for the Reds against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League. He only got into the side because team-mate Anthony Martial injured himself in the pre-match warm-up but proceeded to score 2 goals in United's 5-1 victory. He became the youngest United player to score a goal in European competition, breaking the record which George Best had set over 50 years earlier. The headlines stayed with him when three days later he scored twice more In Manchester United's 3-2 Premier League defeat of Arsenal and set another record. This time he became the youngest ever Manchester United player to score a goal on his League debut. An eventful three days!
Link - debuts
Link - Manchester United results 2015/16

Football On This Day – 26th February 1999
On February 26th 1999 Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was caught by police driving his BMW on the hard shoulder of the M602 near Manchester. Wrong but not particularly newsworthy - well not particularly newsworthy until the matter went to court in October and Sir Alex gave his defence! He said that he was rushing to get to a toilet!  Bury Magistrates Court was told that he was suffering from acute gastroenteritis and severe diarrhoea and needed the toilet so drove on the hard shoulder to get past a traffic jam. He had been too embarrassed to explain to the police the reason at the time so explaining to the Court, and the world, what the two options were on that day, must have been a tad difficult. He was let off!
Link - Crime and Punishment

Football On This Day – 26th February 2010
With debts of around £70m Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to enter administration and so later suffered a 9 point deduction. Pompey played in the 2010 FA Cup final as a Premier League club but after a succession of owners and two more points deductions because of financial problems by 2013 they were in League 2.
Link - points deductions

Football On This Day – 27th February 1963
Alf Ramsey took charge of England for the first time, away to France in a European Nations Cup tie. England lost 5-2 with just two of the team that were to win the World Cup in 1966 – Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton.

Football On This Day – 27th February 1978
The top clubs can win the FA Cup by playing just 6 matches over 6 rounds. That’s not the case for non-league clubs! Back in the 1977/78 season Northern League Blyth Spartans became only the third non-league club to reach the 5th round (last 16) of the competition since the Second World War with doubtless their dreams not being of Wembley but of playing a top side, away from home. They had started their FA Cup campaign that season in the first qualifying round played on September 17th with their last match coming over 5 months later, on 27th February, which was their 11th fixture in the competition over 9 rounds. They were cruelly robbed of a dream tie with the 5th Round draw being Blyth away to the winners of a replay between their near neighbours Newcastle United and Wrexham - with the Welshmen winning. But Blyth drew at Wrexham and the home replay was switched to St James’ Park. An amazing crowd of 42,167 witnessed the match and despite being beaten 2-1 and missing out on a home 6th Round tie against Arsenal what amazing memories they had. That’s what is called the magic of the FA Cup.

Football On This Day – 27th February 2011
If a player from an away team kicked a home player he wouldn’t end up being too popular with the home supporters. Worse still, if a player from the visiting team kicked the home team’s unofficial mascot/good luck symbol he would end up being less popular still. That is what happened when Popular Junior played Deportivo Pereira in a Colombian League match in 2011. That unofficial mascot – an owl which lived at the ground – wandered onto the pitch where it was soon hit by the ball. The referee stopped the match and Deportivo player Luis Moreno walked over to the injured owl and kicked it off the pitch. That action saw the player receive worldwide condemnation as well and a two-match suspension and fine. Sadly the owl died.  

Football On This Day – 28th February 2005
When it comes to football controversies few would have expected TV chef Delia Smith to be at the centre of one, but at the centre of one she was on this day in 2005. The majority shareholder of Norwich City grabbed a microphone during the interval of the Premier League match between the Canaries and Manchester City and to drum up a bit of vocal support for the home side had this to say. ‘A message for the best football supporters in the world. We need a twelfth man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let's be having you. Come on." Was she drunk? Was it an undignified outburst or a genuine plea from a loyal supporter? The papers were full of it. Sadly though the words didn’t inspire the Canaries – the only goal after the break proved to be the winner for Manchester City and Norwich were relegated at the end of the season.
Link - Norwich City results 2004/05

29th February

Football On This Day – 29th February 1964
In only their second season in the Football League Oxford United became the first Fourth Division side to play in the 6th Round - the quarter-finals - of the FA Cup. They were beaten 2-1 at their Manor Ground home by Preston North End. Second Division Preston enjoyed their own bit of FA Cup glory in 1963/64 going on to reach the final where they were beaten 3-2 by West Ham at Wembley.
Link - 1963/64 FA Cup results

Football On This Day – 29th February 1972
Three stories from that day show how much the buying power of money has changed over the years. Arsenal's FA Cup tie against Derby at Highbury that night saw ticket touts make a killing -  selling £1 seat tickets for £20!  Manchester United paid a club record fee of £125,000 to Aberdeen to sign future club captain Martin Buchan - do any of their players earn less than that in a week now? And on the same night Fulham played Benfica in the official opening of the Riverside stand at Craven Cottage. The stand cost £334,000 to build - you can pay that to add a conservatory to the back of a house in London nowadays!

Football On This Day – 29th February 2004
Middlesbrough had to wait until Leap Year Day in 2004 to win their first major national competition - the Carling Cup (League Cup). Against Bolton in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff  Middlesbrough took a two goal lead inside the first seven minutes (Joseph-Désiré Job and Boudewijn Zenden the scorers) before Bolton pulled one back through Kevin Davies to leave The Boro 2-1 winners.
Link - 2003/04 League Cup results

"Viv Anderson has pissed a fatness test."
John Helm

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