22nd JULY 1998, 2002, 2006

On This Day, 22nd July 1998, European football arrived in Birkenhead! Security fears saw Shelbourne move their home UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round tie against Glasgow Rangers from Dublin to Tranmere Rovers', Prenton Park ground. A 6,047 crowd watched in amazement as the Irish side took a 3-0 half time lead against a Rangers side who  were playing for the first time under a foreign manager, Dick Advocaat. His first half time talk did the trick though - Rangers won the match 5-3! AND TO ADD TO YOUR EXCITEMENT....it's National Hammock Day...this could only be in the USA?

On this same day in 2002, after plenty of speculation Manchester United signed Rio Ferdinand from Leeds United, for a British record (at the time) transfer fee of £29,100,000.

Rio Ferdinand OBE

Ferdinand at play!
Full name	Rio Gavin Ferdinand
Date of birth	7 November 1978 (age 45)
Place of birth	Camberwell, England
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
1992–1995	West Ham United
Senior career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–2000	West Ham United	127	(2)
1996–1997	→ AFC Bournemouth (loan)	10	(0)
2000–2002	Leeds United	54	(2)
2002–2014	Manchester United	312	(7)
2014–2015	Queens Park Rangers	11	(0)
Total		514	(11)
International career
1996–1997	England U18	7	(0)
1997–2000	England U21	5	(0)
1997–2011	England Full	81	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

and on the same day in July 2006
Arsenal played their first match at the Emirates, the Gunners defeating Ajax 2-1 in the testimonial match for Dennis Bergkamp.

Senior career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1993	Ajax	185	(103)
1993–1995	Inter MIlan	52	(11)
1995–2006	Arsenal	315	(87)
Total		552	(201)
International career
1989	Netherland U21	2	(0)
1990–2000	Netherland Full	79	(37)
Managerial career
2011–2017	Ajax (assistant)

Bergkamp's nickname is the "Non-Flying Dutchman" due to his fear of flying. Contemporary sources believed that this stemmed from incidents with the Netherlands national team at the 1994 World Cup where the engine of the plane cut out during a flight, and when a flight was delayed because a journalist made a joke about having a bomb in his bag. In his 2013 autobiography, Bergkamp stated that his phobia was in fact caused during his first season at Inter Milan, in which the team regularly travelled to away games in small aeroplanes. Bergkamp decided he would never fly again after the 1994 World Cup, but did consider seeking psychiatric help in 1996:

I've got this problem and I have to live with it. I can't do anything about it, it is a psychological thing and I can't explain it. I have not flown on a plane for two years. The Dutch FA has been sympathetic, so have Arsenal, so far. I am considering psychiatric help. I can't fly. I just freeze. I get panicky. It starts the day before, when I can't sleep.

 The condition severely limited his ability to play in away matches in European competitions and to travel with the national team. In some cases, he would travel overland by car or train, but the logistics of some matches were such that he would not travel at all. In the build-up to Arsenal's Champions League match against Lyon in February 2001, Wenger spoke of his concerns for Bergkamp travelling by train and car, because of the exertions involved.