ON THIS DAY

With the transfer window closing at midnight August 31st was always going to be a busy time for completing transfers and that was certainly the case in 2006. Argentine World Cup players Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez were on the wants list of many clubs, including the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan. It came as a bit of a surprise then when they both moved from their club side, Corinthians of Brazil, to mid-ranking Premier League side West Ham United on 31st August 2006. It proved to be a disaster. Between them they only made 31 Premier League outings for the Hammers before Tevez moved to Manchester United and Mascherano to Liverpool. A dispute then arose regarding third party ownership of the two players - had they been owned by West Ham or still owned by those in charge of Corinthians - Media Sports Investments. The FA later fined West Ham £5.5 million for discrepancies with that transfer. West Ham escaped a points deduction for that offence which would have seen them relegated and Sheffield United saved from relegation. Sheffield United then claimed for the lost revenue suffered from that relegation which cost the Londoners another £18 million. Ouch!

Wayne Rooney’s view that ‘ Once a blue, always a blue’ came back to haunt him when on this day in 2004 when the 18 year old moved to the reds…..of Manchester United. The blues he left behind were not too chuffed despite the promise of up to £27m entering the Goodison bank account.

UniBond Division 1 side Stocksbridge Park Steels had their moment in the national headlines when they beat Oldham Town 17-1 in an FA Cup Preliminary Round tie. The Sheffield club's Paul Jackson scored 10 goals and equalled the FA Cup record set by Chris Marron with South Shields in 1947. Ted MacDougall of Bournemouth set the record for the competition proper in 1971 with nine goals against Margate.