ON THIS DAY

Manchester United didn't enjoy the best of seasons in 2021/22 but when on this day the BBC announced that 'Manchester United are rubbish' it came as a bit of a shock to the viewing public. The text announcing that opinion popped up on the news ticker at the bottom of the screen during a tennis update that Tuesday morning. Later that day the BBC apologised to any United fans who might have been offended by the comment. They said that someone learning how to operate the ticker - presumably a Man City fan - had been writing 'random things' and a technical problem had seen that test ticker appear on the live screen for a short period. Ouch!

Steven Gerrard made his first-team debut for Liverpool on November 29th 1998 in a Premier League match against Blackburn at Anfield and on 24th May 2015 he played his 504th and last League match for the club. He scored Liverpool's only goal at Stoke but it wasn't a memorable last game for the Reds' legend. In fact the match saw a scoreline he hadn't experienced in any of his previous 503 League matches for the club (and hadn't happened in his lifetime) - a 6-1 defeat!

Indoor international football arrived in Britain for the first time when Brazil beat Wales 3-0 under a closed roof at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Terry Venables was appointed the new manager of Barcelona on a salary reported to be around £150,000 a year. ‘El Tel’ lasted three years in Spain.

Celtic were the first Scottish side to win a European competition when they won the European Cup with a victory over Inter Milan in the 1967 final. But on this day in 1972 their great rivals Rangers won their first Euro title and also became the first Scottish side to win the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Moscow in the Nou Camp, Barcelona. Rangers had twice previously lost in ECWC finals - beaten by Fiorentina in 1961 and Bayern Munich in 1967. Ironically Rangers were only in the ECWC this time because of the success of Celtic who had recorded a League and Cup double in Scotland in 1970/71. Because of that Celtic were in the European Cup in 1971/72 leaving beaten Scottish Cup finalists Rangers with a place in the ECWC, Sadly though Rangers were badly let down by their fans in the Nou Camp. Just before the final whistle and again after the final whistle their fans invaded the pitch prompting violent clashes with the Spanish police. The result of that was Rangers received a 12-month UEFA ban meaning that they were unable to defend the trophy the following season.