ON THIS DAY

England again missed out on staging the World Cup finals when FIFA announced the host nations for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments after a vote in Zurich. England were up against Russia and Belgium/Netherlands and Portugal/Spain joint bids in the battle for the 2018 finals. Sadly England received just 2 of the 22 votes in the first round of voting and were eliminated from the vote at that stage. Russia won the right to host the 2018 finals with Qatar getting the nod for the 2022 finals. So nothing controversial there then! 3 rd December

Alf Ramsey started his long and successful association with England when the Southampton full-back made his playing debut for his country on this day in 1948. Opponents Switzerland were playing their first international in England but were beaten 6-0 at Highbury.

The Players Union – officially the Association of Football Players’ and Trainers’ Union – was founded on this day in 1907 at a meeting in Manchester’s Imperial Hotel. The main problem of the day was the introduction of a maximum wage of £4 per week for players. Now known as the Professional Footballers’ Association, it is the oldest professional sports trade union in the world.