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It Was 42 Footballing Years Ago Today...
July 11, 1966: It turned out to be the greatest month in the history of the England national team, but the 1966 World Cup didn't exactly get off to a blistering start on this day 42 years ago. After the tournament was opened by Her Maj, England played out a disappointing 0-0 draw with Uruguay, with Alf Ramsey's 4-3-3 formation giving no hint of the exciting times to come.
July 11, 1977
After taking the job three years earlier, hopes were high that Don Revie could bring back the glory days for England. However, failure to qualify for the 1976 European Championships was followed by a poor start to the 1978 World Cup qualifying campaign, and fearful of the sack, Revie followed the large sack of cash to become national coach of the United Arab Emirates. As an aside, The early readers of The Daily Mail found out about his resignation on this day 31 years ago before the FA did, as his letter arrived at FA HQ after it had closed, and the ever fiscally conscious Revie had sold his story to the paper already.
July 11, 1996
If ever injury denied the world of true genius, it was in the case of ROnaldo. The original one. The buck-toothed genius signed for Barcelona from PSV Eindhoven for around £13million 12 years ago, and proceeded to embark on the most devastating season of striking brilliance that you will ever see. Scoring an astonishing 47 goals in 49 games for the Catalans, Inter Milan tempted him to Italy, where he continued his incredible form until his knee collapsed at the end of 1999. Without that injury, he could well have been the best player the world has ever seen.
On This Day In Real History...
1776: James Cook, the explorer essentially responsible for Home And Away, Men At Work and endless cricketing humiliations, embarks on his final voyage from Plymouth. It didn't end well - he was stabbed and clubbed to death by angry natives of Hawaii three years later.
1975: Itinerant tourist attraction the Terracotta Army is uncovered in China.
1995: Hugh Grant is fined $750 and sent on an Aids education course after being caught enjoying the company of prostitute Divine Brown in Los Angeles.
And At Number One...while the World Cup kicked off was 'Sunny Afternoon' by The Kinks.
