October 24, 2004: The Battle of the Buffet

October 24, 2004: The Boston Red Sox take a 2-games-to-0 lead in the World Series with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park. Curt Schilling, again wearing the Bloody Sock, gets the win. Orlando Cabrera‚ Mark Bellhorn‚ and Jason Varitek each drive in a pair of runs.

But, as disgusting as the Red Sox cheating their way to another win was, that wasn't the most disgusting sporting event that happened on this day. Not by a long shot.

Arsenal Football Club, of North London, had gone 49 straight Premier League games without a loss, a record streak for top-flight English "football" dating back to the founding of The Football League in 1888. Arsenal F.C. hadn't lost since Yorkshire team Leeds United beat them on May 7, 2003 -- 536 days. That included the entire 2003-04 season, making Arsenal the only "Invincibles" of the modern era.

Making it 50 straight games without a loss would have been great semantically, but more important was who they were playing in Game 50: They went into Old Trafford, home of the other dominant team of the era, Manchester United. Either Arsenal or Man U had won the last 9 League titles, and 13 of the last 16.

The game was scoreless going into the 72nd minute (out of 90, so, 80 percent done), mainly because

United's players, particularly the Neville brothers -- right back Gary and midfielder Phil, not the singing Neville brothers of New Orleans -- were kicking Gunners forward José Antonio Reyes into oblivion, rendering him too timid to shoot. He was, literally, intimidated.

In addition, United's Dutch striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy -- nicknamed Van Horseface due to an uncanny facial resemblance to Seattle Slew -- had a challenge on Arsenal defender Ashley Cole that was clearly worthy of a straight red card. So the Red Devils should have been down to no more than 10 men, possibly as few as 8.

But the referee for this game was Mike Riley, and he hates Arsenal. He gave only 2 cards to United throughout the match, a yellow each to the Neville brothers. Indeed, van Nistelrooy was retroactively given the punishment he would have gotten if, in fact, he had received a straight red during the game: 3 domestic games. (2 yellows, which equal 1 red, would have been a mere 1-game suspension.)

In that 72nd minute, United's young striker, Wayne Rooney, on his 19th birthday, executed a blatant dive in the 18-yard box, going down without being touched, in an attempt to be awarded a penalty kick. Instead of properly giving him a straight red card and sending him off, Riley called a foul on Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who never even touched Rooney. It was a completely bogus call, and Riley awarded a penalty, which van Nistelrooy converted. Rooney added another goal that he didn't deserve to even be on the pitch for, in the 90th minute, and United had unfairly won, 2-0.

In contrast to the 2 yellow cards on United, Riley had actually given Arsenal 3 yellow cards -- and the alleged penalty foul by Campbell wasn't one of them.

The fireworks for this most dubious of games in the long and fractious history of Arsenal-Manchester United matches were hardly over at the final whistle. Despite being teammates on the national side, Campbell refused to shake Rooney's hand, a deserved mark of disrespect. Entering the tunnel to head to the locker rooms, United manager Alex Ferguson was hit in the face by a slice of pizza from the postgame spread in Arsenal's locker room.

The game became known as "The Battle of the Buffet" -- a 1990 match between the teams, featuring a fight, had already been given the name "The Battle of Old Trafford" -- and, as it turned out, the Arsenal player who threw the slice was 17-year-old Spanish midfield wizard Cesc Fàbregas. As it also turned out, this, not anything he did on the field from 2003 to 2011, was the best thing Fàbregas did in an Arsenal uniform.

In 2009, Mike Riley was appointed the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the governing body for English soccer referees. Arsenal have not won the Premier League since 2004. That is not a coincidence, although Riley's influence over such corrupt referees as Mike Dean, Howard Webb, Phil Dowd, Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver is just one reason. (UPDATE: He stepped down in 2023.)

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October 24, 2004 was a Sunday. The NBA season didn't start for another 9 days. The NHL players were locked out by the team owners, and, eventually, the entire 2004-05 season was canceled. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Detroit Lions, 28-13 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to their arch-rivals, the New England Patriots, 13-7 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-6 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Carolina Panthers, 17-6 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears, 19-7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the St. Louis Rams, 31-14 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-31 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field). Jeff Garcia sent the game to overtime with a 4-yard quarterback draw for the Browns, but David Akers kicked a 50-yard field goal with 5:02 left in overtime to win it for the Eagles.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Indianapolis Colts, 27-24 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Josh Scobee kicked a 53-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to win it.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 41-20 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Tennessee Titans, 20-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Atlanta Falcons, 56-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Yes, you read that right: Fifty-six to ten.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks, 25-17 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Oakland Raiders, 31-26 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Denver Broncos, 23-10 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* And the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins had a bye week.

October 20, 1990: The Battle of Old Trafford

October 20, 1990: North London soccer team Arsenal travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United. Both teams are chasing defending Champions Liverpool in the hope of winning the Football League Division One. (It became the Premier League in 1992.)

Old Trafford, located in the Borough of Salford, about 4 miles west of Central Manchester, was filled to capacity with 47,232 fans. Already known as the Theatre of Dreams since United's 1960s success, it has since been expanded to 74,310 seats, making it the largest stadium in the Premier League. The 26,000-seat Old Trafford Cricket Ground is a short walk away.

Arsenal were managed by George Graham, a midfielder on the Arsenal team that had won The Double -- the League and the FA Cup in the same season -- in 1971. A year later, he was sold to United, and became their Captain -- and still held that role when the team was relegated at the end of the 1974 season. (It was hardly his fault: He was not the only player on that team that was past his prime.) They came right back up the next season, and have been in the top flight ever since. Arsenal have been in it continuously since 1919.

United were managed by Alex Ferguson, a forward for several Scottish teams from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, and was not an especially remarkable player. They grew up 10 miles apart: Ferguson was from West Glasgow, Graham from Bargeddie to the east of downtown Glasgow.

Arsenal had won the League in 1989, needing to win away to Liverpool by at least 2 goals on the last day of the season, and doing it, on a goal by Michael Thomas in the last possible minute. Manchester United were the current holders of the FA (Football Association) Cup, the 1st trophy they would win under Ferguson. For both sides, there were more trophies to come.

There wasn't always bad blood between the teams. In the 1979 FA Cup Final, Arsenal led 2-0 in the 86th minute. Within 2 minutes, United had equalized. But Arsenal came right back, and Alan Sunderland scored in the 89th to win it. That game was clean: Neither side felt the need to play rough.

That would not be the case in 1983. Arsenal had advanced to the Semifinals of both domestic cup tournaments, but lost both to United. Losing the League Cup Semi was one thing. Losing the FA Cup Semi when Norman Whiteside should have been sent off for a dive, and then he scored the winning goal, was a bit much. This may have been the first time Arsenal had been robbed by a United-friendly referee, and there would be plenty more where that came from.

In 1987, Arsenal went into a match with United at Old Trafford with a 22-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. Graham was in his 1st season with Arsenal after managing South London team Millwall, and this was his 1st match against United. Ferguson was in his 1st season with United after managing Aberdeen F.C. in Scotland, and this was his 1st match against Arsenal. Whiteside was his usual dirty self, and he was fouled by Arsenal star David Rocastle, and Rocastle was sent off. United won it, 2-0.

In 1988, they played each other in the 5th Round of the FA Cup, at Arsenal Stadium, known as Highbury for its North London neighborhood. Arsenal led 2-1 late, but United were awarded a penalty that Arsenal considered dubious. Scottish forward Brian McClair took the penalty, and missed, sending the ball over the cross bar of the goal, and was taunted for this by Arsenal left back Nigel Winterburn.

Arsenal went into the October 20, 1990 match in 2nd place behind Liverpool, and United were in 6th. United were without their usual Captain, Bryan Robson, due to injury, so fellow midfielder Neil Webb wore the armband. Before the 1988-89 season, centreback Tony Adams, just 22, was named the youngest Captain in Arsenal history to that point, and rewarded Graham's faith by leading them to the League title.

Midfielder Thomas returned from injury. But the biggest change for Arsenal was the return from injury of Anders Limpar, the Swedish midfielder who had been Graham's big off-season signing. Limpar was one of the earliest big names in the English League not to be from the British Isles. Graham had a thing for Scandinavian players, which would eventually prove to be his undoing.

The game was scoreless until just before halftime, when Paul Davis took a corner for Arsenal, and passed it to Limpar. From a seemingly impossible angle, the Swede swatted the ball with his left foot, and sent it past United goalkeeper Les Sealey. It bounced off Sealey's hands and back out, but had clearly crossed the line, and referee Keith Hackett gave the goal.

Anders Limpar after scoring.

Michael Thomas and David Rocastle in the background.

That lead -- as a later song would put it, "One-Nil to The Arsenal" -- still held at the hour mark. Denis Irwin, United's Irish right back and a notoriously dirty player, challenged Limpar for the ball. Winterburn tackled him to stop him, a clean play. Irwin didn't think so, and he and McClair shoved Winterburn. Midfielder Paul Ince pushed Limpar into the advertising hoardings around the pitch.

Denis Irwin

Both sets of players rushed to the scene -- to both teams' credit, mostly to try to stop it from getting further out of control. It was mostly pushing and shoving, and lasted only about 20 seconds. Thomas would later say, "It wasn't a brawl, because no one threw a punch." Only 1 player did not get involved: Arsenal's new goalkeeper, David Seaman.

Hackett had correctly given Arsenal's goal, but when things settled down, his rulings defied logic. He gave yellow cards, warnings, to Limpar and Winterburn, and gave no punishment to any players from United.

Arsenal held on to win 1-0, but the game left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Both teams took action against their own people, hoping to inoculate themselves against additional charges by the FA. While United's fines were never made public, the rumor was that Irwin, McClair and Ince had all been fined. Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood announced that he had fined Limpar, Winterburn, Thomas, Davis and Rocastle undisclosed amounts, and also that he had fined Graham £9,000 for losing control of his players.

The Football Association, the governing body of English soccer -- not the League itself -- was told by UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, to take action. They fined both teams £50,000, and deducted points from both teams. This had never happened because of a fight before, and has not happened since. United were docked one point, and Arsenal were docked two points.

This was unfair. If anything, it should have been the other way around, as United had started the fight. Ferguson's career as the dirtiest manager the English football system has ever known was underway. (He may have since been surpassed by Jose Mourinho.) As Arsenal's seniormost player, Irish centreback David O'Leary, put it, "The champagne will be out at Liverpool tonight, because this makes our task very much harder."

This did not faze George Graham's Arsenal. Instead, it bred a siege mentality in them. On December 2, they demolished Liverpool 3-0 at Highbury. On February 2, 1991, they went across London to Chelsea, and sustained a 2-1 loss that turned out to be the only defeat of their season in League play. On March 3, they went to Anfield, and a Paul Merson goal gave them a 1-0 win that struck what turned out to be a fatal blow to Liverpool's hopes.

Their cup campaigns were not as successful. On November 28, just 39 days after the "brawl," they played United in the 4th Round of the League Cup at Highbury, and lost 6-2. At least that game was played without incident.

And on April 14, they lost to North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Semifinal of the FA Cup, at Villa Park in Birmingham, home of Aston Villa. This followed 0-0 draws with "Spurs" in League play, at Highbury on September 1, and at White Hart Lane on January 12. But Spurs tailed off, as is their custom: Just 2 points behind Arsenal following the point-docking, they finished 10th. They did, however, win the FA Cup, defeating East Midlands team Nottingham Forest in the Final.

It's been 31 years since. They have never even won another FA Cup Semifinal, going 0-8 since 1991, including defeats to Arsenal in 1993 and 2001. In that time, their only trophies have been League Cups, in 1999 and 2008.

On May 6, 1991, a Bank Holiday Monday in Britain, Forest beat Liverpool 2-1. This clinched the title for Arsenal, for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. As fate would have it, Arsenal then had to take the pitch at Highbury to play United, and received a "guard of honour" from the United players.

Alex Ferguson and George Graham.

This photo may be from Graham's later tenure at Leeds United.

Forward Alan Smith scored a hat trick to clinch the Golden Boot as the League's leading scorer, and the Gunners beat the Red Devils 3-1. And, all game long, the Arsenal fans chanted, more to the FA than to United, or Liverpool, or anyone else in particular, "You can shove yer fookin' two points up yer arse!"

In 1992-93, its 1st season of play, United won the Premier League, while Arsenal won the FA Cup. United won both in 1994, for their 1st Double. Graham was fired for financial improprieties in 1995, and after playing the 1995-96 season, another Double season for United, under Bruce Rioch, Arsenal hired French manager Arsène Wenger.

United won the League again in 1997. Wenger led Arsenal to the Double in 1998. In 1999, Ferguson led United to win the League (by just 1 point over Arsenal), the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League, English football's 1st "European Treble." It was the 1st of 3 straight League titles for United, and Arsenal finished 2nd every time.

Arsenal won another Double in 2002, clinching the League title at Old Trafford. In 2003, Arsenal successfully defended the Cup, but United edged them to win the League. At this point, the rivalry between the teams got really nasty, as Ferguson assembled a team of divers and thugs, playing the kind of football that made Don Revie's 1960s and '70s "Dirty Leeds" look like paragons of sportsmanship in comparison.

The 2003-04 season featured an early-season match loaded with controversy, ending in a 0-0 draw that also became known as "The Battle of Old Trafford." Arsenal won the League, going unbeaten, but could only manage a pair of draws with United, who also knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup in the Semifinal, and won it.

Arsenal began the 2004-05 season by extending their League unbeaten run to 49 games, a new record. But the 50th game, at Old Trafford, may have been the ugliest game in Premier League history. Referee Mike Riley, who officiated in Arsenal's victorious 2002 FA Cu Final win over Chelsea, should have sent off Rio Ferdinand, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and both Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, but didn't, before Wayne Rooney executed a straight-red-card-worthy dive in the 73rd minute, and Riley awarded a penalty. van Nistelrooy scored it.

Rooney finished the game off in the 90th minute, and United won 2-0, with both goals coming from players who shouldn't even have been on the pitch. United should have ended the game with only 6 players.

After the game there was shouting between the layers and staffs. Someone -- later suggested to be Cesc Fàbregas, the 18-year-old Catalan midfielder touted as Arsenal's future (and didn't turn out that way -- went into the visiting team dressing room, pulled a slice of pizza from the postgame spread, and threw it at Ferguson, splattering his jacket. The game became known as "The Battle of the Buffet."

By this point, Keith Hackett, the referee for the 1990 Battle of Old Trafford, was in his 1st full season as the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL). This means he assigned the referees to the various matches, and disciplined them for errors. He did not discipline Riley, although he did award van Nistelrooy a retroactive 3-match ban, which he would have gotten had Riley correctly given him a straight red card.

Arsenal went on to beat United in the 2005 FA Cup Final. But United won the League again in 2007, '08, '09 (clinching the title with a next-to-the-last-weekend 0-0 draw with Arsenal at Old Trafford), '11 and '13, and won another Champions League in 2008.

In 2009, Hackett retired as head of the PGMOL. His replacement? Riley, who still holds the post. Arsenal have still not won the League since 2004, although they have won the FA Cup in 2014, '15, '17 and '20.

Sir Alex Ferguson (knighted following the 1999 Treble) retired in 2013, and United's only trophies since have been the 2016 FA Cup and the 2017 UEFA Europa League. Arsène Wenger retired in 2018. George Graham has been out of management since 2001. All 3 are still alive: Ferguson is 80, Graham is about to turn 78, and Wenger turns 73 in 2 days.

Wenger has published an autobiography, My Life in Red and White, in honor of the fact that all 4 teams he has managed as a professional wore those colors. Graham wrote one in 1996, The Glory and the Grief. Ferguson has written 2: Managing My Life in 2000, and My Autobiography following his 2013 retirement.

Although Football -- Bloody Hell! is a bio of "Fergie," and the title a quote attributed to him, it was written by Patrick Barclay. He has also written bios of Herbert Chapman, the 1st great Arsenal manager, in the 1930s; Matt Busby, the great United manager of the 1950s and '60s; and Jose Mourinho, who joined Ferguson and Wenger as the 3rd high-achieving Premier League manager of the 21st Century, winning League titles at Chelsea, and later failing as manager of United, and now manages Tottenham.

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October 20, 1990 was a Saturday. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, completing a 4-game sweep of the World Series, a tremendous upset. Neither team has reached the World Series since.

The NBA season wouldn't begin for another 13 days. There were 8 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Minnesota North Stars and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 2-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Boston Bruins, 8-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

And there were college football games, including the following:

* Number 1 Virginia beat Wake Forest, 49-14 at Groves Stadium in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The next week, Virginia began an awful collapse, losing 4 of their last 5 games, and blowing the Atlantic Coast Conference title. They were still invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 2 Miami were upset by Number 6 Notre Dame, 29-20 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish later lost to Penn State, but were still Number 5 when they played Colorado in the Orange Bowl. Had they won that game, they wouldn't have been awarded the National Championship -- then again, it's Notre Dame, so you never know -- but Colorado certainly wouldn't have, being 8-2-1.

* Number 3 Tennessee lost to Alabama, 9-6 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee still won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Virginia in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama went to the Fiesta Bowl, losing to the University of Louisville.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Oklahoma State, 31-3 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Two weeks later, Nebraska lost to Colorado, to knock them out of the Big 8, and national, title picture.

* Number 5 Auburn beat Number 7 Florida State, 20-17 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. But the Tigers blew their chance by losing 3 games the rest of the way.

* Number 10 Michigan were upset by Number 22 Iowa, 24-23 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Iowa went on to win the Big Ten Conference title.

* Number 11 Georgia Tech were tied by North Carolina, 13-13 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This would turn out to be the only blemish on Tech's record, as they won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl, finishing 11-0-1.

* Number 13 Washington beat Stanford, 52-16 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. Washington won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 14 Colorado beat Kansas, 41-10 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Colorado had already had their "Fifth Down" win over Missouri, and went on to win the Big Eight title, and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, to win one of the more dubious National Championships in college football history.

Why weren't Georgia Tech, at 11-0-1, the only undefeated team in the country, and a school with a considerably better historical legacy than Colorado, given the National Championship over Colorado, who were 11-1-1 and should've been 10-2-1?

The only thing I can think of is, the ACC, while probably the most-respected league when it comes to college basketball, were not as respected in college football as the Big 8 (Colorado's league), the Big 10, the Pac-10, the SEC and the SWC. Then again, in 1984, Brigham Young (BYU) won the Western Athletic Conference title and were the only undefeated team, and were selected over Washington (11-1 and the only team with 1 blemish, but not Pac-10 Champions).

* Number 16 Oklahoma lost to Iowa State, 33-31 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 17 Florida beat Akron, 59-0 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

* Number 19 Texas beat Arkansas, 49-17 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. They got up to Number 3 before losing to then-Number 4 Miami in the Cotton Bowl. And they'd already lost to Colorado on September 22. So even if they'd won the Cotton Bowl, they probably wouldn't have been ranked any higher than 3rd in the last poll.

October 6, 1965: The Moors Murders

October 6, 1965: Ian Brady is arrested in Hyde, outside Manchester, England, for murder. Five days later, his girlfriend, Myra Hindley, is arrested for her role in what became known as "The Moors Murders."

Ian Brady was born in 1938 in Glasgow, Scotland. Like many killers, he got his start by torturing and killing animals. He became a thief and a smuggler, and began to study and admire Nazi Germany. Myra Hindley was born in 1942 in Gorton, on the south side of Manchester. She grew up in poverty with an alcoholic, abusive father. That meanness was passed down to her. She took judo lessons, and her grip was so strong that classmates didn't want to train with her.

Both of them got jobs at Millwards Merchandising in Gorton, and they started dating in 1961. Brady got Hindley interested in the Nazi books he liked, and also books by the Marquis de Sade and Friedrich Nietzsche. She took on the appearance of an Aryan ideal, bleaching her hair blonde. Of him, she said, "Within months he had convinced me that there was no God at all: he could have told me that the earth was flat, the moon was made of green cheese and the sun rose in the west, I would have believed him, such was his power of persuasion."

Another book Brady persuaded Hindley to read was Compulsion, Meyer Levin's novel bases on the Leopold and Loeb murder of 1924, and he began to speak of what Leopold and Loeb intended, committing a "perfect murder." They moved in together, with Hindley's grandmother in Hyde, east of Manchester. On July 12, 1963, in Gorton, they killed 16-year-old Pauline Reade, a former classmate of Hindley's sister. On November 23, they kidnapped 12-year-old John Kilbride in Ashton-under-Lyne, northeast of Manchester, and killed and buried him on Saddleworth Moor, further northeast, where they'd previously buried Reade.

Keith Bennett, 12, was last seen on June 16, 1964, in Longsight, also on the south side of Manchester. On December 26, 1964, they kidnapped 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey (not to be confused with actress Lesley-Anne Down, who was the same age but living in London at the time) at Ancoats, in Central Manchester, took her back to the Hyde house, and recorded the sick things they did to her. Hindley later claimed to have started to run a bath for the victim, and returned to find that Brady had strangled her. She, too, was buried in Saddleworth Moor.

On October 6, 1965, Brady picked 17-year-old Edward Evans at Manchester Central rail station, and drove him to the Hyde house. He fought back, causing Brady to sprain his ankle, rendering him unable to dispose of the body after the killing. They had enlisted Dave Smith, Hindley's brother-in-law, for help, but upon seeing the aftermath, he left, and called the police. Brady was immediately arrested. Over the next 5 days, the evidence that the police uncovered proved that Hindley was also involved, and she was arrested, too.

The bodies of Kilbride and Downey were quickly found. Reade's body was found in 1987. Brady eventually confessed to Bennett's murder, but his body has never been found. As a result, Brady was indicted for the murders of Downey, Kilbride and Evans; while Hindley was indicted for those of Downey and Evans, and harboring Brady in the knowledge that he had murdered Kilbride. They were convicted on May 6, 1966.

Hindley was taken to HM Prison Holloway, in North London. She continued to write letters to Brady until 1971. Despite claims to have found religion and reformed, she was continually denied parole, and, a chain-smoker, died in 2002, at the age of 60.

Brady was taken to HM Prison Durham, in the city of the same name, in the North-East of England. In 1985, he was diagnosed as a psychopath, and moved to the high-security Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside. He died in 2017, at 79, as the longest-serving prisoner in England and Wales, 51 years.

He had outlived not just Hindley, but most of the other major British criminals of the 1960s: Reginald and Ronald Kray, all of the Cambridge Five, and all of the participants in the 1963 "Great Train Robbery" except Robert Welch. He also outlived his betrayer, David Smith, who died in 2012.

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October 6, 1965 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. The NBA season wouldn't start for another 9 days, and the NHL season for another 17. The only score on this historic day was Game 1 of the World Series. I have a separate entry for that event, because it was the Yom Kippur on which Sandy Koufax refused to pitch, and the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Minnesota Twins, 8-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

August 2, 2014: American Soccer's Biggest Crowd

August 2, 2014: The largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in the United States of America files into Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Every Summer, the U.S. Soccer Federation works with FIFA to set up the International Champions Cup, a series of exhibition games, or "friendlies," on American soil. This time, they got one of the biggest stadiums in the world, the University of Michigan's "Big House"; the biggest sports team in the English-speaking world, Manchester United; and the biggest sports team in the Spanish-speaking world, Real Madrid.

Prior to this, the biggest crowd ever to watch a soccer game played in America was 101,799, at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California, to watch the Gold Medal game at the Olympics in Los Angeles on August 11, 1984. On that occasion, France beat Brazil, 2-0.

This time, the crowd was 109,318. Manchester United won, 3-1. United's Ashley Young scored 2 goals in the 1st half, bracketing a penalty taken by Real's Welsh star Gareth Bale. Javier Hernández, a.k.a. Chicharito, also scored for United. Cristiano Ronaldo, formerly of United, took the pitch as a substitute for Real, but had no effect on the game.

As of the Summer of 2022, Michigan Stadium has hosted 3 of the 4 biggest crowds in American soccer history. There were 105,826 in 2016 for a 3-2 Real Madrid win over West London team Chelsea, and 101,254 in 2018 for a 4-1 Liverpool win over Manchester United.

The stadium also holds the record for the largest hockey crowd in American, and world, history. But, surprisingly, not the record for the largest college football crowd ever.

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August 2, 2014 was a Saturday. At the Emirates Stadium in North London, Arsenal beat Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal, 5-1 in the Emirates Cup tournament.

These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mark Teixeira hit a home run, the soon-to-retire Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and Shawn Kelley won in relief of Shane Greene.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. Jordan Simmons (7 innings) and 2 relievers pitched a 7-hit shutout.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Los Angeles Angels, 10-3 Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami. Christian Yelich singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 2-0 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. It shouldn't have taken 5 Cleveland pitchers to throw a 5-hit shutout, but it did.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies, 11-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-6 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Breweres, 9-7 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Will Venable singled home the winning run in the 

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Petco Park in San Diego. Will Venable singled home the winning run in Will Venable singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Hanley Ramirez won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 12th.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-3 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

June 15, 1952: Spurs vs. Man United at Yankee Stadium

Left: United players in red shirts. Right: Spurs players in white.

June 15, 1952: England's Football League comes to Yankee Stadium. Tottenham Hotspur, the 1951 League Champions, play Manchester United, the 1952 League Champions.

"Spurs" were then based in Middlesex, to the north of London proper. A 1963 redrawing of London's city limits placed them within the city for the first time, in postal district N17. "Man United" also played, and still do, outside the limits of Manchester, in Salford, postal district M16.

Manager Arthur Rowe's "Push-and-Run Spurs" had edged United for the League title in 1951, the 1st in team history. They featured goalkeeper Ted Ditchburn, future England manager Alf Ramsey at right back, and wing-half Bill Nicholson, who would go on to become the team's greatest-ever manager.

In 1952, United had beaten Spurs out for the League title, their 1st in 41 years. Manager Matt Busby's side included right back and Captain Johnny Carey, outside right Johnny Berry, left back Roger Byrne, and centreback Jackie Blanchflower, whose brother Danny would captain Spurs under "Bill Nick."

Soccer had never made it big in America. Maybe if American-style football had failed, which it had the chance to do, following President Theodore Roosevelt's order to college presidents to clean the game up in 1905; and with the early struggles of the NFL, in the 1920s and then with the Great Depression of the early 1930s.

Soccer also could have caught on in America following soldiers' return from being in England, France and Germany in World War I, and again in World War II. However, the American distaste for anything "foreign" led to attention to soccer being dropped for the gridiron game. Despite a shocking win over an England team that included Ditchburn at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, in America, soccer only survived at a minor-league level until 1967.

Still, there was enough interest that foreign teams could come to America and get decent crowds, especially in cities where there were enough people of their ethnic group to generate interest. Celtic, of Glasgow, Scotland, with its large Irish and Scots-Irish representation, got good crowds in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago. Despite the fact that most Americans of Italian descent trace that descent to Naples on south, especially Sicily, the two Milan teams, A.C. Milan and Internazionale, played each other on Summer tours of America, including at Yankee Stadium.

And so, in 1952, the last 2 English Champions came to America. Manchester United did fairly well:

* May 8, at Kearny High School in Kearny, New Jersey: 4-0 over New Jersey Stars. Despite its small size, because of its Scottish and Irish residents, Kearny has been an American soccer hotbed for decades.

* May 11, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia: 4-0 over Philadelphia Stars. The Philadelphia Americans had won the American Soccer League title, and the Philadelphia Nationals were recent Champions.

* May 18, at Molson Stadium in Montreal: 10-0 over Montreal Stars.

* May 21, at Downing Stadium on New York's Randall's Island: 5-1 over an all-star team from the American Soccer League.

* May 23, at Fall River, Massachusetts: 11-1 over Fall River Stars. Because of its Portuguese residents, leading to the success of semi-pro team Ponta Delgada, Fall River is New England's biggest soccer town.

* May 25, at Downing Stadium: 5-2 over Stuttgarter Kickers. There would be no national league in Germany until the Bundesliga was founded in 1963, but Kickers had won the south German regional league in 1951, and were also touring America in Spring and Summer '52.

* May 27, at Soldier Field in Chicago: 6-1 over Chicago All-Stars.

* June 1, at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles: 2-0 over Atlas F.C. of Guadalajara, Mexico.

* June 8, again at the western version of Wrigley Field: 4-3 over Atlas. This was the closest they had yet come to losing on this tour.

* June 12, at the University of Detroit Stadium: 4-2 over Ulster United. This Toronto-based team won the Canadian Championship that season.

So, 10-0, and only 1 team came within 2 goals of them. Pretty good. But look at Spurs' tour, which was entirely in Canada, except for the Yankee Stadium match with United:

* May 22, at Varsity Stadium in Toronto: 7-0 over Toronto & District Stars.

* May 28, at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon: 18-1 over Saskatchewan Stars.

* May 31, at Hastings Park in Vancouver: 9-0 over Mainland Stars.

* June 2, at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, British Columbia: 7-0 over Victoria & District Stars.

* June 4, at Hastings Park: 8-2 over Mainland Stars.

* June 7, at Mewata Stadium in Calgary: 11-0 over Alberta Stars.

* June 9, at Osborne Stadium in Winnipeg: 5-0 over Manitoba Stars.

Spurs were 7-0, and nobody had come close to them. Up next: Games on back-to-back days with United, in 2 different countries, 500 miles apart, at each country's most famous stadium at the time. The 1st, at Varsity Stadium in Toronto on June 14, should have been a sign: Spurs won it, 5-0.

They regrouped at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, June 15. Attendance was 24,582, believed to be the largest crowd ever to see a soccer game (Sorry, forgot to speak English there: A football match) on American soil to that point. Each team wore its usual home colors: Spurs, white shirts (hence "The Lilywhites") and navy blue shorts; United, red shirts (hence "The Red Devils") and white shorts.

To those not familiar with the sport, Spurs' Len Duquemin must have seemed like the Babe Ruth of Soccer: He scored 4 goals, leading Tottenham to a 7-1 victory. In 11 seasons, "The Duke" (not to be confused with Edwin "Duke" Snider, then starring across town for baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers) scored 111 goals for Spurs.

The game was filmed for use by Movietone News, which included it in its newsreels, to be played before movies in those days. The commentary, by the great American radio commentator Ed Herlihy, was almost as laughable as United's performance. For one thing, he called the teams "the Tottenham Hotspurs" and "the Manchester Uniteds," even though, on the film, a fan can be seen holding a souvenir pennant that clearly reads: "MANCHESTER UNITED," with no S on the end. For another, neither team is anywhere near being the other's "old rival." For Tottenham, that would be North London's Arsenal Football Club. For United, that would be Manchester City, and eventually Liverpool Football Club.

This was the last game on United's tour. On June 18, back at Molson Stadium in Montreal, Spurs beat a team called Quebec Stars, 8-0.

The teams headed back home, to very different destinies. Maybe Spurs wore themselves out in North America, as they only finished 10th in the 1952-53 season. They nearly got relegated to the 2nd Division in 1956, rebounded to 2nd in 1957 and 3rd in 1958, then nearly got relegated in 1959.

Nicholson took over as manager, and got them to 3rd in 1960. In 1960-61, he led them to the League title, then the FA Cup: It was the 1st time since Birmingham team Aston Villa did it in 1897 that an English team had won "The Double."

In 1962, Spurs finished 2nd, repeated as FA Cup winners, and reached the Semifinal of the European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League. This was the best performance any British, let alone English, team had yet had in the tournament. In 1963, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup, making them the 1st British team to win any European tournament. They won another FA Cup in 1967, before rebuilding, and winning the League Cup in 1971 and 1973, and the UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League) in 1972.

But a disgraceful exhibition by Spurs fans at the 1974 UEFA Cup Final in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, made Nicholson quit in disgust. Spurs got relegated in 1977, although they bounced right back up the next year, and won the FA Cup in 1981, 1982 and 1991, and the UEFA Cup in 1984. But they have rarely been a factor in the Premier League since it replaced the old Football League Division One in 1992, and their only trophies since the 1991 FA Cup have been League Cups in 1999 and 2008, a disgraceful performance by an organization whose fans like to think of it as a "big club."

Back in Salford, Busby recognized that the '52 title was a bit of a last stand for a team that also had 4 2nd-place finishes since the restart of the League after World War II, a stretch that included winning the 1948 FA Cup. He rebuilt, and, after 3 comparatively quiet seasons, had a young team that became known as "The Busby Babes." They won the League in 1956 and '57, and nearly won "The Double" in '57 before losing the FA Cup Final to Aston Villa.

On February 6, 1958, United were returning from Yugoslavia, where they had played Red Star Belgrade in the Quarterfinal of the European Cup. After refueling in Munich, West Germany, their plane tried to take off, but crashed.

There were 23 people killed, including 8 United players, marking the end of the Busby Babes. One was Roger Byrne. Another was the man tapped to be the next great English superstar, Duncan Edwards. Jackie Blanchflower survived, but was so badly hurt, he never played again. Busby himself was hurt, and it was his assistant manager, Jimmy Murphy, who led the team the rest of the season, including reaching the FA Cup Final again, losing to a nearby team, Bolton Wanderers.

Busby rebuilt again, and by 1963, United had won the FA Cup again. They won the League in 1965 and 1967, and the European Cup in 1968, the 1st English team ever to win it. This team got old, and United were relegated in 1974, but, like Spurs in 1977-78, got right back up the next season. United won the FA Cup in 1977, 1983 and 1985.

In 1986, Alex Ferguson became their manager. He led them to the 1990 FA Cup, and ended a 26-year League title drought in 1993. Busby lived long enough to see this: Had he lived 4 more months, he would have seen "Fergie" do something he'd never done, lead United to The Double. United dominated English soccer from 1993 to 2013, winning 13 League titles, 4 FA Cups, and the Champions League in 1999 and 2008.

In contrast, Spurs became a joke. Many jokes, in fact. One is that Spurs won the League at their home stadium, White Hart Lane twice, in 1951 and 1961, winning the clincher against the same team each time, Sheffield Wednesday; while arch-rival Arsenal won the League at White Hart Lan, twice, in 1971 and 2004, winning the clincher against the same team each time, Spurs.

Of course, if you're a fan of both the Yankees and Arsenal, and you want to laugh... you could say that winning a game at Yankee Stadium is Tottenham's greatest achievement.

*

June 15, 1952 was a Sunday. These games were played in baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. In the opener, the Yankees won, 8-2. Mickey Mantle hit a home run off Bob Lemon, and Eddie Lopat went the distance for the win.

In the nightcap, the Yankees won, 4-3. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. In the top of the 9th inning, Lou Brissie walked opposing pitcher Bob Kuzava with the bases loaded, then walked Phil Rizzuto as well. Kuzava allowed a run in the bottom of the 9th, and Casey Stengel had to bring Allie Reynolds in to finish the game off. (Which was weird: Kuzava nearly went the distance. Usually, it would have been the other way around: Reynolds starting, and Kuzava nailing down the save.)

* A doubleheader was split at the Polo Grounds. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 1st game, 14-12. Solly Hemus hit 2 home runs. The New York Giants won the 2nd game, 3-0. Dave Koslo pitched 7 shutout innings, before the game was called due to rain. Wes Westrum hit home runs in both games. Stan Musial went 3-for-9 with 3 RBIs on the day. Willie Mays was unavailable for the Giants, serving in the Korean War.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Ebbets Field. Duke Snider went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Jackie Robinson went 0-for-3, although he did draw a walk. Ben Wade started for the Dodgers, but got shelled in 5 innings.

* The Boston Braves swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs at Braves Field in Boston, 4-1 and 2-0. Max Surkont pitched a 2-hit shutout in the 2nd game. This might have been the highlight of the season for the Braves, in their last season in Boston. The next year, they moved to Milwaukee.

* A doubleheader was split at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1st game, 6-0. Howie Pollet pitched a 5-hit shutout. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 2nd game, 6-3.

* A doubleheader was split at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game, 6-3. The Washington Senators won the 2nd game, 4-2.

* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game, 7-2. The Boston Red Sox won the 2nd game, 3-2. Ted Williams was unavailable for the Red Sox: Like Mays, he was serving in the Korean War; unlike Mays, who remained stationed Stateside for the duration, he was actually in combat.

* And the St. Louis Browns swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, 6-3 and 7-6, the latter in 11 innings.

May 16, 2005: Malcolm Glazer Buys Manchester United

May 16, 2005: Malcolm Glazer, owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, becomes the 1st American to buy a controlling interest in a soccer team in England's Premier League. He buys Manchester United Football Club, a.k.a. Man United, a.k.a. just "United," a.k.a. "Man U."

Born in 1928 in Rochester, New York, he developed a watch repair business, which he parlayed into a holding company that ran banks, health care companies, and food supplies, packaging and equipment. In 1995, he bought the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the estate of their late founding owner, Hugh Culverhouse. In 3 years, he turned them back into a Playoff team, and they won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. He remained their owner for the rest of his life.

The joke is that Manchester United fans live everywhere but Manchester. Their success from 1993 onward, and the growth of worldwide satellite television to broadcast their games and achievements, made them the most popular sports team on Earth -- and also the most-hated. So, like the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Lakers, Notre Dame football and Duke basketball. And, as with soccer in other countries, Real Madrid in Spain, Bayern Munich in Germany, and Juventus in Italy.

But their English base was appalled that their beloved team had been bought by a foreigner -- an American, no less. Stickers went up around Manchester, with the team's original colors, reading, "LOVE UNITED" in green and "HATE GLAZER" in gold. In the stands at Old Trafford, United's stadium in Salford, 4 miles west of Central Manchester, they sang:

We're having a party when Glazer dies!

Jelly and ice cream when Glazer dies!

Bouncy castle when Glazer dies!

Musical chairs when Glazer dies!

Tail on the donkey when Glazer dies!

Pass the parcel when Glazer dies!

Strippers and whores when Glazer dies!

In this case, "Jelly" is what they call Jell-O.

What were they really angry at? The claim was that Glazer's purchase put the team into debt. As if that mattered: They were the most lucrative sports team in the world, and any debt was easily manageable.

Five days after this purchase, United played in the FA Cup Final against Arsenal. The game ended 0-0, and went to penalty kicks, and Arsenal won. This meant that, for the 1st time in 7 years, United won no trophies, although that could hardly be blamed on Glazer, who had just bought the team.

Two months later, on July 16, 2005, F.C. United of Manchester, a club formed by a group of Manchester United supporters in response to the Glazer takeover of Manchester United, played their first-ever match, a preseason friendly with Leigh RMI. The match ended in a 0–0 draw.

They began their 1st season, 2005-06, in the North West Counties League, Division Two, the 10th level of English football's "pyramid." These fans would rather have started all the way at the bottom than support a team owned by Malcolm Glazer.

They were slime. They had all the arrogance of Man U fans, with the added artificial sense of purity that self-appointed saints have, since they're "against modern football" and the "corruption" of the Premier League. (As if Man U weren't the most corrupt club in it well before the Glazer takeover.) Some decided they wanted to have it both ways, claiming, "2 Uniteds But the Soul Is 1."

FCUM won Division Two in 2006, and Division One in 2007, advancing to the Northern Premier League Division One North. They finished 2nd in that in 2008, gaining promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division. There, in the 7th division, they got stuck, until 2015, winning that, and getting promoted to the National League North.

At that point, after 10 years of renting Gigg Lane, the home ground of Bury F.C., FCUM opened their new home, Broadhurst Park, capacity 4,400 -- which, unlike the 75,635-capacity Old Trafford where Man U play, is actually in the city of Manchester.

Meanwhile, United had won the Premier League again in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013; and the Champions League in 2008, all while Glazer lived and ran the team. FCUM fans -- and many MUFC fans, too -- continued to sing, "We're having a party when Glazer dies." God forbid they should accept the trophies that Glazer's ownership brought them.

Glazer died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 85. Some United fans did indeed celebrate. Meanwhile, the FCUM branch of them sat in their tiny stadium -- about the same size as the one at my New Jersey high school -- and sang their vile songs about hating Glazer, Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United.

In 2019, a bad season left FCUM relegated. They will begin the 2022-23 season as they began the preceding 3, in the 7th division.

By that point, these other North American sports team owners had invested in English and European soccer teams:

* 2007: Liverpool F.C. is bought by George Gillette, owner of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens; and Tom Hicks, owner of the NHL's Dallas Stars and MLB's Texas Rangers. It proved disastrous in terms of finances, and Liverpool, along with Man United 1 of England's 2 most successful and 2 most popular teams, seemed to be replaced as 1 of England's "Big Four" clubs, along with Man United, Arsenal, and Chelsea F.C., by Manchester City.

* 2008: Stan Kroenke begins his takeover of Arsenal, which he does, piece by piece, until becoming sole owner in 2018. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment already owned the NBA's Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, and MLS' Colorado Rapids, and a share of the NFL's St. Louis Rams. He became sole owner of the Rams, moved them to Los Angeles, and, with Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium as a partial model, built SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California. He becomes hated by old-line Arsenal fans, though not as much as Glazer was among United fans.

* 2010: Liverpool are sold by Gillette and Hicks to Fenway Sports Group, owners of MLB's Boston Red Sox, run by John W. Henry. The group would later buy the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and a motorsports company.

* 2013: West London team Fulham F.C. is bought by Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American businessman who already owned the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

* 2014: Italian club Bologna F.C. is bought by Joey Saputo, a Canadian businessman who already owned MLS' CF Montréal.

* 2018: Miami-based 777 Partners buys its 1st European team, Standard Liège of Belgium. They would also buy Paris team Red Star F.C., Spanish team Sevilla F.C., Berlin team Hertha B.S.C., Italian club Genoa C.F.C., Rio de Janeiro team C.R. Vasco da Gama, and British basketball team London Lions. (UPDATE: Later in 2022, they bought Australian team Melbourne Victory.)

* 2018: Aston Villa of Birmingham, England is bought by Wes Edens, already a part-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. 

* 2019: AFC Fiorentina of Florence, Italy is bought by Rocco Commisso, who owns the rights to the currently dormant New York Cosmos.

* 2019: Venice-based team Venezia F.C. is bought by Duncan Niederauer.

* 2020: Rome team A.S. Roma is bought by Dan Friedkin. 

* 2020: Italian club Parma Calcio is bought by Kyle Krause.

* 2022: Italian club Atalanta B.C. is bought by Stephen Pagliuca, a former part-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics. And Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who had owned West London team Chelsea F.C. since 2003, sold it to Los Angeles-based BlueCo, led by Todd Boehly, the main owner of MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers.

Since Glazer's death, MUFC have won the FA Cup in 2016, the UEFA Europa League and the League Cup in 2017. Let the record show that it was only after Glazer died that things began to fall apart.

Meanwhile, both the Buccaneers and MUFC continue to be owned by the 6 children of Malcolm Glazer, with eldest son Bryan Glazer having the most control. 

UPDATE: United have since won the League Cup in 2023, and the FA Cup in 2024.

After this posting date in 2022, Italian team A.C. Milan, once famously (or infamously) owned by corrupt media mogul, and 3 times Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, was bought by New York-based Redbird Capital Partners. And Bill Foley, owner of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, started buying soccer teams, with English team A.F.C. Bournemouth.

In 2023, Edens bought Portuguese team Vitória de Guimarães. Foley bought French team F.C. Lorient, and established Auckland F.C. of New Zealand, an expansion team in Australia's A-League. And Boehly bought French team R.C. Strasbourg Alsace.

In 2024, Milan's intracity rival, Internazionale Milano, was bought by Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management. And Dan Friedkin bought Liverpool team Everton F.C. Foley bought Hibernian F.C. of Edinburgh, Scotland.

And FCUM will begin the 2026-27 season in the 7th division. They haven't become the new Manchester United. They haven't even become a 2nd Wrexham A.F.C.

*

May 16, 2005 was a Monday. Football was out of season. The NHL team owners had locked their players out, resulting in the cancellation of the entire season. The NBA Playoffs were in progress, but no games were played on this day. These Major League Baseball games were:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Chien-Ming Wang was the winning pitcher, outpitching Aaron Sele. Bernie Williams hit a grand slam. Derek Jeter went 2-for-6. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-2 at Shea Stadium. Kris Benson outpitched former Met Paul Wilson. Cliff Floyd hit a home run.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum).

May 14, 2011: Manchester Football's Greatest Day

May 14, 2011: The greatest day in the history of Manchester soccer -- "football," as they would say.

Manchester United clinch their 19th League title, breaking the record they shared with Liverpool FC. They needed only a draw in 1 of their last 2 games of the season, or a loss by Manchester City and a loss by Chelsea FC in either of their last 2 League games, and the title was theirs. They got their draw, 1-1 with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in Blackburn, Lancashire.

But Man City, with the wealth of the United Arab Emirates' royal family and government behind them, win their 1st trophy of any kind in 35 years, and their 1st FA Cup in 43 years, defeating Stoke City of Staffordshire in the Final at the new Wembley Stadium in West London.

Yaya Touré scores the game's only goal, in the 74th minute. Rather than a member of the royal family, as is usually the case, City's Captain, Carlos Tevez, who had famously left United for City, received the Cup from a recent hero of the British Army's effort in the War On Terror in Afghanistan, Corporal Mark Ward.

It begins a run that has now reached 12 seasons with 6 League titles, 2 FA Cups, 6 League Cups (including this season's), and a berth in the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final. As for Stoke, it remains the only FA Cup Final in their history. They have been playing since 1863, and have just 1 major trophy, the 1972 League Cup.

Yaya would have set a new record for highest uniform number worn in an FA Cup Final, 42, had not his teammate Mario Balotelli worn 45. That would remain a record until, 11 years later to the day, Trent Alexander-Arnold wore 66 for Liverpool in the 2022 Final.

UPDATE: The record was broken again in 2025, by Manchester City left back Nico O'Reilly, who wore 75. Alexander-Arnold remains the highest-numbered player for a winning team.

In 2026, Manchester City were found guilty of 114 violations of Premier League rules. This renders every achievement of theirs illegitimate. Of course, United had been cheating for years, too. So had Chelsea. So the 2011 Premier League title should have gone to the 4th place team, Arsenal. And since Stoke were also a dirty team, the 2011 FA Cup should have gone to the one finalist who wasn't tainted: Bolton Wanderers.

*

May 14, 2011, like all FA Cup Final days, was a Saturday. American-style football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were in progress, but no games were played. One game was played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the TD Garden in Boston. The Bruins went on to win the series, and the Cup, anyway.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 6-0 at the new Yankee Stadium. Josh Beckett allowed 4 hits over 6 shutout innings, Matt Albers 2 over 2, and Rich Hill 1 in the 9th, outpitching CC Sabathia. Derek Jeter went 1-for-4 with a walk. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-4. Adrián González hit a home run for the Sox.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 7-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. J.A. Happ outpitched R.A. Dickey. Daniel Murphy hit a home run for the Mets.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Washington Nationals, 1-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. Anibal Sánchez pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Juan Carlos Oviedo completed the 4-hit shutout.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Martín Prado and Nate McLouth hit home runs for the Braves.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Brad Bergesen pitched a 4-hit shutout. Mark Reynolds and Jake Fox hit home runs.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-0 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Brad Penny pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and José Valverde pitched a perfect 9th.

* The San Francisco Giants were leading the Chicago Cubs, 3-0 after 6 innings, when the game was called due to rain. Ryan Vogelsong had allowed 7 hits over 6 shutout innings.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-3 at Target Field in Minneapolis. José Bautista hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 11th inning, opening the gates to a 6-run inning.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-7 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. How many Diamondbacks does it take to pitch a 4-hit shutout? This time, 4: Josh Collmenter allowed 2 runs over 6 innings, Aaron Heilman pitched a perfect 7th, David Hernandez allowed a hit in the 8th, and J.J. Putz allowed a hit in the 9th.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Overstock Coliseum).

* And the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners were rained out at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 23.