"A FIRST" AT WEMBLEY!!

Football On This Day – 9th May 1951 England played their first international against foreign opposition at Wembley, beating Argentina 2-1 in front of 60,000 fans. Since 1924, England had only previously played Scotland at Wembley. The Argentina match kicked off at 3 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon - it would be another 4 years before floodlights were installed at OUR National Stadium.

England goals: Stan Mortenson 79' and Jackie Milburn 86'

Starting lineup: Goal: Bert Williams, Billy Wright (captain), Billy Ekersley, Alf Ramsey, Jim Taylor, Henry Cockburn, Vic Metcalfe, Jackie Milburn, Tom Finney, Stan Mortenson, Harold Hassall.

Manager: Walter Winterbottom   

 

Games won:	4
Games drawn:	5
Games lost:	6

Date	Match	Result	Score	Competition
09 May 1951	England v Argentina	L	2-1	International Friendly
14 May 1953	Argentina v England	W	3-1	Unofficial
17 May 1953	Argentina v England	D	0-0	International Friendly
02 Jun 1962	England v Argentina	L	3-1	FIFA World Cup
06 Jun 1964	Argentina v England	W	1-0	Copa das Nacoes
23 Jul 1966	England v Argentina	L	1-0	FIFA World Cup
22 May 1974	England v Argentina	D	2-2	International Friendly
12 Jun 1977	Argentina v England	D	1-1	International Friendly
13 May 1980	England v Argentina	L	3-1	International Friendly
22 Jun 1986	Argentina v England	W	2-1	FIFA World Cup
25 May 1991	England v Argentina	D	2-2	England Challenge Cup
30 Jun 1998	Argentina v England	W	2-2	FIFA World Cup
23 Feb 2000	England v Argentina	D	0-0	International Friendly
07 Jun 2002	Argentina v England	L	0-1	FIFA World Cup
12 Nov 2005	Argentina v England	L	2-3	International Friendly

BYE, BYE, CLOUGHIE

8th MAY 1993

Brian Clough couldn't ever be called the most popular of people in the sport, but he achieved brilliant success as a manager. He managed Derby to their first League title and repeated the feat at Nottingham Forest. More success followed at the City Ground with Forest becoming top-dogs in Europe, winning the European Cup in 1979 and retaining it a year later. Amazing. Sadly by the time he had announced his retirement Forest were struggling and his last match in charge saw Forest suffering relegation, finishing bottom in the first Premier League season of 1992/93. His last match in charge was on 8th May 1993 and ended with a 2-1 loss at Ipswich. 

But another Clough era was underway with Forest's goalscorer in that match being Brian's son Nigel. Both as a player and a manager Brian Clough achieved great success - if only the powers-to-be had given Cloughie the chance to manager England what might he have achieved?

Brian Clough, was renowned for his quick wit, immense self-confidence, and blunt honesty. His famous quotes—including " I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business, but I was in the top one", perfectly captured his charisma and disdain for conventional coaching. 

Full name	Brian Howard Clough
Date of birth	21 March 1935
Place of birth	Middlesbrough
Date of death	20 September 2004 (aged 69)
Place of death	Derby, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position	Striker
Youth career
1951–1953	Middlesbrough
1953–1955	Billingham Synthonia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1955–1961	Middlesbrough	213	(197)
1961–1964	Sunderland	61	(54)
Total		274	(251)
International career
1957–1958	England U23	3	(1)
1957	England B	1	(1)
1959	England	2	(0)
Managerial career
1965–1967	Hartlepools United
1967–1973	Derby County
1973–1974	Brighton & Hove Albion
1974	Leeds United
1975–1993	Nottingham Forest
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

LANKSHEAR: LOAN START GAINS INTEREST

William Terence Lankshear (born 20 April 2005) plays as a striker for Oxford United, on loan from Spurs. At the moment, several PL clubs are ready to "pounce" on the young Spur!

Lankshear was at the Arsenal Academy before joining up with Sheffield Utd. He agreed a scholarship contract with Sheffield United in February 2021. Why wouldn't you! Lankshear was the top scorer in the division as he captained Sheffield United to the under-18 Professional Development League, Division 2 title in 2021–22. He scored 38 goals in 48 appearances for the Sheffield United age-group teams in total. Sheffield United first team manager, Paul Heckingbottom described him as having "a good gift to score goals", and Sheffield United were ready to offer him a new contract. However, amid interest from Brentford FC, Spurs agreed to pay £2 million to Sheffield United for him on 31 August 2022, with £1 million of the fee guaranteed and further payments thought to be performance-related bonuses. Some reports suggest the fee could rise to £2.5 million with Heckingbottom admitting it was "a good deal" for the youngster considering they had picked him up for free only a year previously. Lankshear signed a contract with Tottenham running until the summer of 2025.

On 8 October 2022, Lankshear made his debut as a substitute for Spurs' under-18s with his team 3–1 down against the Wolves youth side, and scored a quick-fire brace to level the match. Lankshear paid tribute to the strength and conditioning work he had undertaken since joining Tottenham Hotspur. Playing in the UEFA Youth League against Sporting Lisbon, Lankshear scored after 46 seconds.

Lankshear scored 23 goals for Tottenham's U21 team in the 2023–24 Premier League 2 season, including a brace in the 3–1 play-off final victory against Sunderland. His performances saw him named as the league's Player of the Season.

On 3 October 2024, Lankshear, likened in style to Harry Kane, made his senior debut, under Ange Postecouglou for Tottenham, starting a 2–1 away win over Hungarian champions, Ferencvaros TC in the UEFA League. He scored his first goal for the club on 7 November in a 3–2 away defeat to Galatasaray in the same competition, before being sent off for receiving two yellow cards. 

On 31 January 2025, Lankshear joined Championship club WBA on loan for the remainder of the 2024-5 He made his first appearance for the club on 8 February 2025 as a substitute in a 2–1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday.

On 5 August 2025, Lankshear joined Championship side, Oxford United, on a season-long loan. He made his debut on the opening day of the 2025-6 season, a 1–0 home defeat to Portsmouth. He then scored three goals in his first five League matches. Although the season ended in relegation for the club, he was named as the club's Young Player of the Season!! Oxford Head Coach said that Lankshear, after 47 appearances for the club, was "going to the top, there is much to admire, he is a credit to himself!"

International career: Lankshear scored on his debut for England Under 19 on 15 November 2023, in a 6–0 win over Romania U19. On 10 October 2024, Lankshear made his U20 debut during a 2–1 win over Italy in Frosinone, in August 2025. His future with Spurs is likely to be decided by the club's present success!! LANKSHEAR a former pulpil at Aldenham School was born in Welwyn Garden City and raised in St Albans.

LEICESTER CITY MENTIONED TWICE!

On the 6th May 1961: Tottenham beat Leicester 2-0 in the FA Cup Final to become the first club since Aston Villa in 1896/97 to win a League and FA Cup double.  Among their ranks that day were Bill Brown, Danny Blanchflower, Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones and John White who helped Spurs become the dominant force of the time. And Jimmy Greaves had yet to arrive at White Hart Lane! The Final was Leicester's 10th FA Cup tie of the season and it was part of a disappointing run that saw them lose in all the four FA Cup finals they played in in the 25 years since football had resumed after the Second World War.

On the 6th May 1978 Arsenal were red-hot favourites to beat FA Cup final debutants Ipswich Town in the 1978 final at Wembley. The Suffolk side had been beaten 6-1 by Aston Villa in the League a week previously but the underdogs hit the posts three times in the final before Roger Osborne scored the only goal of the match for Ipswich in the 77th minute. His celebration upon scoring the winning goal caused him to faint and be substituted with only ten minutes of the match remaining. In 1979, he was loaned to NASL side Detroit Express, for whom he played 22 matches. Osborne played his final game for Ipswich on 15 November 1980 in a league match against Leicester City.

Below, winners include Osborne and ??? Who's that?

In 1981, he moved to Colchester Utd where he played out until 1986, making over 200 appearances. After retiring from professional football, he worked as a lorry driver and at the Willis Faber Sports Centre in Rushmere St Andrew, which was run by former Colchester manager Dick Graham. He also played for non-League clubs Sudbury Town, Braintree Town, Felixstowe Port and Town, and SIL club Westerfield, whom he also managed. Osborne became the manager of the Sports Centre, now known as the Ipswich School Sports Centre (ISSC) Sports Centre but he has now retired.

DIXIE DEAN

May 5th 1925.......A hundred and one years ago!!! There was a momentous piece of HISTORY made this year....there was a change in the OFFSIDE LAW. Instead of there needing to be three players between attacker and goal, the law changed to TWO. Needless to say, defences had to adjust tactically and strikers, well forwards, as they were known then, flourished. In the 1926/7 season, Swindon's Harry Morris, flourished, making his mark with 46 goals in the Third Division South...remember, at this time, there were two "leagues" in the Division Three section, North and South!

The same year, George Camsell broke the Football League Division Two season, scoring record, 59 goals out of 122 in Middlesbrough's season total. He scored nine hat-tricks in a simgle season, a record still held today. His season total only lasted one season!

Bill Dean, who was best known as Dixie, which he hated, joined Everton from Tranmere Rovers in 1925. The club had been struggling in the lower reaches of the Second Division, but his first season's total of 32 goals helped The Toffees achieve a mid-table place. The team struggled the season after that, but Dixie missed four months of the season after nearly killing himself in a motorcycle crash. When he recovered and returned, the goals flowed again and in 1927-8 season Dean helped Everton secure the First Division (top one!) Championship for The Toffees, with a match to spare. Dean by then had scored 57 league goals, so needed a hat trick in his final game, at home, against Arsenal, to beat Camsell's record.

Dean scored two in the first half equalling Camsell's record, one a header from a corner and the next a penalty, so he needed one more! Time ticked on....only with eight minutes left, Dean claimed the vital goal with a hat trick goal, a towering header, the 40th header of those 60!! He wandered off the pitch with a minute to go, to avoid being mobbed by the very enthusiastic crowd!

BUT was this all down to a change in the OFFSIDE LAW?? It can be used as an excuse for unstable defences and he never scored 60 goals again. Dean left Everton in 1937, going to Notts County, having scored 349 goals in 399 games. 

Date of birth	22 January 1907
Place of birth	Birkenhead, England
Date of death	1 March 1980 (aged 73)
Place of death	Goodison Park, Liverpool, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1923–1925	Tranmere Rovers	30	(27)
1925–1937	Everton	399	(349)
1938–1939	Notts County	9	(3)
1939	Sligo Rovers	7	(10)
1940	Hurst* SEE BELOW	2	(1)
Total		447	(390)
International career
1927–1932	England	16	(18)

Ashton United Football Club is a club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football, and play at Hurst Cross. Established as Hurst in 1878, the club folded in 1892 before being reformed in 1909 and renamed Ashton United in 1947.

THE FOURTH OF MAY-CUP FINAL DAY (2002)!!

Just for interest, the first ever FA Cup Final was played in 1872 on March 16th, playing at The Oval.. (Yes, the cricket ground). The Wanderers beat Royal Engineers. Might be worth having a look at the origins of these two clubs...the R.E. (Army?) obvious? The Wanderers less so! but interesting.

The 2002 FA Cup final was a match between Arsenal and Chelsea, on 4 May 2002 at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2001-2 FA Cup season, the 121st season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Arsenal were appearing in their fifteenth Final to Chelsea's seventh.

As both teams were in the highest tier of English football, that is, the Premier League, they entered the competition in the third round. Matches up to the semi-final were contested on a one-off basis, with a replay taking place if the match ended in a draw. Arsenal's progress was relatively comfortable; they knocked out the holders Liverpool in the fourth round, but needed a replay to beat Newcastle Utd. After overcoming replays in the first two rounds and a difficult tie against Preston NE, Chelsea recorded an impressive win against Tottenham Hotspur. Both teams won their semi-final match by a single goal.

Graeme Le Saux and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank were passed fit for Chelsea, but John Terry was omitted from the starting lineup, having woken up ill on the morning of the final. For Arsenal, goalkeeper David Seaman came in place of Richard Wright, who deputised for him in the earlier rounds of the competition. Chelsea were led onto the field by Roberto Di Matteo, who had been forced to retire from football earlier in the season due to a serious injury. After an uneventful first half, Chelsea settled much the quicker of the two and created several chances to score. Arsenal withstood the pressure and took the lead in the 70th minute, when Ray Parlour scored from 25 yards. Freddie Ljungberg scored from a similar distance ten minutes later to double Arsenal's lead. The final score was 2-0 and Arsenal won their eighth FA Cup.The final took place with one week remaining in the Premier League calendar. Arsenal beat Manchester Utd a few days later, to regain the League title and complete their second and final League and Cup Double under manager Arsene Wenger.

THE NORTH WEST DERBY AND FERGIE

Big day today!! and its only May, but this afternoon is the "North West" Derby between Manchester United and Liverpool...a day that Sir Alec Ferguson is taken to hospital with an " falling unwell issue"...not an emergency but at 84 years old there is care being taken. We wish him well. 

The first coming together between the two North-west clubs, was in 1894, on April 28th, with Liverpool beating Newton Heath 2-0 at Ewood Park (know where that is?), in what was known as a "Test Match", so not a League match. Patrick Gordon (after 15 mins) and Harry Bradshaw (after 30 mins) scored. Ten of the Liverpool team were Scottish and one, Harry Bradshaw, English! One United player, Fred Erentz, was a Scot...beautiful Scottish name!! 

That's when the Manchester Ship Canal was built by Manchester merchants. They were infuriated at the high import charges levied by the Port of Liverpool. The building of the canal led to many dockers and labour workers from Liverpool losing their jobs. Liverpool was a major seaport which was often used as a halt area, but they ended up suffering when ships could bypass their city to go directly to Manchester.

This allowed Manchester to overtake Liverpool economically and, of course, there was a lot of anger in Liverpool due to this. As a result, the Merseysiders entered the first division while the Mancunians replaced the Reds in the second tier. Can you imagine, how angry the Manchester side must have been? And they are still bitter.

The two cities hated each other and when they clashed on the pitch for the first time, the rivalry only escalated. In 1893/94, club Newton Heath, which will later become Manchester United, finished bottom of the English first division.

Liverpool, meanwhile, finished top of the Second Division after being undefeated in the competition all season long. The rules of the game at that time implied that the bottom-last of the top-flight would face the winners of the second division.

Liverpool came out winners beating Newton Heath 2-0. As a result, the Merseysiders entered the first division while the Mancunians replaced the Reds in the second tier. Can you imagine, how angry the Manchester side must have been? And they are still bitter.

On October 12th 1895, Liverpool hosted Newton Heath beating them 7-1 in a Division Two League match. On November 2nd 1895, in a "proper" Division 2 League game, Newton Heath won 5-2. Plenty of goals then!

The next coming together was on February 12th, 1898 when Newton Heath hosted Liverpool in an FA Cup 2nd Round tie, drawing 0-0 with Liverpool and winning the replay on the 16th, 2-0 in front of 6,000. Anfield crowd. 

First results were:

28 Apr 1894	Liverpool v Newton Heath	L	2-0	Test Match-BIT OF A FRIENDLY
12 Oct 1895	Liverpool v Newton Heath	L	7-1	League Division Two
02 Nov 1895	Newton Heath v Liverpool	W	5-2	League Division Two
12 Feb 1898	Newton Heath v Liverpool	D	0-0	FA Cup
16 Feb 1898	Liverpool v Newton Heath	L	2-1	FA Cup
07 Feb 1903	Manchester United v Liverpool	W	2-1	FA Cup

THEN.......

24 Dec 1904

Manchester United v Liverpool

W

3-1

League Division Two

Games won: 93
Games drawn: 71
Games lost: 82 not including today!!