December 11, 1968: England Football's 1st Black Player

December 11, 1968: The England national football team play Bulgaria to a 1-1 draw, at the old Wembley Stadium in London. Georgi Asparuhov of Levski Sofia scored for Bulgaria in the 32nd minute, while Geoff Hurst of West Ham United equalized for England in the 36th. (Asparuhov was killed in a car crash in 1971, while still an active player. Levski's stadium is named for him.)

In the 80th minute, right back Keith Newton of Blackburn Rovers was substituted, substitutions having recently been legalized. His replacement was Paul Reaney of Leeds United. This made Reaney the 1st black player for the England senior team.

Usually, that distinction is credited to Viv Anderson of Nottingham Forest, also a right back, in England's 1-0 win over Czechoslovakia on November 29, 1978. Anderson is, however, the 1st black player to start for England.

Paul Reaney was born on October 22, 1944 in Fulham, West London. He was the right back on the Leeds United teams that won the League in 1969 and 1974, and the FA Cup in 1972. As he was mixed-race, and comparatively light-skinned, he faced little abuse, because most fans thought he was white. Although the Yorkshire club were known as "Dirty Leeds" for their foul play, Reaney was not known as a dirty player.

Leeds had previously made a gesture toward advancement for black players in 1961, by signing Albert Johanneson (1940-1995), from South Africa. The left winger made the senior team in 1963, and in 1965, he became the 1st black player to appear in the FA Cup Final, which Leeds lost to Liverpool. Reaney also played in that game. While black players would become more common in England in the 1970s, it would take until the 1980s before teams would find success with racially integrated lineups.

A broken leg in 1970, and Newton's development into a top player at Everton, meant that in-game England opportunities for Reaney were limited. His injury kept him out of both the FA Cup Final and the World Cup in 1970, and he only made 2 more appearances for England. After retiring in 1981, he became an athletic counselor at a children's camp in Derbyshire.

Frank Soo (1914-1991), an inside left for Stoke City, and a Derbyshire native of Chinese descent, was the first player of an ethnic minority background to represent England, doing so 9 times, though these were all in unofficial matches during World War II.

*

December 11, 1968 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Baltimore Bullets, 118-110 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Phoenix Suns, 143-123 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the San Diego Rockets, 116-110 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Oscar Robertson scored 34 points for the Royals. Elvin Hayes had 35 points and 20 rebounds in defeat for the Rockets.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-106 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* And the Milwaukee Bucks beat the San Francisco Warriors, 106-96 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.)

There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Houston Mavericks, 106-99 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Floridians, 117-100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* And the Los Angeles Stars beat the Minnesota Pipers, 124-116 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Connie Hawkins of the Pipers led all scorers on the night, with 47 points.

And there were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 2-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 4-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. 

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers and the Oakland Seals were not scheduled.

November 27, 2011: The Tragedy of Gary Speed

Note the White Rose of the House of York,

still the symbol of Yorkshire, on Leeds' badge.

November 27, 2011: Gary Speed, the Welsh soccer star who became one of Britain's greatest TV studio analysts for the sport, takes his own life. He was 42 years old.

Gary Andrew Speed was born on September 8, 1969 in Mancot, Flintshire, Wales. He grew up on the street where Kevin Ratcliffe, then captain of Liverpool-based team Everton Football Club, lived. As Liverpool is near Wales, many people in the Principality support Everton, and many others support Liverpool FC. Also from Wales, and on the great Everton teams of the 1980s, were goalkeeper Neville Southall and left back Pat Van Den Hauwe. So was midfielder Barry Horne, a star (along with Southall) of their 1995 FA Cup winners.

A midfielder, with pace to match his name, Speed was signed by Yorkshire club Leeds United, and helped them win the Football League Division One title in 1992 -- the last title under the old banner, before the English top flight became known as the Premier League.

In 1996, he was sold to the club he loved growing up, Everton. A year later, Howard Wilkinson, his manager at Leeds, became his manager again, but their relationship soured. In 1998, he was sold to Newcastle United, and helped them reach the FA Cup Final that year (although they lost to North London team Arsenal) and the next (losing to Man United). In 2002, he helped Newcastle qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

He was sold to Lancashire team Bolton Wanderers in 2004, and stayed with them until 2008. They sold him to Yorkshire team Sheffield United, and he played the last 2 seasons of his career with them. He scored 104 goals in his career, and was known for scoring with headers.

He appeared 85 times for the Wales national team between 1990 and 2004, eventually serving as their Captain 44 times. Rarely troubled by injury or suspension, at the time of his retirement, he held the record for the most appearances in the Premier League at 535, until it was surpassed by David James; and only his Everton teammate Southall had made more appearances for Wales.

He retired as a player when Sheffield United named him manager. Only 4 months later, on December 11, 2010, he was named manager of his national team. As usual, Wales struggled, and by August 2011, they were ranked 117th in the world (out of 211 "nations" recognized by FIFA, the world's governing body for soccer). But 2 wins in the Autumn got them up to 45th.

Speed as Wales manager,

with one of his successors as team Captain,

Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal.

He married Louise in 1996, and had sons Tommy and Eddie. In 2010, he was awarded an MBE: Member of the Order of the British Empire.

On November 26, 2011, still manager of Wales, he appeared on the BBC One TV show Football Focus, and joined his former Newcastle United teammate Alan Shearer to watch that team play Manchester United, at Man U's Old Trafford. No one seemed to think anything was wrong.

The next day, Louise found him dead in the garage at their home in Huntington, Cheshire, England. He had hanged himself.

He seemed to have so much to look forward to, and so much respect among his peers, and so many friends. He didn't leave a suicide note, so no one really knows why he did it. It has been suggested that he was depressed. It is also possible that, with his reputation for heading the ball, he may have sustained brain damage, similar to American football players, and a few other British soccer stars. He was cremated, so there is no gravesite.

*

November 27, 2011 was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 28-24 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New England Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-13 at EverBank Field (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-17 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 23-20 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Indianapolis Colts, 27-19 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams, 23-20 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 13-9 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 16-13 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Chicago Bears, 25-20 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena).

* The Washington Redskins beat the Seattle Seahawks, 23-17 at CenturyLink Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* Three days earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions, 27-15 at Ford Field in Detroit; the Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins, 20-19 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas; and the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* And on ESPN Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints beat the New York Giants, 49-24 at the Superdome.

The NBA team owners had locked the players out, and the season did not begin until Christmas Day. But there were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-2 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

September 12, 1974: The End of Brian Clough's 44 Days at Leeds

Brian Clough (left) and Don Revie

September 12, 1974: Brian Clough is fired after 44 days and 6 league matches in charge of Yorkshire team Leeds United. The defending Football League Champions have won just once in the league in this new season, and stand 19th of 22 clubs in the First Division.

Clough’s tenure ends 18 days before the conclusion of Captain Billy Bremner’s suspension – in other words, he never got a chance to manage Leeds at full strength. He receives a payoff of £98,000 -- in today's money, about £900,000, or around $1.2 million.

That night, he sits for an interview on Yorkshire Television, but is not told beforehand that it will be a dual interview – or, perhaps, “duel” would be more fitting – with England manager Don Revie, his predecessor at Leeds, and a man he despises for his dirty tactics in leading them to 2 League titles, among other trophies.

Even this humiliation, in front of the entire country, is not the end of it: With Jimmy Bloomfield in charge, Leeds, while only finishing 12th in the League, will (as defending Champions) reach the Final of the European Cup, losing to Bayern Munich.

Clough will have the last laugh, though: Revie will be a flop as England manager, while Clough will be hired next year to manage Nottingham Forest -- ironically, the arch-rivals of Derby County, whom he'd managed to the 1972 League title. He takes Forest to the 1978 League title, and in 1979 and '80 wins the European Cup (forerunner of today's Champions League) -- which neither Leeds nor Revie had ever won.

*

September 12, 1974 was a Thursday. This was also the day that Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was deposed in a Communist military coup, and the day the Boston Busing Crisis began. I have separate entries for those events.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Wallace -- no relation to the CBS journalist of the same name -- makes his only start of the season, and goes 7 2/3rds innings. allowing just 3 hits, outpitching Hall-of-Famer Jim Palmer. Dick Tidrow completes the 4-hit shutout, and Wallace advances to 7-0 on the season. Other than this one season, he was little more than a journeyman pitcher.

Bobby Murcer, Lou Piniella and Elliott Maddox each got 2 hits for the Yankees. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-5 at Shea Stadium. The night before, the Cardinals had beaten the Mets in 25 innings. There may have been some carryover, as Bob Gibson outpitched Jon Matlack, who nonetheless had 2 hits and 2 RBIs in his own cause.

John Milner hit a home run for the Mets, but Reggie Smith went 3-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs for the Cards. Ted Simmons also went 3-for-5, albeit with no RBIs. As for 2 future Mets, Joe Torre went 0-for-5, and Keith Hernandez did not reach base as a pinch-hitter.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Mike Schmidt and Del Unser hit home runs for the Phils. Willie Stargell went 2-for-2 with 3 walks.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Bill Lee outpitched Jim Perry. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5. This game, and the Yanks' win over the O's, meant that the day ended with the Yankees leading the American League Eastern Division by 2 1/2 games over the Sox, and 3 over the O's. The Sox had led for most of the season, but went into one of their occasional late-season tailspins. Ultimately, the Orioles would win the Division, by 2 games over the Yankees and 7 over the Red Sox.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Atlanta Braves, 9-6 and 6-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Over the 2 games, Pete Rose went 3-for-8 with a walk, and Johnny Bench went 2-for-7 with 2 home runs, a walk and 6 RBIs. Hank Aaron, having already become baseball's all-time home run leader, went 0-for-5 in the opener, and did not play in the nightcap. Darrell Evans homered for the Braves in both games.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-7 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Tom Veryzer won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. It was the 1st home run of his career. He would hit 14. Al Kaline, in his last month as an active player, went 1-for-4. Rookie Robin Yount did not get into the game for the Brewers.

* The Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox were tied 2-2 after 6 innings at Comiskey Park in Chicago, when it was called due to rain. It was never made up.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Ken Holtzman outpitched Bert Blyleven. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4. Rod Carew did not play.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield entered the game as a defensive replacement, and did not get to bat.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 11-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Al Downing pitched a 2-hit shutout. The Dodgers got no home runs, but Bill Russell went 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs, and Ron Cey went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* And the California Angels and the Kansas City Royals were not scheduled.

August 10, 1974: England's Fight-Filled Charity Shield

Left to right: Referee Bob Matthewson,

Billy Bremner, and (back to camera) Kevin Keegan

August 10, 1974: English soccer begins its season as it usually does, with the annual exhibition game between the previous season's winners of the Football League title and the FA Cup, a game then known as the FA Charity Shield. Unusual for the time, the game is played at the national stadium, the original Wembley Stadium in West London.

For Cup holders Liverpool, it is their last game under their greatest manager so far, Bill Shankly, who is handing the team over to his top assistant, Bob Paisley, who will surpass his achievements. For title holders Leeds United, it is their 1st game under new manager Brian Clough, who had won the League at Derby County in 1972, and replaces their greatest manager so far, Don Revie, who has been appointed manager of the national team, and is in attendance.

Clough was a native of Middlesbrough, in the North-East of England, and had starred as a striker for the hometown soccer team, Middlesbrough FC. Revie was also a Middlesbrough native, and had also starred as a striker, for Manchester City. Both men subsequently played for Sunderland FC, ostensibly Middlesbrough's arch-rivals, and for the England national team -- albeit Clough only twice, and Revie only 6 times.

Both went into management at a young age, Revie due to declining skills, Clough due to a nasty knee injury. Both took long-dormant teams out of the 2nd division of English football and into the 1st: Revie at age 33 with Yorkshire team Leeds United in 1964, Clough at 34 with East Midlands team Derby County in 1969, the year Revie's Leeds won the 1st division for the 1st time.

But there were significant differences between them, and Clough's failure to understand them led to his failure to properly understand Revie and the effect he had on his Leeds players. For Revie, 8 years older than Clough, the defining experience of his childhood was the Great Depression, and the result was that he did whatever he had to do to survive, even if that meant cheating.

For Clough, it was World War II, and the result was a basic sense of fairness, which meant that not only did he not accept cheating, but he publicly condemned those whose who did, including Revie, his gifts to referees (the press called them "Don Readies"), the diving of Leeds' Scottish Captain, Billy Bremner, and the rough play of Johnny Giles and Norman Hunter.

In 1972, Clough guided Derby to win the League, beating Leeds for the title by 1 point. At 37, he was 5 years younger than Revie was for his 1st title. He was quoted as saying, "I wouldn't say I'm the best manager in the country, but I'm in the top one." But Leeds won the FA Cup. In 1973, as defending League Champions, Clough got them to the Semifinals of the European Cup, losing to Italian champions Juventus. This matched Leeds' best performance in the tournament, losing to Celtic of Glasgow in the 1970 Semifinal. But a dispute with management led Clough to quit Derby.

In 1974, with England having failed to qualify for the World Cup for the 1st time ever -- although the country hadn't entered qualification until the 1950 cycle -- the Football Association hired Revie as England manager. Leeds management hired Clough, who had been managing with Sussex team Brighton & Hove Albion in the interim. Both moves seemed like no-brainers on the surface: Revie was England's best established manager, Clough the country's best up-and-coming manager.

Both moves turned out to be disasters. England did not qualify for Euro 76, and before qualifying for the 1978 World Cup could be completed, Revie quit to take a coaching job in the United Arab Emirates, abandoning his country for money, shattering whatever reputation he had. England ended up not qualifying for the 1978 World Cup, either.

Clough tried to manage Leeds his way, thinking that, as defending Champions in 1974, working together, he could guide them to the 1975 European Cup, beating not just Revie's greatest achievement, and theirs, but also his own. But the players not only missed Revie, but chafed against Clough's way and his previous comments about them being cheats.

In particular, Giles, who was already manager of the Republic of Ireland team despite still playing, thought that he should have been named Leeds' manager. He later said that if he and Clough had talked things out, things might have turned out differently, and Clough could have succeeded at Leeds.

The Charity Shield was one of the few games broadcast live on national television. The belief then was that putting games on TV would make people stay home rather than go. The whole country saw a disgusting spectacle, as "Dirty Leeds" started a nasty fight that led to referee Bob Matthewson ejecting each team's biggest star (though not tallest, as both were famously short): Leeds' 5-foot-5 Bremner, and Liverpool's prolific "Mighty Mouse," the 5-foot-8 Kevin Keegan. They were the first players ever thrown out of a Shield match.

Each man removed his shirt, and threw it away, considered a major faux pas by the English football establishment. Given each team's theme song, their exits were ironic: Liverpool's is "You'll Never Walk Alone," and Leeds' is "Marching On Together," but each walked off the pitch and into the dressing room alone.

Phil Boersma scored for Liverpool in the 19th minute. Trevor Cherry scored for Leeds in the 70th. The game went to penalties, and when Ray Clemence stopped opposing goalkeeper David Harvey, Liverpool were 6-5 winners.

Embarrassed, the FA decided to make examples out of Bremner and Keegan. Both would be suspended through September 30. Liverpool had enough of a bench to keep themselves afloat in the meanwhile. Leeds did not. Clough was fired after 44 days in charge, not even long enough for Bremner's suspension to run out. Jimmy Armfield stopped the bleeding in League play, and they finished 9th. He got them to the Final of the European Cup, where they controversially lost to Bayern Munich.

But Liverpool actually finished 2nd, only 2 points out of 1st -- ironically, to Derby County, managed by Dave MacKay, who was benefiting from many of Clough's acquisitions.

The game became a Wembley regular, and in 1992, it officially became a match between the previous season's Premier League winners and FA Cup winners. In 2002, the name of the game was changed to the FA Community Shield.

*

August 10, 1974 was a Saturday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the California Angels, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rudy May outpitched Andy Hassler. Hassler allowed only 4 hits, but Lou Piniella got 3 of them. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4 for the Angels. He would soon be traded to Cleveland, and be named MLB's 1st black manager.

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3 at Shea Stadium. Ray Sadecki blew it for Tom Seaver in the 8th inning. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Johnny Bench went 0-for-4 with a walk. For the Mets, John Milner went 3-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4, but Ralph Garr and Dusty Baker hit home runs. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie McCovey, who just never looked right in a Padre uniform, hit a home run. Dave Winfield went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Rod Carew went 3-for-4. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Doug Rau was the winning pitcher. Bob Gibson didn't get out of the 5th inning, partly thanks to a home run by Jimmy Wynn. Lou Brock went 3-for-5, and a stolen base gave him 76 for the season. He would finish with a new major league record, 118. Joe Torre went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Rookie George Brett went 1-for-4. Rookie Robin Yount did not play.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Al Kaline, in his last few weeks as an active player, went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Vida Blue outpitched Reggie Cleveland. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* And the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants were rained out at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Giants swept, 5-3 and 6-4.

May 11, 1985: The Bradford City Stadium Fire

May 11, 1985: Bradford City Association Football Club, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, hosts their last home game of the season at their stadium, Valley Parade. It turns into a disaster -- and not the kind of disaster their fans would have considered a 4-0 defeat to be.

Unlike America, England didn't have a building boom of new stadiums in the 1960s and 1970s, and so most of their stadiums were ramshackle structures tucked away in old neighborhoods, not really conducive to driving -- just like the American ballparks of the 1910s, except most of their stadiums were even older, in some cases considerably older.

Throw in end sections that were standing terraces instead of seated sections, and the fact that many of them still had wood in their construction, and fans liked to smoke, and drop their cigarettes, and it's a wonder they didn't have more disasters.

On this day, at Valley Parade, which opened in 1886 and had hardly been modernized at all since, Bradford, in England's Football League Division Three, were playing Lincoln City, of Lincolnshire. This game is the most interesting thing that has ever happened to the "Imps."

Bradford, the "Bantams," should be so lucky: They had won Division Three that season, earning promotion to Division Two, and nobody outside Bradford remembers that. And their only major trophy is the 1911 FA Cup, and that's so far back that nobody alive today remembers that, either.

The stand before the fire

The match was covered by British network ITV, so the key moments survive without a film crew arriving in mid-disaster. At 3:40 PM, ITV commentator John Helm remarked upon a small fire in the main stand. In less than 4 minutes, with the windy conditions, the fire had engulfed the whole stand, trapping some people in their seats.

In the panic that ensued, fleeing crowds escaped on to the pitch, but others at the back of the stand tried to break down locked exit doors to escape. Many were burned to death at the turnstile gates, which had also been locked after the match had begun. A total of 56 people died, making it the biggest disaster in the history of English football to that point. (This was topped in Scotland by the 66 who died at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow in 1971, and would be surpassed by the 97 deaths that have now been attributed to the Hillsborough Disaster in Sheffield in 1989.)

Helm reported that he could feel the heat, from all the way across the stadium. As he put it, "Quite extraordinary scenes at Valley Parade. This was supposed to be a day of utter joy, triumph and celebration. It's turning into a nightmare."

There were many cases of heroism, with more than 50 people later receiving police awards or commendations for bravery.

Nevertheless, a bad year for English soccer -- which had already seen several notorious incidents of hooliganism, including a riot of Millwall fans at Luton Town 2 months earlier -- got even worse. On the same day as the Valley Parade fire, Birmingham City's promotion from the Second Division to the First Division was marred by a riot by Leeds United fans, in which a 14-year-old spectator was crushed to death by a collapsing wall.

Both clubs were then known for their infamous hooligan firms: Leeds had the Leeds Service Crew, while Birmingham City had the Zulu Army, named in tribute to Zulu, the 1964 film that launched Michael Caine to stardom, but also because it was the first widely-known hooligan firm to have been racially integrated.

Bradford City played home games at other grounds in West Yorkshire for 19 months, while Valley Parade was rebuilt, opening on December 14, 1986, just in time to get it in for the 100th Anniversary of the original stadium. Today, it is a modern all-seater stadium, holding 25,136 spectators, with a memorial to the victims at its north end.

The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in British stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. It was also a catalyst for the substantial redevelopment and modernization of many British football grounds in the years to come. Bradford City continues to support the burn unit at the University of Bradford hospital as its official charity.

Most English stadiums have since been modernized, or replaced completely - in some cases by faceless, atmosphere-less structures in the suburbs. In other words, when it comes to stadiums, England is still about 30 years behind America. Let's hope it doesn't take another Valley Parade or Hillsborough for them to get their own "Camden Yards generation of stadiums."

*

May 11, 1985 was a Saturday. Elsewhere in English soccer, North London team Arsenal traveled to the Birmingham area, and played West Bromwich Albion to a 2-2 draw at The Hawthorns.

There were 2 games played in the United States Football League. The Birmingham Stallions beat the Portland Breakers, 14-0 at Legion Field in Birmingham. And the Oakland Invaders beat the Los Angeles Express, 27-6 at the Oakland Coliseum.

The NBA Playoffs were between rounds. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but no games were scheduled.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 11-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Dennis Rasmussen outpitched Bud Black. Don Baylor went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 5 RBIs. Dave Winfield went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Don Mattingly went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with a walk. For the Royals, George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-0 at Shea Stadium. Sid Fernandez pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 hit, a leadoff single by Von Hayes in the 4th. Roger McDowell went the rest of the way, finishing the 1-hit shutout.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Bill Gullickson pitched a 5-hit shutout. 

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 12-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-7 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose, the Reds' player-manager, went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Reggie Jackson hit his 510th career home run. Rod Carew, in his final season as a player, did not play.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 4-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Garry Templeton and Steve Garvey hit home runs, and Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Tony Peña hit a home run in the top of the 13th inning to win it.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

May 8, 1972: The Football League's Wildest Finish

May 8, 1972: England's Football League comes to what remains the wildest finish in its history.

Going into the last 2 weekends of play, it was still possible for 4 different teams to win the Division One title. Arsenal, of North London, were not one of them: They had won both the League and the FA Cup, for "The Double," the season before; but, this time, they were in 5th place. Leeds United, of Yorkshire, were one of them. They had won the League in 1969, had blown the League title late in the 1970-71 season, and played Arsenal in the FA Cup Final on the final Saturday, beating them, 1-0.

There were also Liverpool, League Champions as recently as 1966, and the team Arsenal beat in the previous year's Cup Final; Manchester City, League Champions as recently as 1968; and Derby County, of Derbyshire in the East Midlands.

Derby -- and that's pronounced "DAHR-bee," not "DUR-bee," as it would be in America -- were the dark horses. In 1968, they had hired former Middlesbrough star striker Brian Clough as their manager, and in one season, he took them from the bottom of Division Two, in danger of being relegated to Division Three, to the title of Division Two and promotion to Division One. Three years later, he had them poised to pursue the Division One title.

He'd built a team with goalkeeper Colin Boulton; a back four of Ron Webster, Captain Roy McFarland, Colin Todd and John Robson; a midfield of John McGovern, Archie Gemmill, Alan Durban and Alan Hinton; and forwards John O'Hare and Kevin Hector.

On April 22, Derby beat Man City, 2-0 at Maine Road in Manchester. That was City's last League game of the season, and they finished with 57 points.

On May 1, Derby beat Liverpool, 1-0 at home -- at a stadium named The Baseball Ground. The Midlands were one of the few parts of England where baseball had caught on, but that was at the turn of the 20th Century, and interest fell away, returning to baseball's English cousin, cricket. But The Baseball Ground remained the name of Derby's stadium until they moved into a new stadium in 1997.

That May Day game eliminated Man City from the race, and it concluded Derby's League schedule -- or "fixture list," as would be said in England. Derby had finished with 58 points. (A win was worth 2 points, until the 1982-83 season, when, to discourage playing for a draw, with 1 point, a win was made 3 points.) Now, they had to wait for everyone else to finish.

Going into Monday, May 8, with games having been rescheduled for that day due to cup ties causing fixture congestion, Derby led the League with 58, Leeds had 57, and Liverpool had 56. Leeds had to beat West Midlands team Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. "Wolves," away to win the League outright. A draw would tie Derby on points. Liverpool had to beat Arsenal away to tie Derby on points.

If either team tied Derby for 1st, the tiebreaker would be goal average. Not goal difference, which it would later be changed to, but League goals scored divided by League goals allowed. Derby had finished with an average of 2.091. So if Leeds got a tie vs. Wolves, given that their average was already higher, at 2.483, then Leeds would win the title, and thus The Double. Liverpool's was 2.133, so if they beat Arsenal, they would finish ahead of Derby. In other words, to win the title, here's what they needed:

* Derby: Leeds to lose, and Liverpool to not win.

* Leeds: A win; or, a draw, and Liverpool to win by less than a massive blowout.

* Liverpool: A win, and Leeds to lose.

Clough was only 37 years old. He and his wife Barbara still had 3 young children, including Nigel Clough, who would later play for his father and also go into team management. Had it not been for a devastating knee injury while playing for Sunderland on Boxing Day 1962, he could still have been playing. Instead, along with his assistant manager and chief scout, Peter Taylor, he had taken a team that was in danger of relegation to Division Three, and, in 4 years, built them into a team that could end up as Champions of England.

Since there was nothing more he could do, Clough took his family on vacation -- or "on holiday," as would be said in England -- to the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall. All he could do now was listen to the radio, as the Football League didn't allow live television broadcasts of their games.

At the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for the North London neighborhood it was in, Arsenal salvaged some pride by holding Liverpool to a 0-0 draw. And at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, Wolves -- who were no slouches, as they finished 9th, and reached the Final of the UEFA Cup, losing to the other North London team, Tottenham Hotspur, who finished 6th -- got a goal from Frank Munro right before halftime, and another from their best player, Derek Dougan, in the 67th minute. Billy Bremner, Leeds' diminutive Scottish Captain, got the Whites to within 2-1, but they could not find the equalizer that would have won the title. It all ended Derby 58, Leeds 57, Liverpool 57.

The BBC sent a film crew from their Cornwall affiliate to film a phone call from their London studio to Clough's hotel room, for broadcast the next day. It was a bizarre end to a wild season, with an unlikely Champion.

It was around this time that Clough began bragging,

"I might not be the best manager in the country,

but I'm in the top one."

Clough would continue to gain upsets with Derby, taking them to the Semifinal of the 1973 European Cup. He left them over a dispute with team chairman Sam Longson, over transfer funds. After taking the manager's job at Sussex team Brighton & Hove Albion, Leeds hired him to replace Don Revie, who became manager of England. Both men spectacularly failed in their new jobs.

In 1975, Clough was hired by Derby's East Midlands' arch-rivals, Nottingham Forest, and led them to the League title in 1978, and to the European Cup in 1979 and 1980.

*

May 8, 1972 was a Monday. American Football was out of season. The NBA season ended the day before, when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the Finals. The ABA Finals were between Games 1 and 2, and the Indiana Pacers went on to beat the New York Nets in 6 games. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 4 and 5, and the Boston Bruins ended up beating the New York Rangers in 6 games.

There were 2 Major League Baseball games. The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Mel Stottlemyre outpitched Bert Blyleven. Former Philadelphia Phillies star Johnny Callison hit a home run for the Yankees. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3 with a walk. Rod Carew went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 5-2 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

May 7, 1972: The Lakers Finally Win Los Angeles a Title

May 7, 1972: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks, 114-100 at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. This gives the Lakers the series, 4 games to 1, and their 1st NBA Championship since 1954, when they were in Minneapolis.

The Lakers had lost their last Finals in Minneapolis, in 1959. They moved to Los Angeles a year later. They lost the Finals in 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. All 7 of these defeats were to the Boston Celtics. Then the Celtics got old, and the Lakers thought the path to a title was clear. But in 1970, they lost the Finals to the Knicks, and lost the Western Conference Finals to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971.

So, despite having Elgin Baylor from the 1958-59 season onward, Jerry West from 1960-61 onward, Gail Goodrich from 1965-66 onward, and Wilt Chamberlain from 1968-69 onward, they lost 8 straight appearances in the NBA Finals; and failed to win a title in their 1st 11 seasons in Los Angeles.

Early in the 1971-72 season, Baylor retired. But right after that, the Lakers went on a 33-game winning streak, still the longest in the history of major league sports in North America. They won 69 regular-season games, a new NBA record that would stand for 24 years. They swept the Chicago Bulls in the 1st round of the Playoffs, then dethroned the Bucks in 6 games. The Knicks won Game 1 of the Finals, 114-92. But the Lakers took the next 4 straight: 106-92, 107-96, 116-111 in overtime, and 114-100.

The Lakers were coached by Bill Sharman, who had played on the Celtics' dynasty. The season before, 1970-71, he had coached the Utah Stars to the title in the American Basketball Association. He and Alex Hannum were the only coaches to win the title in both the NBA and the ABA. Hannum had won the NBA with the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, including Chamberlain; and the ABA with the 1969 Oakland Oaks.

This title also made Los Angeles the 1st city to have basketball's pro and college champions in the same calendar year, as UCLA won the NCAA Tournament. Oddly, given the Lakers' 12 NBA Championships since moving moving to Los Angeles, and the Bruins' 11 National Championships, this remains the only time it's ever happened. (UCLA won in 1965, '68, '69 and '73, but the Lakers lost in the Finals each time; the Lakers won the title in 1980, but UCLA lost the Final.) If you count Ann Arbor as part of the Detroit metropolitan area, then 1989, with the University of Michigan and the Pistons, remains the only other time it's ever been done.

The Knicks won the rubber Finals with the Lakers in 1973. After that, both teams got old. It would take the Lakers until 1980, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Earvin "Magic" Johnson, before they reached, and won, the Finals again.

Despite baseball's Dodgers having moved from Brooklyn, and won the World Series in 1959, 1963 and 1965, the Lakers surpassed them as Los Angeles' most popular sports team. They remain so.

The Lakers would follow that 1980 title, under coach Paul Westhead, with titles in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, under coach Pat Riley. Riley was a reserve on the 1972 Lakers: That's him in the photo above, wearing Number 12, and a cheesy mustache. Oddly, the Lakers have never retired his number, the way they've retired 13 for Chamberlain, 22 for Baylor, 25 for Goodrich and 44 for West, along with some later players.

*

May 7, 1972 was a Saturday. The ABA Finals were between Games 1 and 2. The Indiana Pacers would beat the New York Nets, 4 games to 2.

Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played. The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. This was the 1st time any building with that name played host to the NBA and Stanley Cup Finals in the same year. It would happen again in 1994. The Bruins won the Cup in 6 games.

These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics, 7-5 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Unfortunately, he wasn't yet playing for the Yankees. Ron Blomberg of the Yankees and Dave Duncan of the A's hit home runs.

* The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres, 8-6 at Shea Stadium. Tommie Agee hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, making Tug McGraw a winner in relief of Gary Gentry.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0 at Jarry Park in Montreal. The Dodgers' 1st baseman made an error in the bottom of the 13th inning, allowing Mike Jorgensen to reach base and John Boccabella to score the winning run. The 1st baseman's name was Bill Buckner.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Greg Luzinski hit a home run. Willie Mays did not appear in the game. Four days later, the Giants traded him to the Mets.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Milt Wilcox pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-6 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell hit 2 home runs and had 5 RBIs. Pete Rose went 0-for-5. Johnny Bench went 1-for-4.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 7-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went 3-for-4 with 2 stolen bases. Hank Aaron did not play.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 5-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

And in English soccer, the FA Cup Final was played at the old Wembley Stadium in West London. Cupholders Arsenal, of North London, were defeated by Yorkshire team Leeds United, 1-0, on a diving header by Allan Clarke. Arsenal had edged Leeds for the Football League title the season before, winning both the League and the Cup, for "The Double." For all their success, 1972 remains the only FA Cup won by Leeds.

May 5, 1973: The Sunderland Cup

May 5, 1973: "The Magic of the FA Cup" rears its head, as one of the great "Cup shocks" occurs in the Final at Wembley Stadium in West London.

Sunderland Association Football Club, in the North-East of England, won the Football League in 1936, and the Football Association Cup in 1937. But, for much of their history, they have been in the League's 2nd division, and had been relegated to it in 1970. They finished 6th in the 1972-73 season, and showed little sign of getting promoted back to the 1st division.

In contrast, Leeds United, of Yorkshire, were one of the top teams of the era. They won the Football League Division One in 1969; they finished 2nd in 1965, '66, '70, '71 and '72; finished 3rd in this 1972-73 season; were the holders of the FA Cup, and lost the Final in 1965 and '70; won the League Cup in 1968; and won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League, in 1968 and '71.

In their run to successfully defend the FA Cup, Leeds beat Norwich City of Norfolk, Plymouth Argyle of Devon, West Bromwich Albion of the West Midlands, Derby County of the East Midlands in the Quarterfinal, and Wolverhampton Wanderers of the West Midlands in the Semifinal.

Sunderland's path to the Final included beating Notts County of Nottingham, Reading of Berkshire, Manchester City, Luton Town of Bedfordshire in the Quarterfinal, and Arsenal of North London in the Semifinal.

Leeds were known as the most aggressive team in England. But Sunderland weren't intimidated, tackling fiercely and defiantly with an unremitting determination from the kickoff. Leeds looked anxious, lacking their usual composure. The match itself was decided by two crucial moments that would be talked about for years to come.

After 32 minutes, Sunderland took the lead, when Vic Halom chested down a corner from Billy Hughes. Assisted by Dave Watson between two defenders, the deflected high ball was controlled by Ian Porterfield, who shot home from 12 yards. Leeds, shocked, battled back with predictable determination. Sunderland's goalkeeper, Jimmy Montgomery, defied Leeds with a string of fine saves, preserving his team's lead.

The turning point of the match came midway through the 2nd half. Montgomery dived to palm away a close range header from Trevor Cherry. It fell into the path of Peter Lorimer, who blasted goalward from 10 yards, but Montgomery managed to divert the ball on to the underside of the bar, and Dick Malone scrambled to get the ball clear. The save is considered one of the greatest of all time.

The North-East team survived more pressure from Leeds, and the 1-0 score held up, to secure a notable upset for "The Mackems." As a shipbuilding town, the slogan was, "We make them, and you take them" -- or, in their North-East accent, "We mackem an' you tackem."

At the final whistle, Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe -- who, ironically, spent most of his playing career with Sunderland's arch-rivals, Newcastle United -- could be seen running around the sideline. This presaged Jim Valvano of North Carolina State, 10 years later, running around the court of the NCAA Tournament Final, "looking for someone to hug"; and formed the basis of the statue of Stokoe that would be dedicated outside their new home, the Stadium of Light. (From 1898 until 1997, they played at Roker Park.) 

Although I found plenty of pictures of Stokoe, and of his statue,

I couldn't find any of his run.

Bobby Kerr, Sunderland's Captain, received the Cup from Katharine, Duchess of Kent, as a representative of the royal family. It remains the team's last major trophy. Sunderland won Division Two in 1976, and got promoted to Division One. But they finished in 20th and last place in 1977, and were relegated again. 

They were in the top flight again from 1980 to 1985, the 1990-91 season, 1996-97, 1999 to 2003, 2005-06, and 2007 to 2017. In 2002-03, they finished with 19 points, a record low for the top flight since a win was made 3 points instead of 2 in 1982. In 2005-06, they finished with 15 points, a new record low. That record was broken in 2007-08, when Derby County got only 11.

Only once since has a team from outside the 1st division won the FA Cup: West Ham United, of East London, defeating Arsenal in 1980. Bob Stokoe lived until 2004.

*

May 5, 1973 was a Saturday. Hockey goaltender Johan Hedberg was born.

The Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Secretariat won it, with a time of 1 minute, 59 and 2⁄5ths seconds, a new race record. He would go on to win the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, also in record times, to win the Triple Crown. He still holds the records for the Derby and the Belmont.

American-style football was out of season. The NBA Finals were between Games 3 and 4, and the New York Knicks would beat the Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games. Game 4 of the American Basketball Association Finals was played at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (still standing, now named the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis, and the Indiana Pacers beat their arch-rivals, the Kentucky Colonels, 90-86. The Pacers would win the series in 7 games.

The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 4 and 5. The Montreal Canadiens would beat the Chicago Black Hawks in 6 games. Game 4 of the World Hockey Association's 1st Finals was held at the Boston Garden. The New England Whalers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2. The Whalers wrapped up the title the next day, 9-6, also at the Boston Garden.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Eddie Fisher (not the singer) went 5 1/3rd innings, before being relieved by Terry Forster, and they completed an 8-hit shutout, to outpitch Fritz Peterson.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 9-2 at Shea Stadium. Don Wilson outpitched Jim McAndrew. César Cedeño and Johnny Edwards hit home runs for the 'Stros.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-6 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Pete Rose went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Carl Morton pitched a 7-hit shutout, beating Steve Carlton. This was not "Win Day" for Carlton and the Phillies. Rookie Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3. Hank Aaron hit his 681st career home run.

* The California Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4. Frank Robinson, by this point with the Angels, went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 2-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Joe Coleman took a 5-hit shutout into the 8th inning, and it was saved by John Hiller, the 4th of 38 saves he had that season, a new major league record. Al Kaline hit a home run.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-7 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Boston Red Sox went 2-for-4 with a walk. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4. So did Rod Carew, who also drew a walk.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Willie Stargell went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

May 1, 1965: Canadiens 13, Maple Leafs 12

Jean Béliveau with 2 of his closest friends

May 1, 1965: In the 1st NHL game to be played after April, the Montreal Canadiens win their 13th Stanley Cup, taking the all-time lead from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had won their 12th the year before. They have never given that lead up. They beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-0, in Game 7 of the Finals at the Montreal Forum.

The first Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player of the Playoffs – the entire playoffs, unlike other sports where it’s given only to the MVP of the finals – is awarded in honor of the former head coach and general manager of the Maple Leafs, the very Canadian, and very English, World War I hero and World War II officer, Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, who, though no longer in charge of the team, was still alive. (He lived until 1980.)

And it went to a player on the Montreal Canadiens. Their Captain. A native of Quebec City, the capital of the French-speaking Province in Canada, a man who did not speak English until he became a major leaguer. Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau. Known as Jean Béliveau, he scored in this Game 7. So did former Maple Leaf Dick Duff; the very French "Roadrunner," Yvan Cournoyer; and Henri Richard, brother of the retired superstar Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, another proud Francophone, who would succeed Béliveau as Captain (and would, himself, be succeeded by Cournoyer).

This was not a good day to be a Maple Leafs fan -- especially Smythe. At least he did not have to hand over the Cup, or the new Trophy bearing his name. That was the duty of the President of the NHL, Clarence Campbell, a man often considered his subordinate.

Béliveau, Richard, Duff, Cournoyer, Jacques Laperrière, goaltender Lorne "Gump" Worsley, head coach Hector "Toe" Blake and general manager Frank Selke, are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Béliveau went on to play on 10 Cup-winning teams, and lived until 2015.

The Canadiens would win the Cup again in 1966. In 1967, the Leafs would beat them in the Finals, cutting the deficit to 14-13. But the Leafs have not been back to the Finals since. They are stuck on 13 Stanley Cups. The Canadiens now have 24.

*

May 1, 1965 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-4 at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford was the winning pitcher. The losing pitcher was a former Yankee who managed to pitch a no-hitter for them, which was an achievement that eluded Ford. And it was a perfect game in the World Series. Yes, the losing pitcher was Don Larsen.

Tony Kubek hit a home run. Tom Tresh and Joe Pepitone each had 3 hits. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-1... with 3 walks, 1 with the bases loaded, giving him an RBI. For the Orioles, Brooks Robinson 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 9-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Vada Pinson went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 7-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-8 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.  Al Kaline went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at the 1st Busch Stadium (formerly known as the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4. Willie Stargell went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Athletics, 3-1 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Houston Astros swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 and 6-1 at the brand-new Astrodome in Houston. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 2-for-8 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Ron Fairly hit a home run. Willie Mays went 1-for-3 with a walk.

American football was out of season. The NBA season ended 6 days earlier, when the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.

And the FA Cup Final was played at the old Wembley Stadium in London. Liverpool FC beat Leeds United AFC, 2-1. The Mersey Reds, under manager Bill Shankly, win the FA Cup for the 1st time. The game is scoreless after regulation, but Liverpool's Roger Hunt and Leeds' Billy Bremner trade goals in extra time, before Ian St. John wins it in the 113th minute. Liverpool captain Ron Yeats accepts the Cup from Queen Elizabeth.

Leeds thus do a "Runner-Up Double," finishing 2nd in the League and losing the FA Cup Final in the same year. While they do win some trophies in the 1960s and '70s, their pattern of being the era's "nearly men" has been set.

Leeds do, however, produce a notable first: Albert Johanneson, a left winger (in position, possibly also in politics) from South Africa, was the 1st black man to play in an FA Cup Final. By 1974, Bremner, as captain of both Leeds and Scotland, would seem to forget this, race-baiting the Zaire players at the World Cup.