ON THIS DAY

A memorable day for Cardiff City. Their FA Cup Third Round tie against Queens Park Rangers saw them bank then record club receipts for a match at their former Ninian Park home - £50,517.75. Well, they would have banked it on Monday but sadly for Cardiff's bank balance thieves broke into the safe over the weekend and pinched the lot!

A home League defeat to Notts County over the Christmas period saw Nottingham Forest sack their manager Allan Brown and on 6th January 1975 they appointed his successor....Brian Clough. After his failures at Brighton and Leeds few would have expected great things at the City Ground but he turned a mid-table Second Division side into League champions in 1978 and European Cup winners in 1979 and 1980. Amazing or what!

A war in the Middle East causing a three-day working week in this country led to the first senior Sunday matches being played in England. Four FA Cup Third Round ties were played on Sunday 6th January 1974, the first that kicked off was between Cambridge United and Oldham Athletic. Two weeks later Football League matches were played for the first time on a Sunday and football on the Sabbath was here to stay.

Bill Shankly took another step on his managerial path to Liverpool when he was appointed boss of Workington, then in Division 3 North of the Football League. Life was very different at Borough Park than he would later find at Anfield. At Workington he was expected to do his share of answering the phone and doing the banking but his biggest shock came on his first day at the club when he discovered there was no electricity at the Workington ground. In those pre-internet, pre-floodlight days all the lighting and heating at Borough Park was gas-powered!

When goalkeeper Stanley Milton made his debut for Halifax Town against Stockport County in a Division 3 (North) match he was on the wrong end of a 13-0 defeat, a record scoreline in a Football League match!