The Football Blog

True football history on this day way back in 1888. For today was the day that the first ever Football League matches were played. A day to rejoice if ever. Willy McGregor, (that’s right, he’s Scottish, but don’t hold that against him) is the man we must pay homage to today, for it was he who decided that the game needed to be a little more organised. And so it was he who came up with the idea of the Football League.

Silly-named football club formed....

Sheffield Wednesday. What's that name all about? Why just Wednesday? What happened to the rest of the week? Well, we'll you, because on this very day in 1867, one of the oldest clubs in professional football was formed. Back in the early part of the 19th century Sheffield workers used to get Wednesday afternoons off to play a bit of cricket, and thus, the Wednesday cricket club was formed in 1820.

When they got a little bored of playing cricket, or rather when they needed to keep fit during the winter, they began playing the gods' game. It became so popular that they turned professional in 1887, then forgot all about the leather and willow in 1924, and in 1929 they officially changed their name to Sheffield Wednesday. Not so daft now is it? Well...

Shepherd: Delighted...

As he's appointed Newcastle manager in 1999...

Hands up who has a clue what's going on at Newcastle? Put it down you liar. Yes we're talking to you Mike Ashley. Big Mike is doing his royal best to try and emulate Newcastle's previous
owners in sheer controversy value. Bearing in mind that Freddie Shepherd and Douglas Hall called Newcastle's women dogs, and labelled Geordie hero Alan Shearer Mary Poppins, Ashley has got
a fair task on his hands.

The saint of saints...

They called him Le God. And to be fair to Southampton fans, given what they've had to put up with recently, he must still seem almost messianic, despite his somewhat less than impressive Soccer Saturday appearances these days. Nonetheless, the man who made his debut today in 1986 may not be the best on screen, but he was damn fine with a football. Scoring spectacular goal after spectacular goal, and having a fantastic record of 48 converted penalties out of 49, Matt Le Tissier was nothing short of a Southampton hero.

Bliss...

But it would soon go downhill. Obviously...

Michael Owen may not have made the recent England squad,but if he's feeling a bit down about it he can console himself by remembering his best performance in an England shirt, today in 2001. That was the day that England travelled to Germany to take on their old pals in a World Cup Qualifier for the 2002 Finals in Korea and Japan. What ensued was nothing short of barmy, when the diddyman scored a hat trick as England thumped the Germans 5-1. Which also included a goal from Emile Heskey. Like we said, barmy.