ON THIS DAY

Ever fancied sponsoring the stand of your local club - as the National Lottery ad once went 'It could be you'. For former Tesco worker Karen Child it proved to be her in February 2007 when a £1 lucky dip saw her win a Lotto jackpot of £8,471,383. The cheque was presented to her a few days later at Old Trafford but it was her local club, Chesterfield, who soon benefited from her generosity. She sponsored the Kop end at Chesterfield's former home at Saltergate and then the south stand at their new ground became the Karen Child Stand. Me, I'd be grateful enough to win enough to be able to buy a programme! 4 th February

Millionaire publisher Robert Maxwell made a £10m bid for Manchester United. It wasn't successful - £10m seems like petty cash in modern football valuations.

Just two weeks after the first Football League matches were played on a Sunday Swindon Town player Jimmy Allan became the first League player to refuse to play on a Sunday for religious reasons. He missed the Division 2 match between Swindon and Bolton at the County Ground on 3rd February 1974 and despite Swindon manager Les Allen saying that he respected the views of the devout Christian goalkeeper Jimmy Allan found himself missing from a few more matches after that. Prior to the Bolton fixture he was an ever-present in the 27 League matches Swindon had played in 1973/74 while after the Bolton fixture he was only selected for two of the next eight League games.

It's not always a great idea to earn a replay against a bigger side in the FA Cup. In the 1959/60 season Crewe Alexandra drew 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur at Gresty Road in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. Four days later - on February 3rd 1960 - they visited White Hart Lane for the replay. Spurs won 13-2!

On this day in 1954 Arsenal goalkeeper George Swindin was signed by the then non-leaguers Peterborough United on a free transfer as their player-manager. He spent four years in charge of Midland League Peterborough and did much to prepare them for League membership. That came in 1960 but by then Swindin had returned to Highbury - as Arsenal manager. Those were the days - can you imagine any of the big clubs now dipping into non-league football to recruit their manager?