December 26, 1999: The Premier League's 1st All-Foreign Starting XI

Tore André Flo

December 26, 1999: For the 1st time, a team in English soccer's Premier League puts out a stating eleven (or "XI") made up entirely of non-British players. None from England, none from Wales, none from Scotland, and none from Northern Ireland.

The game was played on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, a traditional playing date for English soccer, at The Dell, home ground of Southampton Football Club. Southampton, the leading team in Hampshire, on the South Coast, hosted Chelsea F.C., of West London. It was Chelsea who had the all-foreign XI. (Looking back, it surprises a lot of people that it wasn't North London team Arsenal F.C. who did that.)

Chelsea's XI that day, selected by manager Gianluca Vialli, himself from Italy and a former star forward for Genoa team Sampdoria and Turin team Juventus: Ed De Goey (Netherlands); Albert Ferrer (Spain), Frank Leboeuf (France), Emerson Thome (Brazil), Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria); Dan Petrescu (Romania), Gabriele Ambrosetti (Italy), Roberto Di Matteo (Italy), Gus Poyet (Uruguay) and Didier Deschamps (France); Tore André Flo (Norway).

Flo scored in the 18th minute, and again in the 43rd. Kevin Davies pulled one back for "The Saints" in the 80th, but they could not find an equalizer. Chelsea held on to win, 2-1. It was the 2nd game in a run of 14 unbeaten for "The Blues" -- 7 wins and 7 draws -- and it helped them finish 5th in the Premier League, allowing them to qualify for the next season's UEFA Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Europa League).

Southampton finished 15th that season. In 2001, they left The Dell, where they had played since 1898, and moved into the new St. Mary's Stadium.

*

December 26, 1999 was a Sunday. The North London soccer team that I would one day support, Arsenal, went to the Midlands, and lost to Coventry City, 3-2 at Highfield Road.

Baseball was out of season. These NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 34-17 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots, 13-10 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-0 at PSINet Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium) in Baltimore.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers, 29-10 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 41-14 at the Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Carolina Panthers, 30-20 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Cleveland Browns, 29-28 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field).

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Chicago Bears, 34-12 at the Trans World Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis. Along with the Chiefs, the Bears should have been a geographic rival for the former Los Angeles Rams, but neither rivalry ever caught on.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Arizona Cardinals, 37-14 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Oakland Raiders, 23-20 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Washington Redskins beat the San Francisco 49ers, 26-20 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-14 at the Kingdome in Seattle. This was the Seahawks' last regular-season game at the Kingdome, after 24 seasons. They lost a Playoff game there to the Dolphins, 20-17 on January 9, 2000, and that was the last event there. The 'Hawks played the next 2 seasons at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium, while what's now known as Lumen Field was built on the site of the Kingdome, opening in 2002.

* The previous day, Christmas Day, the Denver Broncos beat the Detroit Lions, 17-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The day before that Christmas Eve, the New Orleans Saints beat the Dallas Cowboys, 31-24 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* On the 27th, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 38-31 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* And, in this period between the re-establishment of the Browns and the expansion of the Houston Texans, when there were 31 teams in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles had a bye week.

There were 10 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Chicago Bulls, 103-76 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Houston Rockets, 103-92 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-95 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. Vince Carter led all scorers on the day, with 36 points for the Raptors.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Charlotte Hornets, 114-96 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Miami Heat, 93-85 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 109-86 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 108-88 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Boston Celtics, 103-100 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Dallas Mavericks, 118-111 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 92-86 at the KeyArena in Seattle. Allen Iverson scored 34 for the Sixers.

And there were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils played their rivalry to a 3-3 tie at Madison Square Garden.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers, 4-3 at the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Nolan Pratt scored just 27 seconds into overtime.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Staples Center. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day. Jeremy Roenick scored with 1:42 left in overtime.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the San Jose Sharks, 1-0 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

* And the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0 at GM Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

August 31, 2006: Arsenal Sell Ashley Cole to Chelsea

March 17, 1978: Elvis Costello & the Attractions release their album This Year’s Model. It included a song titled "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea."

If only Ashley Cole had listened to that song.

August 31, 2006: On the last day of the Summer transfer window, Arsenal F.C. sell left back Ashley Cole to Chelsea F.C., sending him from North London to West London.

They didn't have much choice.

Making his Premier League debut in 2000, Cole established himself as the best English left back of his generation. He helped Arsenal reach the FA Cup Final in 2001, win the Premier League and the FA Cup in 2002 (winning both is called "The Double"), win another Cup in 2003, produce the PL's only unbeaten season in 2004, and win another Cup in 2005. At 24, he had already won 2 League titles and 3 FA Cups, and had played for England in the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.

Unfortunately, like so many other great athletes, he began to confuse payment with respect. He wanted £60,000 a week -- with the exchange rate then in effect, this amounted to an annual salary of $3.2 million. Arsenal offered him £55,000 -- about $2.9 million. For a team as big as Arsenal, an additional £5,000 a week shouldn't have been too much to keep the man who, at the time, was the best player at his position in the world, maybe 2nd to Paolo Maldini of A.C. Milan, and only 24 years old.

But Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, responsible for such negotiations in place of manager Arsène Wenger, wouldn't pay the extra 5 grand. Hearing that over the radio while driving on London's beltway, the M25, Cole, "trembling with anger" as he put it in his autobiography, pulled over, picked up his phone, and called his agent, Jonathan Barnett. He yelled, "They are taking the piss, Jonathan!" The expression -- also "taking the mickey," which comes from Cockney rhyming slang, from "Mickey Bliss" -- is roughly equivalent to the American expressions "busting your chops" or "busting your balls." But Cole considered it a sign of tremendous disrespect.

In January 2005, Cole and Barnett met with Chelsea manager José Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon at the Royal Park Hotel in Lancaster Gate, Central London. Simply having the meeting, without having informed his current club first, was a violation of PL rules. So was negotiating a transfer without the permission of the current club. By offering a contract, of any amount, Chelsea were violating a rule as well. The process is called "tapping-up."

Word got out, and while it didn't seem to affect either team on the field as the 2004-05 season came to a close -- Chelsea won the League, and Arsenal won the Cup -- on June 1, an independent commission charged by the PL with investigating the story issued its findings. Cole was found guilty, and fined £100,000. Chelsea were found guilty, and fined £300,000. Mourinho was found guilty -- a manager should not be present at such a meeting -- and fined £200,000.

Arsenal fans turned on Cole, calling him "Cashley." Rumors abounded, some with more merit to them than others. He was married to Cheryl Tweedy, the lead singer of vocal group Girls Aloud. The joke was that she, white, had to marry him, black, to prove she wasn't a racist; and he had to marry her to prove he wasn't gay. Another rumor spread that he had a gay affair with Jermaine Jenas, a star player with Arsenal's North London arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur; and that, for reasons known only to him, he shoved a cell phone up his ass at a party.

The familiar terrace chant, "Ten men went to mow, went to mow a meadow!" became "Ten men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley!" And the rhyming of his name made another song easy: "Oh, Ashley Cole, yer a fuckin' arsehole!"

He played the 2005-06 season with Arsenal, helping them reach the UEFA Champions League Final. On August 31, having been held out of the team's 1st 2 games of the 2006-07 PL season -- a draw against Aston Villa in the 1st competitive match at the new Emirates Stadium, and a loss away to Manchester City -- Arsenal bowed to the inevitable, and made a trade, a rarity in English football: They sent Cole to Chelsea for £5 million and centreback William Gallas.

Cole made a public statement saying he forgave Arsenal team management for their treatment of him. He... forgave them? They didn't do anything wrong. All they did was offer a great player 91 percent of what he thought he was worth.

Gallas did next to nothing for Arsenal, developed a bad attitude, and was gone within 3 years. Cole played 8 seasons for Chelsea, and, while Cheryl divorced him due to his womanizing -- apparently, he is completely straight -- his on-pitch reputation only grew. Between the 2 London clubs, ended up with 5 Premier League titles, a record 7 FA Cup wins, and, with Chelsea, the 2012 Champions League title.

Whether he will ever be forgiven by Arsenal fans remains to be seen, but he set the pattern for future moves for players like Alexander Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fàbregas, Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie and Alexis Sánchez.

*

August 31, 2006 was a Thursday. There were 10 games played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4 at Yankee Stadium. Randy Johnson was the winning pitcher, although he didn't pitch especially well. He may have been the most disappointing pitcher in Yankee history. Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Derek Jeter went 1-for-2 with 3 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Colorado Rockies, 8-4 at Coors Field in Denver. Jeff Francis outpitched Óliver Pérez. David Wright hit a home run for the Mets.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. David Ortiz did not play.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. The game went to 10 innings, and both teams scored on mishandled pitched: The Phillies got a run home in the top half, thanks to a passed ball by Nats catcher Brian Schneider; while the Nats tied the game on a Brian Schneider single, and then, with Ryan Church at bat, Aaron Fultz threw a wild pitch, and Marlon Anderson scored the winning run.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-6 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a walk before leaving the game.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Jorge Cantú singled home the winning runs in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins, 5-2 at the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Albert Pujols went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5 at Ameriquest Field (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* And the Houston Astros beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

August 31, 1946: The Football League Returns After World War II

Jack Balmer

August 31, 1946: After almost exactly 7 years, England’s Football League resumes play. As it had proven to be in 1919, when it resumed after World War I, the British public's appetite for what we would call soccer was ravenous, and the largest crowd on this day was 61,000 at Stamford Bridge in West London, where host Chelsea beat Lancashire club Bolton Wanderers 4–3.

As for the leading club before The War, North London's Arsenal? The Gunners' postwar debut was a disaster, as a visit to Birmingham-area club Wolverhampton Wanderers (a.k.a. Wolves) resulted in a 6-1 defeat in front of 50,845. Clearly, the prewar players were now too old, and new players had to be brought in. Arsenal would finish 13th in the 22-team League.

The title race would be very close., as 4 teams would finish within 2 points: Liverpool beat out Manchester United by 1 point, and Wolves and Stoke by 2. Jack Balmer and Albert Stubbins each scored 28 goals for Liverpool -- in each case, 24 in League play.

After the season, George Allison retired as manager of Arsenal, and former player and physiotherapist Tom Whittaker took over. He having rebuilt the team, he led them to the title in 1948. But Wolves, along with Hampshire team Portsmouth FC and North-East team Newcastle United, would soon take over English football: Portsmouth won the League title in 1949 and 1950; Newcastle won the Cup in 1951, 1952 and 1954; while Wolves won the FA Cup in 1949, and the League title in 1954, 1958 and 1959, before winning the Cup again in 1960.

*

August 31, 1946 was a Saturday. In America, these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 4-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Bill Bevens pitched a 7-hit shutout. Joe DiMaggio went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-1 at the Polo Grounds. Monte Kennedy outpitched Kirby Higbe.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 0-for-4.

* A doubleheader was split at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won the opener, 10-6. Dick Mauney went the distance to win, while Warren Spahn didn't get out of the 4th inning. The Boston Braves won the nightcap, 14-2.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Rookie Ralph Kiner went 1-for-3 with a walk. Stan Musial went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 11-3 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-5. Skeeter Webb went 4-for-6 with 3 RBIs. Dick Wakefield went 3-for-5 with a walk and 3 RBIs. And Paul Richards went 1-for-3 and Eddie Lake went 0-for-3, with each of them drawing 3 walks.

May 30, 2009: The Earliest FA Cup Final Goal Ends Up Not Mattering

Louis Saha (left) and Steven Pienaar

May 30, 2009: For the 1st time, I watch the FA Cup Final, played at the new Wembley Stadium in London. At least, it's the 1st time I can remember watching it. It's possible that, when I was a boy, I might have seen it broadcast on ABC Wide World of Sports, but I don't think I did.

Both teams traditionally wear blue: Everton, the blue team in Liverpool, gets to wear their usual blue shirts with white shorts; while Chelsea, of West London, wear an all-yellow kit. Everton were managed by Scotsman David Moyes, and, through the 2021-22 season, this is the closest he's ever come to managing a team to a major trophy.

Chelsea were managed by Guus Hiddink, who had won 6 Eredivise (Dutch league) titles and the 1988 European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League) with PSV Eindhoven, and had just guided Russia to 3rd place at Euro 2008. He had taken over on February 11, after the team's owner, Russian energy billionaire Roman Abramovich, fired manager Luis Felipe Scolari, despite a good record.

Louis Saha, Everton's French forward, scores 25 seconds into the match, the fastest Cup Final goal ever. In 1895, Bob Chatt of Birmingham team Aston Villa had scored 30 seconds into the match, and Villa went on to win. Saha had beaten his record, and had beaten Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech.

But Didier Drogba, Chelsea's big forward from the African nation of Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), ends their momentum with a goal in the 21st minute. He is known for his diving for penalties: Earlier in the month, he had executed 5 dives in the Champions League Semifinal against Barcelona, but didn't find it necessary this time. Frank Lampard scores in the 72nd, and Chelsea win, 2-1.

It was the 8th time that Everton had lost the FA Cup Final, a record. They have won it 5 times, most recently in 1995. It was Chelsea's 5th win, and they received the FA Cup from the honorary chairman of the Football Association, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. (Through the 2021-22 season, they have now won it 8 times, most recently in 2018.)

I watched the game at the first great American soccer bar, Nevada Smith's, at 74 3rd Avenue in New York's East Village, now closed. Two weeks earlier, I had seen Manchester United clinch the Premier League title there, with a draw against North London's Arsenal, the team I support. The United fans trashed the place.

Despite Chelsea's fans in London having a reputation for despicable violence, the "New York Blues" celebrated like human beings. Also unlike the United fans, they seemed to understand the Champagne Difference: The cheap stuff is for spraying, the good stuff is for drinking.

One more note: At the time, Arsenal had a forward from Mexico, Carlos Vela. Big things were expected of him, and their fans sang, to the tune of "Que Sera Sera," a common song for English soccer chants:

Carlos Vela, Vela!

The Mexican superstar!

He's better than Lou Saha!

Carlos Vela, Vela!

Vela would star for his national team, and later for Los Angeles F.C. in Major League Soccer. But he was not better than Louis Saha, who had helped Manchester United win the Premier League in 2007, and both that and the Champions League in 2008.

*

May 30, 2009 was a Saturday. The Stanley Cup Finals began, a rematch of the previous season's Finals, in which the Detroit Red Wings had beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Wings won Game 1, 3-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. But the Penguins went on to win in 6 games.

Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals was played, at what was then named the Amway Arena in Orlando. The Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-90, and clinched a berth in the NBA Finals. Dwight Howard scored 40 for the Magic, while LeBron James scored 25 for the Cavs. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Magic in Finals in 5 games.

Football was out of season. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-5 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. CC Sabathia defeated his former team. Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher hit home runs. Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Robinson Canó went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins, 7-3 at Shea Stadium. Josh Johnson outpitched Tim Redding.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 9-6 at Citizens Bank Park. Cole Hamels was the winning pitcher. Ryan Howard hit 2 home runs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. David Ortiz went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 7-4 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ryan Dempster pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Ángel Guzmán and Aaron Heilman completed the 5-hit shutout.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-5 at at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 14-1 at Rangers Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 8-7 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Eric Byrnes singled Mark Reynolds home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. 

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-3 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a sacrifice fly to score Wladimir Balentien with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Albert Pujols hit 2 home runs.

May 29, 1905: The Dodgy Admission of Chelsea F.C. to the Football League

May 29, 1905: Chelsea Football Club are admitted to Division Two of England's Football League. This should not have happened so soon.

In 1904, Gus Mears bought Stamford Bridge, a track & field facility in Fulham, West London, with the aim of turning it into a football ground (soccer stadium). An offer to lease it to nearby Fulham Football Club was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium.

As there was already a team named Fulham in the Borough, the name of the adjacent borough of Chelsea was chosen. And so, Chelsea F.C. was founded on March 10, 1905 at The Rising Sun pub. It was located opposite what is now the stadium's main entrance on Fulham Road, and is now named The Butcher's Hook.

At first, Chelsea attempted to join the Southern League, as England's main Football League was mostly teams from the Midlands and the North. One exception was Woolwich Arsenal, then in Kent, but the locality would eventually be redrawn into South-East London. The team that would, in 1913, move across the River Thames to Highbury in North London, and rename themselves simply Arsenal F.C., were in no position to object to Chelsea's admission to the Southern League.

One team in the area did: Tottenham Hotspur, whose White Hart Lane ground was then in Middlesex, but would later be redrawn into North London. Never mind that Fulham, Millwall (South), West Ham United (East), Clapton Orient (now Leyton Orient, East) and Woolwich Arsenal were all already considered "London clubs," and that Orient were within 5 miles of White Hart Lane, and unlike The Lane were then actually in London; whereas Chelsea's stadium, Stamford Bridge, was 13 miles away by the shortest land route. And yet, Tottenham's objection was upheld by the Southern League.

Thus rejected, Mears aimed higher, and applied for membership for Chelsea in the Football League Division Two. And they got it.

Under normal circumstances, a team would have had to start in a lower league, prove itself commercially viable there -- proving itself competitively viable was a secondary concern -- before being admitted to the Football League. But Chelsea got special treatment. It was the first time. It would not be the last.

Mears died in 1912. For a long time after that, Chelsea were regarded as something of a joke. From 1905-06 until 1953-54, only once, in 1919-20, when they were 3rd, did they finish higher than 8th in the Football League Division One. Nor did they have much success in the FA Cup: They reached the Final in 1915; and the Semifinals in 1911, 1920, 1932, 1950 and 1952. In 1933, English comedian Norman Long wrote and recorded a song about various strange, even impossible things happening. The title was "On the Day That Chelsea Went and Won the Cup."

They won their 1st title in their 50th Anniversary year, 1955. Their manager was Ted Drake, a former Arsenal forward, who thus became the 1st man to win the League as both a non-managing player and a non-playing manager. (The 2nd would also be a former Arsenal player: Joe Mercer with Manchester City in 1968.)

Chelsea got better in the mid-1960s, and began to be the favored team of the West End, London's version of Broadway, and of "Swinging London." Actors filming movies in London and environs were invited to Stamford Bridge by team management. American acting bombshell Raquel Welch even posed in a Chelsea kit.

In 1965, they finished 3rd, reached the Semifinal of the FA Cup, and won the League Cup. They reached the FA Cup's Semifinal in 1966, its Final in 1967, and finally winning it in 1970, defeating Leeds United in a replay, also finishing 3rd that season. The following season, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup.

As the team declined in the 1970s, the fan base took on more sinister overtones. With most London clubs having working-class roots, the right-wing National Front began to recruit among young male Chelsea fans. A hooligan "firm" called the Chelsea Headhunters was formed, and their battles, on the streets and in the stands, with West Ham's Inter-City Firm and other firms became legendary. Despite their later success being very much dependent on black players, Chelsea fandom still retains a tinge of racism.

So, in the 1980s, Stamford Bridge was a no-go zone: The fans were dangerous, the stadium was run-down, and the team was weak. In the 1990s, new rich owners put a lot of money into rebuilding the stadium, stand by stand, and bought better players, too. Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, the League Cup in 1998, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1998.

In 2003, Russian oil oligarch Roman Abramovich bought the team, and out-spent the other big teams in the Premier League -- Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool F.C. -- by a wide margin. His dirty billions made Chelsea, for a time, England's most successful team, and a worldwide brand.

Before sanctions on Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine forced him to sell the team in 2022, he bought them -- through talented players, and, it has been noticed, referees looking the other way while some of their players executed dirty tackles and ridiculous dives for penalties -- the Premier League title in 2005, '06, '10, '15 and '17; the FA Cup in 2007, '09, '10, '12 and '18; the League Cup in 2005, '07 and '15; the UEFA Europa League in 2013 and '19; and the UEFA Champions League in 2012 and 2021, making them the 1st (and, through 2022, the only) team in London to win it.

Think about it: If Tottenham hadn't been such pricks in 1905, Chelsea might never have gotten into the Football League, might have gone out of business, wouldn't be a bigger club today than Tottenham, and English football fans would have been spared the likes of Roman Abramovich, Jose Mourinho, John Terry, Arjen Robben, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Diego Costa. (True, they all could have been involved with other English clubs, but it wouldn't have been with Chelsea.) And various teams' fans, and their own hooligan "firms," wouldn't have kept getting their heads handed to them by the Chelsea Headhunters.

This is, perhaps, not the first act of stupidity by Tottenham as a club. But it is the first big one, and, while it took nearly a century, it did come back to bite them in the ass. (Or "the arse," if you prefer the English version.) 

*

May 29, 1905 was a Monday. English actor Sebastian Shaw was born on this day. American audiences know him best as the dying and Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Highlanders lost to the Philadelphia Athletics, 2-1 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia. Rube Waddell, probably the best pitcher in the American League at the time, and definitely the weirdest one, outpitched Al Orth, a pitcher known as "The Curveless Wonder." Willie Keeler went 1-for-5 for the Highlanders, who became the New York Yankees in 1913.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Superbas, 8-5 at the Polo Grounds. The Superbas became the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1911.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Beaneaters, 10-7 at the South End Grounds in Boston.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Honus Wagner went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Cleveland Naps beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-3 at League Park in Cleveland. The Naps were named for their manager, 2nd baseman and best player, Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, who went 1-for-3 with a walk in this game.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at The Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-1 at South Side Park in Chicago.

* And the Boston Americans, forerunners of the Red Sox, and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.

May 21, 2008: John Terry's Slip

May 21, 2008: The UEFA Champions League Final is held. For the 1st time, 2 English teams play each other in it. So, of course, the venue is… the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. As with the Super Bowl, the site is chosen years in advance, in the hopes that it will be a neutral site.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United and Frank Lampard of Chelsea traded goals in the 1st half. There were no more goals in the 2nd half or in extra time. The game went to penalties, with United's Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar facing Chelsea's Czech keeper Petr Čech.

United won the coin toss, and chose to kick first. Carlos Tevez made his kick, while Michael Ballack made his. Each goalie went in the correct direction, but neither could stop the shot. In the 2nd round, both Michael Carrick and Juliano Belletti -- brought on by Chelsea manager Avram Grant in the last minute of extra time, specifically to make him available for penalties -- successfully converted. This time, each goalie went in the wrong direction.

Cristiano tried to play a mind game with Čech, stopping short, and starting again, kicking to his own left. He outsmarted himself: Čech dove in the right direction, and knocked it away. Lampard converted, past van der Sar, going in the right direction, putting Chelsea up, 3-2. Owen Hargreaves and Ashley Cole each converted, despite each goalie getting a fingertip on it. It was 4-3 Chelsea.

In the 5th and last round of regular penalties, needing to convert to keep United alive, Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, a.k.a. Nani, converted, despite Čech going the right way. It was up to Chelsea's Captain, John Terry, already infamous for his racism and for the drunken abuse that he and Lampard had given stranded American tourists at an airport hotel after the 9/11 attacks -- but not yet having had an affair with the girlfriend of teammate Wayne Bridge -- to make Chelsea the Champions of Europe.

Ordinarily, the Luzhniki had artificial turf. In order to qualify as a host for a European tournament final, real grass had to be laid down. It was too newly laid down, and it was wet from the rain that fell throughout the game. Terry slipped as he made contact, and the ball glanced off the right goalpost. It was 4-4.

The penalties went to sudden death. Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, like many Brazilian players known by just his first name, another end-of-game, in-case-it-goes-to-penalties sub, kicked it down the middle, with Čech going to his left. Salomon Kalou sent van der Sar the wrong way, and it was 5-5.

Ryan Giggs kicked to his left, and Čech went the other way. It was 6-5, and it was up to Nicolas Anelka for Chelsea. He kicked to his left, and van der Sar saved it. United had won.

The already-knighted Sir Alex Ferguson

with the European Cup, a.k.a. "Ol' Big Ears"

Chelsea regard Terry as "Captain, Leader, Legend." But even after Chelsea finally won the Champions League in 2012, after spending so many of Roman Abramovich's petrodollars -- a Final that Terry missed due to injury -- the defining moment of his career isn't his bad behavior, on and off the pitch, but that slip in Moscow.

The Luzhniki, formerly the Lenin Stadium, joined the Olympic Stadiums of Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Munich and Athens, and London's original Wembley Stadium, as stadiums hosting an Olympic Games and a European Cup/Champions League Final. However, it did not join old Wembley and the Olympic Stadiums of Berlin, Rome and Munich as stadiums hosting an Olympics, a European Cup Final and a World Cup Final. The old stadium has been demolished and replaced, and it was the new Luzhniki Stadium that hosted the 2018 World Cup Final.

*

May 21, 2008 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were in progress, but no games were scheduled for this day. There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 89-85 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-0 at Yankee Stadium. Darrell Rasner pitched 7 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Joba Chamberlain allowed 1 hit over the last 2 innings. Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Derek Jeter went 0-for-3 with a walk, and had an RBI on a groundout.

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 11-4 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Jair Jurrjens outpitched Mike Pelfrey. Chipper Jones bedeviled the Mets again, hitting a home run. So did Jeff Francoeur.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 12-2 at Nationals Park in Washington. The Phils scored 6 runs in the 6th inning. Ryan Howard went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs, a walk, and 4 RBIs. Both Pedro Feliz and Shane Victorino also had 3 hits including a home run. Jamie Moyer was the winning pitcher.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-1 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-2 at Coors Field in Denver. Omar Vizquel, the longtime superb shortstop for Cleveland, drives Ray Durham home with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 11-3 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 9-1 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum).

May 17, 1997: The Frustration of Middlesbrough

May 17, 1997: West London club Chelsea win the FA Cup, defeating Middlesbrough 2-0 at the old Wembley Stadium in London.

It was only the 5th major honor in their 92-year history, following the 1955 League title, the 1965 League Cup, the 1970 FA Cup and the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup. They had won just those 4 in their 1st 91 years of play. This was before a Russian politician and energy tycoon bought the team, and a few English referees.

Roberto Di Matteo scored a screamer in the game's 1st 45 seconds. He would help Chelsea win the Cup again in 2000, and manage them to the Cup, and the UEFA Champions League, in 2012.

Ruud Gullit, the Dutch genius who had played for Chelsea, became the 1st manager from outside the British Isles to win a major British trophy, beating Arsène Wenger to it by a year. Chelsea Captain Dennis Wise, only 5-foot-6, received the Cup from Katharine, Duchess of Kent.

Middlesbrough, of North Yorkshire, and managed by former Manchester United Captain Bryan Robson (who played 1 game for Boro that season), had reached the Final of both domestic cups that season, but lost both, and finished 19th out of 20 teams in the Premier League, and thus were relegated.

It might have been the most frustrating season any English soccer team has had in the Premier League era. The 2004 League Cup remains the only major trophy -- if you can call the League Cup a "major trophy" -- in the Teesside club's history.

Known as the "Smoggies" for the dark clouds that seem to hover over their city, Middlesbrough was the hometown of 2 of England's greatest strikers of the post-World War II era: Don Revie, who would go on to FA Cup glory with Manchester City before managing Leeds United to bigger things; and Brian Clough, who also went into management with great success after a knee injury with Sunderland cut short his playing career. From 1903 until this 1996-97 season, they played at Ayresome Park, which served as one of the venues for the 1966 World Cup. They would begin the next season in the 2nd division, but also in a new home, the Riverside Stadium.

The Steve Vickers who played for Middlesbrough in this game is not related to the former New York Ranger hockey player of the same name.

*

May 17, 1997, like all FA Cup Final days, was a Saturday. American-style football was out of season. There was 1 game played in the NBA Playoffs: The Houston Rockets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 96-91.

There was 1 game played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 11-5 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Ramiro Mendoza, usually a reliever, started, pitched 5 innings, and won. Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill hit home runs. Derek Jeter batted 7th, and went 0-for-5 with a walk.

* The New York Mets beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-1 at Shea Stadium. Bobby Jones was the winning pitcher. Carlos Baerga went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 8-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-6 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 8-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-2 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4. Shawon Dunston had 3 of the Cubs' 7 hits. Sammy Sosa had none of them.

 The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 9-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Tom Gordon, usually a reliever, pitches a 4-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rickey Henderson, in his only season with the Angels, did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-6 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Cal Ripken Jr. went 0-for-4 with a walk. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Alex Rodriguez hit a home run.

May 15, 2010: Chelsea's Tainted Double

John Terry (left) and Frank Lampard lift the Cup

May 15, 2010: The FA Cup Final is held at the new Wembley Stadium in London. West London team Chelsea Football Club become the 7th English club to “do the Double,” winning both the Premier League and the FA Cup in the same season.

They defeat Portsmouth, the Hampshire team already in administration and relegation. The (then) richest team in the country had been held to a standstill for nearly an hour by a bankrupt one, before luck turned: Didier Drogba, the big forward from Africa's Ivory Coast, scored in the 59th minute.

Carlo Ancelotti, who had both played on and managed a European Cup winner at AC Milan, had led Chelsea to both English domestic titles. Prince William, as President of the Football Association, handed the FA Cup to Chelsea's Captain, centreback John Terry.

Terry was a despicable individual, leading others. On September 12, 2001, the day after the 9/11 attacks, he and midfielder Frank Lampard drunkenly insulted American tourists at a hotel on the grounds of London's Heathrow Airport, stranded there because restrictions meant they couldn't yet fly home. A hotel manager stated: "They were utterly disgusting. They just didn't seem to care about what had happened."

Terry was cited for racist remarks on several occasions. In 2009, he had an affair with French model Vanessa Perroncel, then the girlfriend of teammate Wayne Bridge, breaking them up. In 2010, in their 1st game against each other after the revelation of the scandal, Bridge, then playing for Manchester City, shook hands with every Chelsea player except Terry.

In addition, many players for Chelsea, during the 2003-2022 ownership of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, were guilty of "diving" in the penalty area, so that referees would award them penalties. Drogba was the worst of the lot: He even, after leaving Chelsea and playing for Turkish team Galatasaray, dove against Arsenal FC in a preseason friendly. Other Chelsea players noted for diving include Arjen Robben, Michael Ballack, and Juan Mata.

Other Chelsea players were guilty of dirty tackles: Branislav Ivanović, José Bosingwa, Nemanja Matić, Raul Meireles, Ramires (Santos do Nascimento). So Chelsea were unworthy champions.

It's not just the players, it's the fans. Chelsea's hooligans, including their main "firm," the Chelsea Headhunters, have long been associated with England's far right, with the National Front, the UK Independence Party and the British National Party (the NF, the UKIP and the BNP). Infamously, after a Champions League match with Paris Saint-Germain on February 17, 2015, they pushed a black PSG fan off a Metro train, and sang, to the tune of Little Peggy March's "I Will Follow Him," "We're racist, we're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it, we like it, we like it!"

Funny thing: Despite their team's success over the last dozen years or so, their hooligans weren't very good at fighting. They usually get their heads handed to them by the big English firms. Fellow Londoners West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have firms that routinely beat them, and tough guys from Newcastle and Leeds tend to "run" them as well.

So what the Chelsea lads do is find a pub about a mile from the ground, wreck the place, scare a few women and old men inside, then go on their mobile phones and "claim a result," asking where the other team's famous firm was. This usually doesn't end well.

Prior to Abramovich buying the team in 2003: This was Chelsea's major trophy record: They had won the old Football League Division One in 1955; the FA Cup in 1970, 1997 and 2000; the Football League Cup in 1965 and 1998; and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (which no longer exists) in 1971 and 1998.

After "The Mad Russian" bought them, and started pumping his billions into the club, they won Premier League and the League Cup in 2005; the League again in 2006; both domestic cups, the FA Cup and the League Cup, in 2007; the FA Cup in 2009; The Double, the League and the FA Cup, in 2010; the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 2012; the UEFA Europa League in 2013; the League and the League Cup in 2015; the League again in 2017; the FA Cup again in 2018; the Europa League again in 2019; and the Champions League again in 2021.

*

May 15, 2010, like all FA Cup Final days, was a Saturday. There were 6 games in North America's soccer league, Major League Soccer:

* The New York Red Bulls lost to the Seattle Sounders, 1-0 at Red Bull Arena (now Sports Illustrated Stadium) in Harrison, New Jersey. I was at this game. Colombian forward Fredy Montero scored the winning goal in the 85th minute.

* The New England Revolution and the San Jose Earthquakes played to a draw, 0-0 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Union and FC Dallas played to a draw, 1-1 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Colorado Rapids beat D.C. United, 1-0 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. The Rapids went on to win the MLS Cup that season.

* The Columbus Crew beat Los Angeles team Chivas USA, 1-0 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

* The Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) and the Chicago Fire played to a draw, 2-2 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark (now Legends Field) in Kansas City, Kansas.

* And the LA Galaxy and Toronto FC played to a draw, 0-0 at the Home Depot Center (now Dignity Health Sports Park) in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California.

American football was out of season. The NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs were between rounds. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher. Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada hit home runs. Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins, 7-5 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. David Wright hit a home run for the Mets.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves, 11-1 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Ricky Romero pitches a 5-hit shutout.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-6 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Ramón Ramírez walked Ramón Santiago with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-6 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Colorado Rockies swept a doubleheader from the Washington Nationals, 6-2 and 4-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 4-1 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 12-3 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.