ON THIS DAY

Footballers are like the rest of us - they don't know when they will make the news...or what that news will be for! When Braintree Town striker Simeon Akinola was travelling to Bromley for a Vanarama National League match he was doubtless thinking of how many goals he would score in this 'man of the match' performance that evening. Reality hit home when he arrived at Bromley's empty Hayes Lane ground - the match was being played 60-odd miles away at Braintree! He managed to get back to the right ground by half-time and made an appearance as a second-half substitute, helping to set-up Braintree's second goal in the 2-2 draw. And then the news people took over! 23 rd November

The day after England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 ended with a 3-2 defeat against Croatia at a soggy Wembley England boss Steve McClaren was christened the 'Wally with a brolly' by the Daily Mail ...and was sacked by the FA. McClaren had only been in charge of England for 18 matches. Also sacked was his assistant, Terry Venables.

Clapton Orient – now Leyton Orient – played their first home Division 3 (South) match at their new temporary home – Wembley Stadium! Their own Lea Bridge Road ground had been closed for alterations to be made and on this day in 1930 a Wembley crowd of 8,319 saw them beat Brentford 3-0. Two weeks later they played their second and last League match at Wembley, just 1,916 witnessing a 3-1 victory over Southend.