ON THIS DAY

Referee Howard Webb was forced to abandon the televised FA Cup 6th Round tie between Spurs and Bolton Wanderers shortly before half time when Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch. He had suffered a heart attack. Medical personnel from both clubs gave him treatment on the pitch helped by a cardiologist who had been at the match as a spectator before he was rushed to hospital. It was reported that his heart stopped beating for 78 minutes. Thankfully he survived but was forced to retire from playing football as a result.

When goalkeeper Paul Robinson took a free kick from just outside his own penalty area for Tottenham against Watford he wasn't quite sure if it was a direct or indirect kick but hey, it was 90 yards or so from the Watford goal so he wasn't going to score was he! But the ball bounced once in the opposition box and went straight over Watford 'keeper Ben Foster into the net. It was a direct free kick and so Paul Robinson became only the third goalkeeper to score a Premier League goal - for his own side! - in the history of the competition following Peter Schmeichel for Aston Villa in 2001 and Brad Friedel for Blackburn in 2004. Spurs won 3-1. That wasn't the first goal Paul Robinson's had scored though, that came in September 2003 when playing for Leeds in a League Cup match against Swindon. With Leeds a goal down injury time saw him go forward after a equaliser and he scored it with a strong header. He then made a save in the penalty shoot-out to help earn Leeds a place in the next round.

Port Vale miss out on European glory at Wembley. Seems an unlikely statement but on this day in 1996 Port Vale did indeed play a European final at Wembley…in the Anglo-Italian Cup! They were beaten 5-2 by Genoa and the scoreline didn’t reflect the superiority of the Serie B side. Just 12,683 turned up at Wembley for what was the last match ever played in the competition.