The Football Blog

Graham Taylor takes charge of his first England game...

Steve McClaren gave it his best shot recently, but even he wasn’t capable of reaching the heights of Graham Taylor when it came to ruthless tabloid mocking. Taylor began his ill-fated reign as England manager today in 1990, when his new side hosted the not-so-mighty Hungary at Wembley.

His first big decision was to name Gary Lineker as new captain, deeply ironic given that their relationship would end on a sour note when Taylor subbed him in Lineker’s final appearance at the Euros two years later.

Nonetheless it all seemed rosy at first, as it was the Spurs forward who grabbed the only goal of the game, in a 1-0 win that suggested that Taylor would build on the solid foundation of his predecessor’s reign, the one and only Bobby Robson. He didn’t.

On this day in 2005, England reclaimed The Ashes for the first time since 1987. A draw in the final test was enough to clinch a 2-1 series win. Kevin Pietersen hit 158 and Ashley Giles 59 on the way to a 335 total for England. Australia managed to bat for just four balls before bad light intervened and the game was declared a draw. For more info on all this cricket malarkey, go and visit our lovely pals at EatCricket.com.

And it's Il De Medici! as they say in the Urbino region, to our second fave Argentinean golfer Angel Cabrera (39), Chip Beck (52), British sprinter Darren Campbell (35), crap, untalented British geezer Jason Statham (36) and Chinese basketball giant Yao Ming (28).