October 22, 1990: Justin Fashanu Comes Out

October 22, 1990: The British tabloid newspaper The Sun publishes a story with the headline, "£1m Football Star: I AM GAY." The player is Justin Fashanu, then with East London-based Leyton Orient, but had been one of the 1st soccer players in Britain sold for £1 million, in 1981, going from Norfolk-based Norwich City to the East Midlands' Nottingham Forest.

The forward, the son of a Nigerian lawyer and a Guyanese nurse, was long past his best by this point, and probably needed the money. It's the only viable excuse to go to the most hated newspaper in Britain, known for its scurrilous lies.

Fashanu was telling the truth about being gay. What is not known is whether the most sensational part of the story was true: That he met a married Member of Parliament, of the Conservative Party no less, presumably white (Fashanu was black), in a London gay bar, and that they went home together and began an affair. The MP has never been identified.

Most of Fashanu's teammates were supportive. Most of English football fans were not. It was still hard enough to be a black footballer in England, but to be a gay one was too much for the typically parochial English footie fan to handle, and he was relentlessly abused in the stands.

In 1995, he came to America, to play for the Atlanta Ruckus, a team in the A-League, the top American soccer league before MLS began play the next year. In 1998, while coaching a minor-league team in the Baltimore area, the Maryland Mania, he was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy. He fled to London, and on May 3, 1998, he hanged himself, claiming in his suicide note that "I realised that I had already been presumed guilty. I do not want to give any more embarrassment to my friends and family." He was just 37 years old.

"Fash" was the 1st man in British football to come out of the closet, A few have in other countries, including Robbie Rogers in America, and it's no big deal when a female soccer player does it. But for a male player, especially in English "lad culture"? It took until May 17, 2022, for Jake Daniels to become the 2nd. At age 17, the forward for Blackpool F.C. wasn't even born yet when Fashanu died. 

It should also be noted that Blackpool is currently in The Championship, England's 2nd division, not the Premier League, the top flight. There still hasn't been an openly gay player who has played in the PL since its founding in 1992. Fashanu's last top-flight team was Newcastle United, in 1991. He did, however, play in the Scottish top flight after that, with Edinburgh team Heart of Midlothian in the 1993-94 season.

Amal Fashanu, Justin's niece, who runs a charitable foundation in his name, said, "If my Uncle Justin were alive, I know he would have been one of the first people to have contacted Jake to offer his support and best wishes. Justin's wish was to create a society where people could simply be kinder to one another, and where bigotry doesn't exist."

*

October 22, 1990 was a Monday. Jonathan Lipnicki, best known as a child actor, was born.

Baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, with the Cincinnati Reds sweeping the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-13 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

The NBA season began 13 days later. Only 1 game was played in the NHL, and it was an "Original Six" matchup: The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1 at Madison Square Garden. The Broadway Blueshirts got goals from 5 different players: John Ogrodnick, Kevin Miller, Paul Broten, Darren Turcotte and Randy Moller.

May 30, 1979: Brian Clough's Revenge

May 30, 1979: Nottingham Forest Football Club win the European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League. It is the crowning achievement of their manager, Brian Clough. Less than 5 years earlier, Clough looked finished as a top-flight manager. Now, he was the boss of the Champions of Europe.

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. Don 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, as that period, the late 1950s and early 1960s, was when the forward position on the England team was dominated by Tom Finney of Preston North End, Johnny Haynes of Fulham, Bobby Charlton of Manchester United, and Jimmy Greaves of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Both went into management at a young age, Revie due to declining skills, Clough due to a nasty knee injury in a game on Boxing Day 1962, one that probably would have been easily fixable today. 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 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. He lasted only 44 days before being fired.

Nobody came out of it looking good. Somehow, new manager Jimmy Armfield got them to rebound from their poor start, finish 9th, and reach the Final of the European Cup, where they controversially lost to German champions Bayern Munich.

Clough was 39, but seemed finished. And yet, he was soon hired by Derby's East Midlands arch-rivals, Nottingham Forest. He got them promoted in 1977, and won the League with them in 1978, beating defending Champions Liverpool FC by 7 points. Included in this was a streak of 42 straight League games undefeated, a record that stood for 26 years.

Then he did something neither he nor Revie had yet done: Won the European Cup. As defending champions in that as well, Liverpool automatically qualified, but Forest beat them in the 1st Round. Forest then beat Greek champions AEK Athens, Swiss champions Grasshopper Zürich in the Quarterfinal, and German champions 1. FC Köln (Cologne) in the Semifinal.

The Final was held on May 30, 1979, at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany. Forest played Swedish champions Malmö FF. Clough had Peter Shilton in goal; right back Viv Anderson, the 1st black player to start for the England national team; dangerous forwards Trevor Francis and Tony Woodcock; and 2 Scottish midfielders who had starred for him at Derby, John McGovern and John Robertson.

Malmö decided to lay back in defense, and hold Forest off -- in more recent English football terminology, they "parked the bus." It worked until stoppage time of the 1st half, when Robertson came down the right side, sent in a cross, and Francis headed it in. Malmö never recovered, and never had a good chance to score, and Forest won, 1-0. (To this day, no team from any Scandinavian country has ever won the European Cup.)

Clough had made his point: He was now, among European managers, in the top one. They won the European Cup again in 1980, beating German team Hamburger SV in Madrid, Spain. Forest are the only team in Europe to win the tournament more times than they've won their national league.

Clough became known as "the greatest manager England never had." Why did the national team, despite all its struggles since the 1966 World Cup win, never hire him? He knew damn well why: "I'm sure the England selectors thought, if they took me on and gave me the job, I'd want to run the show. They were shrewd, because that's exactly what I would have done." In other words, the guys running the FA wouldn't have been running the show, and they wouldn't have been able to handle that.

Leeds United still dedicated a statue of Revie outside their Elland Road stadium after his death in 1989. But Clough, who lived until 2004, has 3 statues: In central Middlesbrough, and outside Derby's new stadium, Pride Park, and Forest's City Ground.

*

May 30, 1979 was a Wednesday. American-style football was out of season. Hockey season had ended 9 days earlier, when the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers for the Stanley Cup. The NBA Finals were between Games 4 and 5, and the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Washington Bullets in Game 5 to take the title.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Sacrifice flies by Juan Beniquez and Bucky Dent, and a double by Mickey Rivers, in the top of the 11th inning made Ron Davis a winning pitcher in relief of Tommy John. Lou Piniella hit a home run, Thurman Munson went 2-for-5, and Reggie Jackson did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Bill Lee pitched a 6-hit shutout. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4. Pete Rose went 1-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 3-for-4. Eddie Murray went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Richie Zisk singled Al Oliver home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-2 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 5 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 6-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the California Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Rod Carew went 0-for-3. Nolan Ryan outpitched Rick Honeycutt.

May 28, 1980: The Library of Congress Opens the James Madison Memorial Building

May 28, 1980: The Library of Congress opens a new building, the James Madison Memorial Building. It is a complement to its main building, named the Thomas Jefferson Building; and its original annex, the John Adams Building.

NOTE: My cutoff date for this project is 1869, the year of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, the 1st openly professional baseball team, and the 1st American football game. I had managed to work in references to most pre-1869 Presidents. This was the only way I could think of to do it for Madison.

The Madison Building is to the south of the Jefferson Building, across Independence Avenue, and is also bounded by 1st, 2nd and C Streets SE. It is not only larger than the Jefferson and Adams Buildings, it is, at 2.1 million square feet, the 3rd-largest public building in the D.C. area, behind The Pentagon and the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the headquarters of the FBI.

A prominent lawyer in Virginia, and a protégé of Thomas Jefferson, Madison was a Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, and then to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He did most of the writing of the actual Constitution, and came up with many of the ideas in it, earning him the name "The Father of the Constitution." Writing The Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton, he was also a major force in getting the States to ratify the Constitution.

He was elected to the 1st Congress, serving Virginia from 1789 to 1797. When Jefferson was elected President in 1800, he appointed Madison as his Secretary of State. That made Madison the heir apparent, and he was elected the 4th President, in 1808 and 1812. He nearly lost the country in the War of 1812, but military victories turned the war around, and he was beloved when he left office in 1817. He died in 1836, the last surviving Signer of the Constitution.

Since he was Jefferson's Secretary of State, and Jefferson was widowed, Madison's wife, the former Dolley Payne Todd, served as White House hostess, through 4 full terms, a record unlikely ever to be broken (especially now that Presidents are limited to 2 terms, although "White House hostesses" are not). Dolley Madison is regarded as one of the greatest First Ladies ever, and not just because she was one of the first people to serve ice cream in America, doing so as Jefferson's hostess. (A brand of ice cream was named for her.) She lived until 1849, and was the earliest First Lady to be photographed.

There is a James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, about 50 miles west of his mansion, Montpelier, in Orange, itself only about 30 miles from Jefferson's Monticello and Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of another Jefferson protégé, Madison's own Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and the 5th President, James Monroe. There are James Madison High Schools in Brooklyn, the Virginia suburbs of Washington, Florida, Milwaukee, Dallas, San Antonio and San Diego. From 1963 to 1992, a submarine named the USS James Madison was in service.

Statue, in the Madison Memorial Building

U.S. Route 301 in Virginia is named the James Madison Parkway. Madison Avenue and Madison Square in Manhattan are named for him, as is the capital city of Wisconsin. Many towns and Counties are named for him. In New Jersey, there is a Madison Borough in Morris County, and there was a Madison Township, next-door to a Monroe Township, in Middlesex County. In 1975, to stop the confusion with the Morris County town, the one in Middlesex took the name of a locality in adjoining East Brunswick (my hometown), and renamed themselves Old Bridge.

In 1928 and 1934, the federal government issued gold certificates with Madison's portrait, with a face value of $5,000. It has not issued a bill with a value over $100 since.

Madison has been played by Burgess Meredith in Magnificent Doll (with Ginger Rogers as Dolley) in 1946, Ken Kercheval in The Adams Chronicles in 1976, Guy Paul in George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation in 1986, and Craig Wasson in A More Perfect Union in 1989.

The last surviving member of Madison's Cabinet was Richard Rush, who served as the United States Attorney General, and lived until 1859. He also turned out to be the last surviving member of James Monroe's Cabinet.

*

May 28, 1980 was a Wednesday. The European Cup Final was played at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain. Nottingham Forest, of England's East Midlands, managed by Brian Clough, made it back-to-back titles, defeating German team Hamburger SV, 1-0. John Robertson scored the goal in the 20th minute. This makes them the only team in Europe to win the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League more times than they've won their domestic league, 2-1.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Yankee Stadium. Jack Morris outpitched Ron Guidry. Bobby Murcer hit a home run, and he and Bucky Dent each got 3 hits, but the rest of the Yankees combined only got 4, including an 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts by Reggie Jackson. Dave Stegman hit a home run for the Tigers.

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Mets scored 6 runs in the top of the 8th inning, on a double, 2 singles, and 5 walks.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell did not play.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-6 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Rick Waits outpitched Jim Palmer. Joe Charboneau, on his way to a Rookie of the Year season (before flaming out the next year), hit a home run. Eddie Murray went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Former Yankee Chris Chambliss singled Larvell Blanks home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Bill Travers pitched 6 innings of 1-hit ball, and Reggie Cleveland completed a 3-hit shutout. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Paul Molitor went 3-for-4 with a walk.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 1-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Nolan Ryan pitched a 2-hit shutout. Who got the 2 hits? Oddly enough, one game from the opposing starter, Rick Wise, who once pitched a no-hitter and hit 2 home runs in the same game. The other came from the weak-hitting Ozzie Smith.

* The California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6 at Anaheim Stadium (later Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. The Angels scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th, and the Rangers almost came back in the 9th, but were held to 3 runs.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. George Brett went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Rookie Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4, but drew a walk, and was then caught stealing. The A's got 7 stolen bases from 6 different players (Dwayne Murphy had 2), but Henderson was not one of them.

* The Montreal Expos and the Chicago Cubs were tied 3-3 in the top of the 11th inning at Wrigley Field, when the game was called due to darkness. It was resumed on August 8. Each team scored a run in the 12th. The Cubs loaded the bases in the bottom of the 14th, and Cliff Johnson hit a grand slam to win it, 8-4.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers were not scheduled.

May 18, 1991: The Curse of Gazza

Gary Charles (2) and Paul Gascoigne (8)

May 18, 1991: The FA Cup Final is held at the old Wembley Stadium in London. In the 14th minute, Paul Gascoigne of North London club Tottenham Hotspur lays a nasty tackle on Nottingham Forest right back Gary Charles. That's right, a midfielder doing that to a defender, not the other way around. In so doing, "Gazza" wrecks his knee.

In spite of losing their best player, the most celebrated English player of the time, "Spurs" win, 2-1, when Forest's Des Walker scores an own goal in extra time. This, just 4 years after Gary Mabbutt's own goal beat Spurs to give Coventry City the Cup in 1987.

Although Prince Charles and Princess Diana are in attendance, it is Katharine, Duchess of Kent who hands the Cup to Captain Gary Mabbutt -- who redeems himself, since the last team to lose a Cup Final on an own goal was Tottenham, on his, 4 years earlier. (It hasn't happened in the 30 years since.)

What was not widely known during that Final was that Spurs were losing money like crazy, and had already agreed to sell Gazza to Lazio of Rome. His time in Italy was an injury-riddled, scandal-ridden disaster. He would come back to Britain and help Rangers win 2 Scottish titles, and have a brief flash of glory in the 1996 European Championships. But his drinking would get him bounced from club to club, and by 2004 he was done as a player.

From 1998 to 2017, he was in rehab for alcohol and other drugs 10 times in 19 years. As of 2022, he admits he still drinks, and looks far older than his 55 years. (UPDATE: In 2024, he admitted that he was homeless, living at his agent's house, and going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.)

This 1991 match has also been Spurs' last visit to the FA Cup Final. They would lose Semifinals in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2010, 2012, 2017 and 2018 -- the 1993 and 2001 editions to North London arch-rivals Arsenal, whom they beat in the 1991 Semifinal. Unless you want to count the 1999 and 2008 League Cups, Spurs haven't won a major trophy in a quarter of a century. "Big club"? If this were an American sports franchise, we'd be talking about "The Curse of Gazza." (UPDATE: They won the League Cup in 2025.)

It was also the last major match for Forest manager Brian Clough. For all he won -- 2 European Cups at Forest, and League titles at both Forest and their arch-rivals, Derby County -- he never won the FA Cup, in a career as a player and manager that stretched from 1955 to 1993. Although he lived to be 69, booze did him in, too.

Des Walker was a good player who had an awful moment. He did win 2 League Cups with Forest. He played for England in the 1990 World Cup, and would have played for themin the 1994 World Cup, but England didn't qualify. He has 2 sons: Tyler plays for Forest, and Lewis played for Derby.

*

May 18, 1991 was, like all FA Cup Final days, a Saturday. There was better news for Britain on the day: They got their 1st astronaut. The launch of the Soviet Union’s Soyuz TM-12 included Helen Sharman, the 1st British person in space, and the 1st European (other than Russian) woman in space. The Sheffield native was known as “The Girl from Mars,” not because she wanted to visit the planet of that name, but because she had worked as a chemist for the candy company of that name.

The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The Pittsburgh Penguins would beat the Minnesota North Stars. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-106 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Pat Rice (no relation to the famed Arsenal defender of the same name) outpitched Scott Sanderson. Pete O'Brien hit a home run, and Ken Griffey Jr. went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. For the Yankees, Jesse Barfield hit a home run, and Don Mattingly went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win it. Eddie Murray went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Dodgers.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The California Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Dave Winfield went 1-for-5 for the Angels. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. How many A's pitchers does it take to pitch a 4-hit shutout? Under manager Tony La Russa, apparently, 5: Andy Hawkins, 3 hits over 5 1/3rd innings; Dana Allison, pitched to 1 batter and got him out; Steve Chitren, 1 hitless inning; Joe Klink, a perfect inning and 1/3d; and Dennis Eckersley, 1 hit in the 9th. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3, but had 2 walks and a stolen base.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Tony Fernández went 4-for-5.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 12-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett did not play. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went 3-for-5.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 13-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Kenny Rogers outpitched Roger Clemens.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

April 16, 1898: The East Midlands Derby In the Cup Final

Nottingham Forest pose with the trophy

April 16, 1898: An FA Cup Final between local rivals is rare these days. On this day, it was an "East Midlands Derby," between aptly named Derby County of Derby, in Derbyshire, and their ach-rivals, Nottingham Forest of Nottingham.

And, in each case, the English pronounce it "DAR-bee," not "DUR-bee," like we do in America.

While the City Ground, home to Forest, and Meadow Lane, home to Notts County, are merely on opposite sides of the River Trent in Nottingham, Notts County have always been a smaller club. So Forest fans have looked to the next-biggest team in the East Midlands, Derby County, 20 miles to the west. Forest had won the Football League in 1892. Derby finished 3rd in the League in 1894 and 2nd in 1896.

In 1898, Forest finished in 8th place, 11 points behind winners Sheffield United. Derby finished 10th, 14 points off the pace. But they both reached the FA Cup Final, held at the Crystal Palace stadium in Southeast London. This should not be confused with Selhurst Park, built in 1924 as the home of Crystal Palace F.C.

Derby got there by beating the leading English team of the 1890s, Birmingham club Aston Villa; then Wolverhampton Wanderers, and then the 2 main clubs on Merseyside, first Liverpool (needing a replay but winning it an Anfield), then Everton. Forest's path was a bit easier, beating Lincolnshire teams Grimsby Town and Gainsborough Trinity, Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion, and Hampshire team Southampton, needing a replay.

Derby, as familiar to fans today, wore white shirts with black shorts. Forest wore red shirts with blue shorts. Arthur Capes, Forest's inside left, opened the scoring in the 19th minute. Steve Bloomer, Derby's sensational inside right, equalized in the 31st. Capes scored again in the 42nd. Centre half John McPherson made it 3-1 Forest in the 86th minute.

It remained 3-1 Forest, and their Captain, Frank Forman, accepted the Cup from Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, later to be King Edward VII, representing his mother, Queen Victoria, who, unlike her son, didn't care about sports other than horse racing.

Steve Bloomer was the biggest star in English "football" at the time -- such as stardom was, as there was no "mass media" as we understand that term today. Even printing photographs in newspapers and magazines was a new phenomenon. Motion pictures were new, and hadn't yet developed "newsreels." Radio broadcasting was, as yet, impossible. And television was barely an idea. If you wanted to watch Steve Bloomer, and to see what he was watching, you had to go to the ground and buy a ticket.

He never won a major trophy for Derby, who would also lose the Cup Final in 1899 to Sheffield United, and in 1903 to Bury (a game Bloomer missed due to injury); and finish 3rd in the League in 1897, a height they would not reach again until 1930. But he was the English Football League's all-time leading goalscorer until surpassed by Jimmy Greaves in 1969. He still ranks 2nd, over a century past his last game.

Actually, he did win 3 major trophies for Derby County, league titles – in baseball. Derbyshire was one of the few places in England where, if only briefly, the sport caught on. Indeed, from 1895 to 1997, long after new construction prevented it from looking like a ballpark anymore, Derby's home stadium was known as The Baseball Ground.

Steve's playing career ended in 1914, with the start of World War I. At the time, he was in, of all places, the German capital, having signed a contract to manage a club named Britannia Berlin 92, now known as Berliner SV 1892. To this day, their colors are the same as Derby's, black and white. Steve's contract was canceled, he was arrested, and he became a prisoner of war. He was held in a camp of about 5,000 Allied prisoners, who, by all accounts, were treated well. They included many once-and-future footballers, and, despite being past his 40th birthday, Bloomer captained a team.

He was released in March 1918, after a farewell match in his honor, a rather bizarre way of holding what English football fans would call a testimonial match. Twice in the early 1920s, he was caretaker manager of Derby. In 1924, he managed Real Unión to the Copa del Rey (King's Cup), Spain's version of the FA Cup. He returned to Derby as groundsman, and died in 1938.

Derby's theme song, "Steve Bloomer's Watching," is played before every home game at Pride Park, which replaced the Baseball Ground in 1997. To keep this honest, a bust of him was dedicated, overlooking the pitch, in 2009.

Arthur Capes lived on until 1945. Alf Spouncer, Forest's left wing, was the last surviving player from this game, making it until 1962.

It became a bit of a joke that Derby couldn't win the Cup, and they've only won it once, in 1946. Forest would win it again, but not until 1959, and not since. Like Derby, Forest have spent most of their history in the 2nd tier of English football. Both teams -- first Derby in the late 1960s, then Forest in the mid-1970s -- would be revived by the one man beloved by both fanbases, Brian Clough. He would win just about every trophy there is to win -- except, oddly, the FA Cup, never as a player and never as a manager.

*

April 16, 1898 was a Saturday. There was only 1 professional sports league operating in America at the time, baseball's National League, and its season had just started the day before. These games were played on this day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Boston Beaneaters, 4-2 at the Polo Grounds. The Beaneaters went through some name changes until becoming the Braves in 1912.

* The Brooklyn Bridegrooms beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-6 at National League Park (later renamed Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia. There was an off-season in which 4 players from the team then known as the Brooklyn Grays got married, so, "Bridegrooms." In 1899, Ned Hanlon became their manager, somebody remembered a circus troupe named Hanlon's Superbas, and they became the Brooklyn Superbas. They became the Dodgers, short for Trolly Dodgers, in 1911, were known as the Robins while Wilbert Robinson managed them from 1914 to 1931, and became the Dodgers again.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 8-3 at Oriole Park in Baltimore.

* The Cleveland Spiders beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at League Park in Cincinnati -- not to be confused with the Spiders' home, also named League Park.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Louisville Colonels, 3-1 at Eclipse Park in Louisville.

* And a fire at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis postponed the game that day between the Chicago Orphans and the St. Louis Browns. They were able to play again the next day. But the makeup was moved to the West Side Grounds in Chicago, on May 18. The Browns beat the Orphans, 11-4.

Huh? "Orphans"? The year before, Adrian Constantine Anson, their 1st baseman since 1876 and their manager since 1879, retired as a player and left as their manager -- and was now managing the Giants. That only lasted one season. Anyway, he had long been known as "Cap," for "Captain." As he got older, people started calling him "Pop."

The team was founded in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings. In 1890, because they had so many young players, they became the Chicago Colts. But after Anson left, a sportswriter called them the Orphans, because they "missed their Pop." Another youth movement, in 1903, led to them adopting the name everyone knows them by: The Chicago Cubs. Their arch-rivals, the Browns, became the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900.

February 9, 1979: Britain's 1st £1 Million Footballer

February 9, 1979: Trevor Francis becomes Britain's 1st £1 million footballer when he is transferred from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest, doubling the British record transfer fee set when West Bromwich Albion signed David Mills the previous month.

Born on February 19, 1954 in Plymouth, Devon, in England's West Country, Trevor John Francis was signed as a forward by Birmingham City when he was just 15. In 1978, during the English Football League's off-season, he came to America to play for the Detroit Express of the North American Soccer League. At a time when England's national team was at a low point -- it did not qualify for the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, or for Euro 76 -- individual stars like Francis, Kevin Keegan and Malcom Macdonald became more hyped than ever.

Francis helped Forest, defending Football League Champions, win the European Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League) the next 2 seasons. He later won trophies with Sheffield Wednesday, Sampdoria of Genoa in Italy, and Rangers of Glasgow in Scotland. He also played for England in the 1982 World Cup.

He was less successful as a manager, notably leading Wednesday to the Final of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 1993, but losing both Finals to Arsenal. Critics of his later work as a studio analyst for the sport have suggested that, while he may have had a million-pound foot, he may also have a sixpence head.

UPDATE: Trevor Francis died on July 24, 2023, of a heart attack, at his home in Marbella, on the Spanish Riviera. He was 69 years old.

*

February 9, 1979 was a Friday. This was also the day the film The Warriors premiered. I have a separate entry for that event. And Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, known for her roles in martial arts films, was born on this day.

Baseball and football were out of season. There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers, 112-101 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Diego Clippers, 117-106 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Jazz, 106-99 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Moses Malone had 33 points, and a whopping 37 rebounds.

* The Kansas City Kings beat the Chicago Bulls, 124-114 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 118-116 in overtime at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Phoenix Suns, 105-102 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-103 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors, 106-104 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 125-106 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Despite the defeat, the Spurs' George Gervin led all scorers with 34 points.

The NHL was in its All-Star Break. There were 2 games played in the World Hockey Association. The Cincinnati Stingers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-0 at the Riverfront Coliseum (now the Heritage Bank Center) in Cincinnati. And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 3-0 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

January 7, 1990: Alex Ferguson's Most Important Game

January 7, 1990: A dark day in English football. Manchester United, managed by Alex Ferguson, were playing Nottingham Forest, managed by the legendary Brian Clough, in a 3rd round FA Cup tie, at the City Ground in Nottingham.

Born in Glasgow on New Year's Eve, 1941, Ferguson led the Scottish Football League in scoring in the 1965-66 season, playing for Dunfermline Athletic. Turning to management, he was successful at Aberdeen F.C.: Between 1980 and 1986, he won 3 Scottish Premier Division titles, 4 Scottish Cups (including both trophies, a "Double," in 1984), a Scottish League Cup, and the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup.

In 1986, "Fergie" was hired to succeed Ron Atkinson at Man United. "Big Ron" had led them to the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985. Tommy Docherty had taken them to the FA Cup in 1977. But they hadn't won England's Football League since Sir Matt Busby was still managing them in 1967, or the European Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League) since 1968, when they became the 1st English team to win it. (The year before, Glasgow team Celtic became the 1st British team to win it.)

By this point, United were in trouble. They were coming off an 11th place season in the Football League. On September 23, 1989, United lost 5-1 to crosstown Manchester City, a game known, for City's stadium, as "The Massacre of Maine Road." On December 9, 1989, United lost 2-1 to Southeast London team Crystal Palace. United were 12th place. A group of fans unveiled a banner reading, "3 YEARS OF EXCUSES AND IT'S STILL CRAP. TA RA FERGIE." ("Ta ra" meaning, "Goodbye.")

It was widely speculated in the media (but perennially denied by then-Chairman Martin Edwards) that Fergie, under heavy pressure, would be fired if United lost and went out of the Cup, as they were 15th in the league by this stage, and had already been eliminated from the League Cup. And, this being the last season of the Heysel ban, there was no European tournament in which the Red Devils could redeem themselves. This time, the FA Cup was it, or nothing.

In this game, Mark Robins came off the bench late, and scored the winning goal from a Mark Hughes cross. Ferguson would keep his job, and the rest is history. Ill-gotten history. (Cloughie, you had one job… )

Mark Robins

On April 11, 1990, United beat neighbors Oldham Athletic 2–1 after extra time in an FA Cup semi–final replay. The game, however, was marred by controversy: Referee Joe Worrall failed to award Oldham an early goal, after Nick Henry's shot clearly crossed the line.

This may have been the first example in the Ferguson era of Man United getting an obvious gift from the officials. There would be more. Many, many more.

On May 12, at Wembley Stadium in London, United would be held to a 3-3 draw in the Final, by South London team Crystal Palace. But United won the replay, 1-0 on May 17.

Like many of Ferguson's players, Robins went into management, though his only real success is having led Midlands team Coventry City to promotions in 2018 and 2020.

*

January 7, 1990 was a Sunday. Most games of the FA Cup 3rd Round were played the day before. This was 1 of 3 that weren't. Port Vale and Derby County played to a 1-1 draw at Vale Park in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. And Charlton Athletic and Bradford City played to a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park in South-East London. In 1985, Charlton began "groundsharing" there with Crystal Palace, who owned it, because it was felt that their usual home, the nearby stadium known as The Valley, had become rundown and unsafe. It would be reopened in 1992.

Both of these games were replaced on January 10. Port Vale went to Derbyshire and beat Derby, while Charlton went to Yorkshire, and beat Bradford.

Baseball was out of season. There were 2 NFL Playoff games on this day. The Los Angeles Rams beat the New York Giants, 19-13 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. This was "The Flipper Anderson Game," won by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Jim Everett to Willie "Flipper" Anderson, just 1:06 into overtime, with the Giants never even getting a possession. And the Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-23 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 110-109 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. Patrick Ewing scored 44 points and grabbed 22 rebounds.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 98-83 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Dominique Wilkins scored 33 points and had 15 rebounds in defeat for the Hawks.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat, 132-93 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* And the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.