NEVER GIVE UP

On FEBRUARY 24th 1951 The Southend United v Swindon Town Division 3 (South) fixture played on this day in 1951 presented the away side with a sharp shock. 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!

Previously on September 9th 1920, the two met for the first time and Southend (at home) lost 1-3 in the Third Division South. 

On the same day, but in 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, James 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 missed the history-making achievement.

With all the disturbance on the Russian border, Ukraine football will be taking s bit of a pounding. Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of neighbouring Ukraine today and the conflict has already had repercussions in the sporting world and it is understood that UEFA, European football’s governing body, has considered moving this season’s Champions League final away from Saint Petersburg in Russia. The decision apparently will be made at an emergency UEFA meeting on Friday.

FEDERATSIYA FUTBOLU UKRAYINY Founded 1991: FIFA entry 1992

Elsewhere, there is doubt over future World Cup qualification matches due to be staged in Russia, while in the United Kingdom, a Labour MP told parliament that the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, was identified by the Home Office in 2019 as having links to the Russian state as well as to “corrupt activity and practices”. Watch this space. 

Which Ukrainians play in England?

Mykolenko, Vitally: Everton

Yarmolenko, Andriy: West Ham

Zinchenko, Oleksandr: Manchester City

National kit.

After independence and the country's breakaway from the Soviet Union they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992. The team's biggest success on the world stage was reaching the quarter-finals in the 2006 Fifa World Cup, which also marked the team's debut in the finals of a major championship. FIFA Ranking 24th

v England UEFA P8 W1 D2 L5 GF 3 GA 13

Since the floundtion in1992, the national managers number 14: presently Oleksandr Petrakov.

TOP PLAYERS

Anatolly Tymoshchuk: 2000-16 144 caps 4 goals

Andriy Shevchenko: 1995-2012 111 caps 48 goals

TOP GOALIE:  Andriy Pyatov  2007-present  101 games 50 wins 0,822 average Goals Against

Ukraine v Russia P2 W1 D1 F4 A3.