ON THIS DAY

It's rare for a footballing injury to make the front pages - but this one was bound to! After Arsenal had beaten Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford in the Third Round of the FA Cup United manager Alex Ferguson had kicked a boot in the changing-room in frustration. Nothing newsworthy in that - he was well remembered for his moments of anger. But the boot hit 'Golden Balls' David Beckham in the face causing a cut over his left eye which needed stitches. Now that hit the headlines. 16 th February

England fans disgraced themselves in Dublin forcing the friendly match between the Republic of Ireland and England at Lansdowne Road to be abandoned. When Ireland took a 1-0 lead with a David Kelly goal in the 23rd minute a section of England ‘fans’ ripped up seats in the upper stand and threw them onto spectators below. No further play was possible and for only the third time an England match was abandoned.

As a player Ian Porterfield is probably best remembered as the scorer of the only goal in the 1973 FA Cup Final when Sunderland beat Leeds United. Less well known perhaps is the record he set as a manager - he was the first Premier League manager to be sacked! Porterfield managed Chelsea in 1992/93, the first season of the Premier League, and on December 5th 1992 Chelsea beat Spurs 2-1 at White Hart Lane to occupy fourth place in the table. They were looking like surprise title contenders – but then things chan g ed! They didn’t manage a win in their next 11 League outings, dropped to mid-table and on Monday 15th February – two days after Aston Villa had beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their 29th League outing of the season – Ian Porterfield received his marching orders and was replaced by a former Stamford Bridge favourite, David Webb. But he had set that record that will be his for ever – the first Premier League manager to be sacked!