ON THIS DAY

Fergie was always good for a headline. A Manchester United defeat was usually followed by an excuse a reasonable explanation - a dodgy ref, a poor pitch, the colour of their shirts to name but a few. But one of the more bizarre followed a 2-0 Premier Division defeat at Fulham on 21st March 2009 - the Craven Cottage dressing rooms were too small! He said the FA should have rules for the size of dressing rooms and implied Fulham should be demoted because they beat United because their dressing rooms were too small. Amazingly though just two weeks previously United had won 4-0 at Craven Cottage in the FA Cup - and dressing rooms were exactly the same size! 22 nd March

Chelsea’s Vinnie Jones was booked after just 3 seconds for a foul on Sheffield United’s Dane Whitehouse in a First Division match at Stamford Bridge. He later said of the incident " I must have been too high, too wild, too strong or too early, because, after three seconds, I could hardly have been too bloody late!”