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It Was 56 Footballing Years Ago Today...
August 3, 1938: In one of those 'Pfft, times have changed, haven't they?' moments, it was on this day in 1938 that Arsenal broke the world transfer record by spending £14,000 on one Bryn Jones from Wolves. The move didn't go particularly well, with the Welsh inside forward scoring just seven goals in 71 appearances, leaving to become Norwich player-manager in 1949.
August 3, 1945: Who knows how Eamon Dunphy will be celebrating his 63rd birthday, but it will probably involve some form of wild accusation of incompetence against the FAI. Dunphy was a journeyman midfielder who plied his trade for York, Millwall, Charlton and Reading, and won 23 caps for Ireland. However, he is most famous for his writing and punditry, having written the excellent 'Only a Game?: Diary of a Professional Footballer' about his time at Millwall, and was the man responsible for hammering Roy Keane's ramblings into something intelligible. Tune in to RTE if you want to hear some bonkers ranting about anything football related.
August 3, 1952: Imagine waking up tomorrow to discover that Spurs had signed Kaka. You'd firstly think that someone was pulling your leg clean off your body, but that's sort of what they did in 1978. On that occasion it was Ossie Ardiles, born on this day 56 years ago, that Spurs signed, having just won the World Cup with Argentina and regarded as perhaps the best player in the world at that point. He won the FA Cup with Spurs, before loan spells with PSG and St George Saints in Australia, before his playing career petered out somewhat at Blackburn, QPR and Swindon.
And On This Day In Real History...
216: Friend of the elephants Hannibal gives the Romans a good spanking at the Battle of Cannae.
1805: The first recorded cricket match between Eton and Harrow. Potentially the poshest event in history.
1914: After kicking off The Great War with an easy target by invading Luxembourg, Germany go for an even easier one, declaring war on France.
1916: 'My enemy's enemy is my friend' said a wise man once, something taken to heart by Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement, who was hanged for treason after trying to get Germany to back the cause of Irish independence.
1963: The Beatles perform for the final time at the Cavern Club.
At Number One...actually all our examples were before the British charts were introduced, but while Mrs Ardiles was popping her sprog Vera Lynn was keeping the British end up by topping the Billboard charts in America.
