ON THIS DAY

The 2016/17 season was certainly a memorable one for the non-league contingent in the FA Cup. Two non-league clubs – Lincoln City and Sutton United – reached the 5th Round (last 16) which was the only time that had ever happened (the Football League was formed in 1888). Better still Lincoln won through to the 6th Round which was the first time non-leaguers had reached the last 8 since QPR, then in the Southern League, did so in the 1913/14 season. Conference side Lincoln had beaten Oldham, Ipswich, Brighton and Burnley on their way to the quarter-finals where they played Arsenal at the Emirates on March 11th 2017. OK they lost that one 5-0 but hey, they earned a fortune which set them up well for their return to the Football League in 2017/18.

Jack Charlton made his 600th League appearance for Leeds United and after 12 minutes scored the only goal of the First Division match against Coventry City played in front of a crowd of 43,154 at Elland Road. A loyal one-club man he retired the following season after making a club record 629 League appearances for Leeds.

The industrial complex that was Trafford Park in the 1930s was a prime target for German bombers in the Second World War but on March 11th 1941 some of those bombs were a little off target hitting the Old Trafford home of Manchester United. The destruction was such that United were unable to play any more football at Old Trafford during the war years. In 1945 the War Damage Commission gave the club £4,800 to clear the debris and another £17,478 to rebuild the stands. Times have changed! Even then United didn't play a home match in the Football League there until 1949 having to share Manchester City's Maine Road home ground. Manchester United finally played that first home League match in their own rebuilt stadium against Bolton Wanderers on 24th August 1949 - the previous Football League match at Old Trafford was against Grimsby Town on August 26th 1939. Even then United didn't play their first home match under floodlights until March 25th 1957, a League match again against Bolton, meaning that the Maine Road ground had to be borrowed again for their home floodlit European Cup matches earlier in the 1956/57 season.