November 3 – The Life of Brian and Lights, Camera, Corruption!

Dodgy dealings in London town and Brian Kidd finds out that it’s tough at the top in today’s football history round-up.

1999 – The Life of Brian
HE’S not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy! Well, perhaps not naughty, but certainly not the managerial messiah.

It was on this day in 1999 that Brian Kidd proved what Steve McLaren is proving daily, namely that good number twos very rarely make good number ones, when he was sacked as Blackburn Rovers manager. Read on here.

1997 – Lights, Camera, Corruption

TODAY in 1997 West Ham United were hosting Crystal Palace in an evening Premiership fixture between the two London sides. Find out what dodgy dealings went on here.

Just because you can do this, doesn’t mean you’ll be a good gaffer…

November 2 – Watch Out Alfie, Keano’s Back and Game, Set, Match

Some cross-sport shenanigans in Hull and Keano’s back on the prowl in our footballing round-up.

1997 – Game, Set, Match

CROSSING over from one professional sport to another is rarely a good idea. Think Dwain Chambers and Sir Clive Woodward for recent examples, but today we are looking at a match made in Hull between football and tennis. Click here to find out what happened.

2002 – Watch Out Alfie, Keano’s Back

“I’d waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***. And don’t ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.”

And so it was proved that the pen was mightier than the sword, as Roy Keane’s autobiography got him in a spot of bother with the FA, who invoked a five match ban that ended today in 2002 following his x-rated challenge on Alf-Inge Haaland in the 2001 Manchester derby. Read more.

Roy v Alf, rounds one and two.

November 1 – Out With Ossie and Milan Hits the Midlands

A dodgy character in at Leicester and Spurs in more managerial maneuvering.

2006 – Milan Hits the Midlands

LEICESTER City fans have been put through the mixer a fair bit the last few seasons, having to endure administration, relegation and even a strike force led by Adi Akinbiyi. Today in 2006 another dodgy character came onto the scene as Milan Mandaric bid to take over the Foxes. Read more.

1994 – Out With Ossie

PINCH punch, first of the month and here at OTFD we’re kicking November off with another managerial casualty.

Despite losing his job in the most underhand way, poor old Martin Jol can at least console himself with the fact that it was ever thus at Tottenham. It was on this day in 1994 that Spurs dispensed with the services of Osvaldo Ardiles as manager, just 16 months after giving him the job. Read the whole story here.

Ossie and the Spurs team in happier days

October 31 – A Sticky End For Holy Harvey and Halloween Horror Show in Madagascar

More goals than ghouls in Africa and an Everton legend falls on his sword in today’s trip down memory lane.

2002 – Halloween Horror Show in Madagascar

WHATEVER seasonal misfortunes befall you tonight, we’re sure it won’t be as scary as what fans of Madagascan side Stade Olympique de L’Emyrne (SOE) had to endure, as today in 2002 they saw side fall to a record-breaking 149-0 loss. Click here for the whole story.

1990 – A Sticky End For Holy Harvey

WE think one of the best things about OTFD is that sometimes we get to feature some of the less celebrated characters in football that may have slipped from the game’s consciousness in recent times.

Today is one of those days, as it was on this day in 1990 that legendary Everton player Colin Harvey proved he wasn’t such a legendary manager when the Toffeemen gave him his P45. Read more.

Colin Harvey’s finest move

October 30 – Lord of the Manor of Frodsham and the End of El Diego

The greatest ever player hangs up his boots as a Liverpool flops proves his legs are made of balsa wood.

1997 – The Eng of El Diego

HE was the greatest footballer of his generation and perhaps of all time, but all good things have to come to an end. Today in 1997 Diego Armando Maradona hung up his boots, bringing his explosive career to a close on his 37th birthday. Read more.

2004 – Lord of the Manor of Frodsham

WHEN Gerard Houllier was winding down his time as Liverpool manager, the club still allowed him to press on with one of their most expensive signings ever. Houllier had been casting flirtatious glances at Djibril Cisse for months and finally managed to negotiate a deal to bring the Frenchman to Anfield for around £14m in the summer of 2004. Click here to find out what went wrong.

Ouch.

October 29 – A Punishment Not To Be Sniffed At and Forgetful Ferdinand

It’s case of football’s behaving badly (or at least just stupidly) in today’s journey into the OTFD vaults.

2004 – A Punishment Not To Be Sniffed At

WE’RE coming over all Bram Stoker on you today, as we’ve got a tale of an (alleged) bloodsucker from Transylvania. Romanian misfit Adrian Mutu was fired by Chelsea today in 2004 following his failed drugs test. Click here for the whole story.

2003 – Forgetful Ferdinand

WE’VE all been guilty of forgetting things once in a while, a friend’s birthday here, a wedding anniversary there, but not many memory lapses can have been as costly as the one Rio ‘Memory like a sieve’ Ferdinand had in the autumn of 2003. Read more.

Mutu will need more of this to pay off the £14m that Chelsea are after

October 28 – The Joy of Cesc and The Angel With Bent Legs

The greatest Brazilian to ever play the game and the Arsene Wenger production line unearths another diamond in today’s trip down memory lane..

1933 – The Angel With Bent Legs

ASK anyone around the world who the best ever Brazilian to play the game was and they’ll usually say Pele. Head into Brazil though, ask the same question and any self-respecting passionate follower of the beautiful game will tell you all about a bow-legged right-winger who holds a dearer place in their hearts than everyone’s favourite viagra salesman. That man was Garrincha, who was born today in 1933. Read more.

2003 – The Joy of Cesc

A 1-1 draw in the League Cup between Arsenal and Rotherham today in 2003 doesn’t sound like the most exciting of occasions to base today’s nugget of footballing history on, but one of Arsene Wenger’s young charges was making his debut that day, and he’s proved to go on to be not too shabby at this football lark. Click here for more.

Much more interesting than Pele.

October 27 – Pressley’s All Shook Up and Hoddle Arrives

The story of Scotland’s most crazy chairman and the birth of Hod in today’s trip down memory lane.

2006 – Pressley’s All Shock Up

IT’S up to Scotland today for a look at one of the maddest characters in the game, Hearts chairman and former Soviet submarine commander Vladimir Romanov who was at the mercy of a player revolt, lead by captain Steven Pressley today in 2006 when threatened to sack the whole squad if they failed to win their next match. See what went down here.

1957 – Hoddle Arrives
THE year is 1957. In Italy the Treaty of Rome is signed establishing the European Economic Community; in the USA Elvis Presley buys Graceland; and on this day in Hayes, Middlesex, Glenn Hoddle was born. Read more here.

Hoddle showing he had the skills to pay the bills. Well, it was either this or the Diamond Lights clip…

October 26 – Ezer is a geezer who likes to muscle in and Saints Humble the Red Devils

The humble beginnings of the FA and the Red Devils are trounced by the Saints in today’s round-up.

1996 – Saints Humble the Red Devils

SIR Alex Ferguson has turned Manchester United into such a consistent winning machine over the past 20 years that it’s always nice to watch them get beaten once in a while, especially when they get a very rare hammering.

Today in 1996 Southampton recorded one of their most impressive results ever when they trounced Fergies team 6-3 at The Dell. Read more here.

1863 – Ezer is a geezer who likes to muscle in
IT all sounds so Dickensian: a cold, foggy autumn night in Victorian London, the Freemason’s Tavern in Great Queen Street, and the protagonist, Ebenezer Cobb Morley.

No this is not the beginning of Great Expectations or David Copperfield; this is the beginning of the Football Association. Click here for more.

Le God.

October 25 – Cilla Strikes Back and Jol’s Last Stand

Martin Jol is given one hell of an undignified exit from White Hart Lane and Cilla Black downs the beautiful game in today’s trip through the OTFD vaults.

2000 – Cilla Strikes Back

FOOTBALL has managed to upset a lot of people over the years – it has even been the cause of wars, but it was on this day in 2000 that the beautiful game crossed swords with a national treasure, and lost. Click here for the full story.

2007 – Jol’s Last Stand

FANTASTICALLY wide ranging and descriptive though the English language can be, there are occasions when it falls short and emotions it cannot quite express succinctly. Read on here.

Jol’s last day at work.