Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (February 17th) 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 2016 - Messi scored 300th goal in La Liga
Lionel Messi reached a personal milestone on this day in 2016 as he scored his 300th La Liga goal for Barcelona, before netting the 10,000 goal in the club's history moments later.
Though Gijon equalised almost immediately, Messi scored his 301st goal in the 31st minute to put Barcelona back in front.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner passed up the chance to net his 300th La Liga goal and instead put a hat-trick on a plate for team-mate Luis Suarez.
On This Day in 1957 - Real Madrid Gets Into The Home Security Business
On 17 February 1957, Real Madrid beat Deportivo de La Coruña to launch a record 121-game home unbeaten streak in the league.
It was Madrid's first home league match since a loss to Atlético Madrid two weeks earlier and they responded by beating Deportivo 1-0 with a goal from forward Enrico Mateos in the 25th minute. They then won their last three remaining home games and claimed the league title.
Amazingly, they continued to defend their home ground in the league for another eight years, going unbeaten over a span of 121 matches that carried them to another six La Liga titles. Of those 121 matches, only eight were draws; they won the remaining 113.
The streak's last game came on 21 February 1965 with a 6-1 win over Real Betis and it ended on 7 March with a loss to Atlético, 0-1.
On This Day in 1982 - Former Inter star Adriano was born
Adriano Leite Ribeiro (born February 17, 1982), commonly known simply as Adriano, is a Brazilian professional footballer. A powerful striker known for his long range left footed strikes, Adriano's career was however marked by inconsistency.[1] One of the best strikers in the world in the mid 2000s, he had five prolific seasons in Italy with Parma and Inter Milan, earning the nickname L'Imperatore (the Emperor), before a decline in his performances which coincided with the death of his father.[2][3] Adriano won four Scudetti for Inter Milan, and after moving back to his native Brazil he won two Brasileirão for Flamengo and Corinthians.
Making his Brazil debut at 18, Adriano was considered the long-term successor to Ronaldo. In the absence of Ronaldo he led Brazil to the 2004 Copa América, receiving the Golden Boot as the competition's leading scorer with seven goals. He also won the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup with Brazil, receiving the Golden Boot Award as the competition's leading scorer with five goals. Prior to the 2006 World Cup he was part of Brazil's much-vaunted "magic quartet" of offensive players alongside Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaká, which ultimately wasn't successful at the finals.
On This Day in 1940 - Highbury Hits The Silver Screen
On 17 February 1940, The Arsenal Stadium Mystery opened in theaters across Britain. Directed by influential English filmmaker Thorold Dickinson, the movie was one of the first to include football in a prominent role.
The story follows Inspector Anthony Slade (played by Leslie Banks) as he attempts to solve the murder of a football player who died from poisoning while his amateur side, the fictitious Trojans, were playing a friendly against Arsenal at Highbury. The movie was actually filmed at Highbury, with several Arsenal players, including forward Cliff Bastin and full back Eddie Hapgood, playing parts. But of all the Gunners players and staff to appear in the film, only manager George Allison (pictured) had a speaking role.
To film scenes of the match between Arsenal and the Trojans, Dickinson shot footage of an actual league match between the Gunners and Brentford, played on 6 May 1939. In order to double as the Trojans, the Brentford players wore a special striped kit for the occasion.
The actual match ended as a 2-0 win for Arsenal. It was the last match for either side before the league suspended football for the duration of World War Two.
On This Day in 2011 - Viva La Rewahlution!
On 17 February 2011, American journalist Grant Wahl announced his candidacy for FIFA President, running on a platform of transparency and a pledge to clean up the global football authority.
When Wahl made his announcement, FIFA and incumbent president Sepp Blatter were the focus of extensive criticism in the wake of alleged bribery scandals and the controversial decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar despite concerns about the weather and the country's need to develop an extensive infrastructure in a relatively short period of time. The two leading candidates for president were Blatter, running for his fourth consecutive term, and Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA Executive Committee member.
Wahl, a writer for Sports Illustrated, announced his intention to run on the Sports Illustrated website. He assured readers that his candidacy was serious and promised reforms including the use of goal-line technology and the public release of all of FIFA's internal documents. All he needed to become an official candidate was a nomination from any one of FIFA's 208 member associations.
Although his campaign received a tremendous amount of popular support (he got 95% of the vote in an online poll and garnered a swell of encouragement among both celebrities and grassroots supporters), he was unable to convince any association to nominate him. While several members told him they would support him if nominated (votes were taken by secret ballot), they declined to submit his name, because the nomination process was public and they feared reprisals from FIFA.
In April, shortly before the close of the deadline for nominations, Wahl ended his candidacy. Bin Hammam similarly suspended his own campaign, leaving the unopposed Blatter to win his fourth term.
