On This Day: Messi scored the first of his 44 hat-tricks; Chelsea was founded

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (March 10th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, feel free to post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 2007 - Messi scored First of His 44 Hat-Tricks for Barca

It was 10 March 2007, when a 19-year-old by the name of Leo Messi announced himself to the world of football with his first ever hat-trick for the club in the biggest game of all, El Clásico.

It would be the Argentine's first of 44 hat-tricks for the club, and it rescued a late point for Barça who had been playing with ten men for more than half of the match.

Real Madrid went ahead on three occassions, with two goals from Van Nistelrooy and one from Sergio Ramos, but there was one player who refused to be beat.

In the last minute of play, when all looked lost, the youngster dribbled through the Madrid defence before unleashing a powerful strike into the far corner to make it 3-3.

It was the type of performance we have now become accustomed to. Leo Messi has gone on to score 586 goals for the Club and won five Ballon d'Or trophies.

On This Day in 1905 - Turns Out, They've Got Quite A Bit Of History

On 10 March 1905, Chelsea FC were founded at the Rising Sun pub in Fulham. They've since become one of England's most successful clubs.

The club's story starts with Gus Mears. In 1904, he purchased the Stamford Bridge ground in Fulham which was, to that point, the home of the London Athletics Club. Mears planned to redevelop the ground into a state-of-the art football facility, with the intent of hosting the area's existing local team, Fulham FC. But Fulham were not interested, so Mears decided to start his own club instead. Meeting at the pub across from the grounds entrance, he chose the name Chelsea after the neighboring borough.

The new club joined the Football League's Second Division that first year, then went on to win their first promotion two years later. They took their first major honor in 1955, winning the league. They added several other trophies through the latter part of the 20th century, including three FA Cups (1970, 1997, 2000), two League Cups (1965, 1998) and two Cup Winners' Cups (1971, 1998).

But their most successful period to date started with 2003-04 season after their acquisition by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Mourinho led them to two league titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups in three seasons. The club added a further FA Cup in 2009, and then their first League and FA Cup "Double" in 2010. Under the stewardship of former player Di Matteo, the club won a seventh FA Cup in 2012, before going on to win its first UEFA Champions League title. Mourinho's return in 2013 led to another first-place finish in the Premier League by 2015, and after a poor run of form the following season, his replacement Antonio Conte led Chelsea to another Premier League victory in 2017. The following season, they won their 8th FA Cup beating "the big six" rivals Manchester United, 1-0.

On This Day in 2009 - Liverpool Won Real Madrid 4-0

On 10 March 2009, Torres delivered a scintillating solo performance to torment his old adversaries Real Madrid and send Liverpool into the Champions League quarter-finals at that time.

Torres, for so long the symbol of Real's fierce rivals Atletico, returned from injury to spearhead a Liverpool display that once again reinforced their credentials in Europe's elite competition.

He put Liverpool ahead after 16 minutes when he turned in Dirk Kuyt's cross from close range - although Real complained bitterly that defender Pepe had been fouled in the build-up.

Real also felt they were harshly treated when Steven Gerrard scored Liverpool's second from the spot 12 minutes later after Gabriel Heinze had been penalised for handball.

The brutal truth for Real was that they were outclassed, with Liverpool underlining their vast superiority when Gerrard slammed home the third from Ryan Babel's cross two minutes after the interval.

On This Day in 1988 - Barca Star Rakitic was Born

On 10th March 1988, Rakitic was born to Croatian parents in Rheinfelden, Switzerland, and he has dual nationality, allowing him to represent Croatia at international level.

A key member of the Croatia national side and FC Barcelona, Ivan Rakitic is a midfielder who brings hard work, assists and goals, such as the one he scored in the 2015 Champions League final in Berlin

Ivan Rakitic joined FC Barcelona in the summer of 2014. The midfielder was born to Croatian parents in Rheinfelden, Switzerland, on March 10, 1988, and he has dual nationality, allowing him to represent Croatia at international level.

On This Day in 1981 - The Pride Of The Indomitable Lions

On 10 March 1981, Chelsea star and Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o was born in Nkon, Cameroon. He currently holds the record for most appearances in La Liga by an African player.

Although he rose to fame with Barcelona, Eto'o got his professional start for Barça rivals Real Madrid, signing for them in 1997. But he failed to make an impact in the Spanish capital and spent most of his time on loan with Leganés, Espanyol, and Mallorca between 1997 and 2000. In 2000, he signed a permanent deal with Mallorca and spent an additional four successful seasons there, along the way winning the 2003 Copa del Rey. He did so well at Mallorca that Real wanted to re-sign him in 2004, but he left instead for Barcelona.

His time at Barcelona was very successful, with three league titles (2005, 2006, 2009) and two Champions League trophies (2006, 2009). On 4 May 2008, he made his 242nd La Liga appearance, breaking the record for most league appearances by an African player. By the time he left Barcelona in the summer of 2009, he had raised that number to 309.

Eto'o has also been successful for Cameroon, helping them win the 2000 and 2002 African Cup of Nations, as well as the 2008 Olympic gold medal. He is the all-time top scorer for the Indomitable Lions, notching 55 goals in 112 appearances.

He moved to Inter in 2009 as part of a deal that sent Inter's Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovich to Barcelona, then left in 2011 for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, who gave him a salary of approximately €20M per season, making him the world's highest-paid footballer.

He currently plays for Chelsea, having joined them in August 2013.

On This Day in 1919 - Arsenal's Election to the top flight

“And the winner is Arsenal!”…announced Football League President ’Honest’ John McKenna to the packed room at the Grand Hotel in Manchester in the late afternoon of 10 March 1919.

On this day the English Football League held a special meeting to decide whether to expand the League from two divisions each with 20 teams to two divisions each with 22 teams. They would also decide which teams would constitute each division by election.

This moment in time was the means by which Arsenal Football Club began their long, and currently un-ending, stint in the top flight of the English League. In this article we will give a background to the events, and then comment on the machinations that led to the resounding vote in favour of the Gunners over, among other teams, Tottenham.

On This Day in 1925 - A Club Of Olympic Proportions

On 10 March 1925, Olympiacos formed from the merger of two other clubs and have since become Greece's most successful team with a record 44 league titles.

The two previous clubs, both based in Piraeus, dissolved in order to create a unified club for the area, which took the name Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Piraios ("Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus") and chose red and white as their colors.

The first Greek national league began competition with the 1927-28 season and Olympiacos quickly became the country's dominant club, winning their first title in 1931 and taking five more in the next seven seasons. They have won multiple titles in each decade, including an impressive run starting in 1997 that has seen them win all but two of the league titles since then (they finished as runners-up in 2004 and 2010). They have also won a record 27 Greek Cups.

They have a strong rivalry with Panathinaikos, known as the Derby of the Eternal Enemies. Olympiacos have had the better of it, winning 80 games to 50 for Panathinaikos, with 67 draws.