MARCH 2nd

 March 2nd 1963. Who remembers the big freeze?
No this isn't a "Lowry" painting of a Yorkshire textile town, it's a photo of The Shay, Halifax FC showing their Third Division pitch hosting a "competition" between the local folk of  Halifax and the frozen pitch! Halifax had not played football since December 15th, so the committee improvised.

Everyone won as the thickness of ice allowed ice skating on the pitch, the Halifax committee benefitted from opening the turnstiles to the locals, who not only had a chance to show off their "Torvill and Dean" skills and had the privilege to pay and "play" on the sacred Shay! There may have been some ice football too.

On March 2nd 2013 on a warmer note and further south, Southampton played QPR at St Mary's and oppositon managers, Mauricio Pochettino (born 1972) and Harry Redknapp (73 years old) celebrated their birthdays on the same day! Harry's birthday present was a 1-2 win, shared by over 31,700 and Howard Webb, the ref.