Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (March 15th) 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 1892 - Their Mascot Should Have Been A Phoenix
On 15 March 1892, former Everton FC chairman John Houlding, who had left the Toffees over issues related to his ownership of their Anfield Road ground, founded a new club to use the ground. Originally named Everton Athletic, the club soon took a new name - Liverpool FC.
A brewer by trade, Houlton negotiated the lease of the Anfield Road ground for Everton in 1884, after they had been asked to leave their previous ground by the ground's owner, who was unhappy with the crowd noise on matchdays. A year later, Houlton bought Anfield outright, placing the club in the awkward position of having to pay rent to their president.
Nevertheless, the move was successful for Everton, who became one of the Football League's founding clubs in 1888 and won their first League title in 1891. But tensions between the club and Houlding continued, due largely to Houlding's decision to raise the rent on Anfield by 150% in 1890. The club grew increasingly convinced that Houlding was placing his personal financial interest over the interests of the club and, on 18 April 1892, Everton played their last match at Anfield.
By that point, Anfield was an international-class ground, accommodating over 20,000 people. In order to create some leverage against Everton, as well as provide an additional tenant for his ground, Houlding, on 15 March 1892, created Everton Athletic. His original intention was to replace the existing Everton with his newly-created Everton Athletic, taking over his old club's fixtures and League position, but the Football League rejected his attempt and forced him to rename the club. He eventually settled on Liverpool FC.
Since then, Liverpool has become one of the most successful clubs in English football, winning 18 League titles. They have also won the European Cup/Champions League title five times, the most of any English club.
On This Day in 1993 - Pogba was Born
On 15th March 1993, Paul Pogba was born.
Pogba is a French professional footballer who plays for Manchester United and the French national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can also be deployed as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, and deep-lying playmaker.
Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Pogba showed much promise as a youngster, flourishing as a member of local youth teams. He eventually joined the youth team of Ligue 1 side Le Havre, before a protracted transfer brought him to Manchester United in 2009. After beginning his senior career with Manchester United two years later, limited appearances persuaded him to depart to join Juventus on a free transfer in 2012, where he helped the club to four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles.
During his time in Italy, Pogba further established himself as one of the most promising young players in the world, and received the Golden Boy award in 2013, followed by the Bravo Award in 2014. In 2016, Pogba was named to the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year, as well as the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI, after helping Juventus to the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, their first in 12 years.
Pogba's performances at Juventus allowed him to return to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-world record transfer fee of €105 million (£89.3 million). The fee paid for him remains the highest paid by an English club. In his first season back, he won the League Cup and the Europa League.
Internationally, he captained France to victory at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and took home the award for the Best Player for his performances during the tournament. He made his debut for the senior team a year later, and featured prominently at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was awarded the Best Young Player Award for his performances. He later represented his nation at UEFA Euro 2016 on home soil, where he finished as a runner-up, before winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup after scoring in the final.
On This Day in 2009 - The City Of Fights (Again)
On 15 March 2009, Marseille ended PSG's seven-game unbeaten streak and cost them the top spot. And that wasn't the worst of it.
PSG had won six of their previous seven matches to climb from sixth to second in the table. A victory over Marseille would have sent them into first over Lyon. But despite having won 2-4 at Marseille back in October, the rematch proved to be more difficult.
Playing before a crowd of almost 45,000 at the Parc des Princes, the visitors had a couple of close chances in the first five minutes and finally went ahead in the 24th minute with a goal from their Dutch midfielder Bolo Zenden (pictured). PSG's Ludovic Giuly equalized two minutes before the break, but the second half belonged to Marseille.
Shortly after the restart, PSG went down to ten men after Zoumana Camara was ejected for a challenge on Zenden, then Marseille extended their lead with goals from Bakari Kone (55') and Lorik Cana (61') to claim the 1-3 win. The real excitement came after the match, however, as clashes between the two supporters groups resulted in 22 arrests. It was the latest in a series of incidents in the rivalry dating back to April 1995, when 146 were arrested after a Coupe de France semifinal.
The loss dropped PSG back into sixth and sent Marseille up to second, which is where the teams finished the season.
On This Day in 1960 - Sometimes, You Have To Spend Money To Make Money
On 15 March 1960, Manchester City paid a club record fee of £55,000 to acquire Denis Law for the first--but not last--time.
Twenty years old at the time, Law had spent the previous five years at Huddersfield Town, who were in the top flight when he signed for them in 1955, but were relegated to Division Two the following year. The drop opened up playing time for Law, who earned his first start in December 1956 and went on to score a total of 19 goals in 91 appearances for the Terriers.
That was enough to attract the interest of several clubs, including Manchester United and Liverpool (whose manager, Bill Shankly was the boss at Huddersfield Town from 1956 to 1959). But City got his signature in March 1960 for £55,000, more than doubling the club's previous record of £25,000 set in 1950 when they bought Roy Paul from Swansea City.
Law spent a little over one year at City, scoring 21 goals in the 1960-61 season. In the summer of 1961, he left for Torino, who paid a then-British record fee of £100,000.
He returned to Manchester one year later to play for United, spending eleven seasons at Old Trafford, where he was named the 1964 European Player of the Year. But he rejoined City on a free transfer in 1973 for his last season. While there, he scored his last competitive goal in an April 1974 match that helped seal United's relegation that year.
