On This Day: Kanu scored winner on Arsenal debut; Ex-Utd star Depay was born

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (February 13th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 1999, Kanu scored winner on his Arsenal debut

The Gunners were hosting Sheffield United in the 5th round of the FA Cup and had taken a 1-0 lead thanks to a 28th-minute goal from midfielder Patrick Vieira. Sheffield United equalized shortly after the break with a 48th-minute header from Brazilian forward Marcelo, so the score was even at 1-1 when Kanu (above at far left) came on in the 66th minute.

With about 10 minutes left in the match, a United player went down with an injury just as Dennis Bergkamp was chasing down a ball played back to the United keeper. The keeper kicked the ball into touch and the official halted play briefly while the injured player received treatment. When Arsenal's Ray Parlour took the ensuing throw, most of the players on the pitch expected him to give possession back to United.

Nobody told Kanu, however, who received the throw and raced down the field and crossed the ball for his teammate, winger Marc Overmars (above, second from left), to slot home. United's players and staff protested, but the goal stood and Arsenal emerged 2-1 winners.

On this day in 1994, Memphis Depay was born

Depay began his professional career with PSV, he became an integral part of the team, scoring 50 goals in 124 games across all competitions. During the 2014–15 season, he was the Eredivisie's top scorer with 22 goals in 30 games. His performances led him to be named the "Best Young Player" in the world in 2015 by France Football.[3] Depay joined Manchester United in May 2015 for a reported fee of £25 million.

Depay is a fearsome striker of the ball with his right foot but is usually used as an inverted left winger who cuts onto his right foot. A pacey and tricky player, his direct running makes him a difficult opponent for defenders. However, people criticised him as "a ball-hog", pointing out his high rate of shots in comparison to a low rate of assists.

On this day in 1995, Spurs starlet Nkoudou was born

On 31 August 2016, Nkoudou was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of £11 million, signing a five-year deal with the club. He made his Spurs debut against Gillingham in the League Cup when he came on in the 60th minute for Christian Eriksen. He made 17 appearances for the club in the 2016–17 season, mostly as substitutes and starting only in two games.

In his first start of the 2017–18 season, Nkoudou scored his first goal for Tottenham in the Champions League group match against APOEL that ended in a 3–0 win.

On 31 January 2019, Nkoudou joined Monaco on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season.

On this day in 1960, Italian referee Collina was born

He got his start as a referee in 1977 and quickly rose through the hierarchy, taking charge of Serie C1 and C2 matches in 1988. Three years later, he was promoted to Serie A and B matches. In 1996, he took charge of his first major final, overseeing the Olympic final between Argentina and Nigeria, then, in 1999, he refereed the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United. He reached the pinnacle of his profession in 2002, when he was top official for the World Cup final between Brazil and Germany. Meanwhile, the IFFHS named him their World Official of the Year for six straight years, from 1998 to 2003.

Throughout his career, he remained above reproach, maintaining a high standard of professionalism and objectivity. When Italy was rocked by the 2006 match-fixing scandal, Collina's reputation was actually improved as police recordings of Juventus director Luciano Moggi, one of the primary conspirators, revealed that Collina refused to cooperate with any efforts to fix matches.

He retired in 2005, but continues to be involved in the sport, serving as an official for the Football Federation of Ukraine since 2010.

On this day in 1948, Bundesliga side Koln was founded

Initially assigned to the regional Oberliga West, they were one of sixteen teams chosen for the new national Bundesliga, which started play in the fall of 1963. Spurred by the goal-scoring duo of Karl-Heinz Thielen (16 goals) and Christian Müller (15), they finished at the top of the table, six points clear of runners-up Meidericher SV.

They won the league again in 1964, with second-place finishes in 1963 and 1965, then won it for a third time  in 1978. After finishing as runners-up a few more times, including 1989 and 1990, they went into a slump that ended in relegation in 1998.

On this day in 1314, England King issued royal order banning football in London

By the 1300s, the sport's popularity in London had grown to such an extent that merchants were concerned that it was disrupting the public order and having deleterious effects on trade. A quote reportedly from the Lord Mayor of London laments "a great uproar in the city, through certain tumults arising from great footballs in the fields of the public, from which many evils may arise." Edward II responded to the complaints with a royal order "to forbid playing this godless game within the town walls under penalty of imprisonment."