ON THIS DAY

The idea of using red and yellow cards by referees was credited to Ken Ashton. An Englishman, he had refereed at the top level and was well-versed in the problems refs had communicating with players, particularly when differing languages were concerned. As he was driving down Kensington High Street in London a traffic light in front of him turned red. He thought what was good enough for the traffic would be perfect for referees - 'Yellow, take it easy; red, stop, you're off’. The cards were trialled at the 1970 World Cup finals in Mexico and it was on Saturday October 2nd 1976 that they were introduced to the Football League when two players were red-carded. The first was David Wagstaff of Blackburn Rovers after 36 minutes of their Second Division match at Orient after arguing with the ref. The second came in the 67th minute of another Second Division match when a Fulham player was red-carded for foul language at Southampton. That Fulham player was George Best - guess which player got the most publicity! 3rd October

Two well known names in the national game made their debuts for England away to Northern Ireland in the Home Championship, scoring a goal each in England's 2-0 victory. Fulham's Johnny Haynes went on to play 56 times for England, 22 as captain and although Don Revie of Manchester City only won 6 caps he later went on to manage the national team.