4 January 1866 - The Man Who Managed Manchester

On 4 January 1866, Ernest Mangnall, who managed Manchester United to their first two titles, was born in Bolton. He also later managed Manchester City.

After an amateur career as a goalkeeper for Bolton, Mangnall moved into management with Burnley, starting in 1900. The club had been relegated into the Second Division at the end of the previous season and Mangnall narrowly missed out on getting them back into the top flight, delivering a third-place finish in his first season, four points away from the last promotion spot. But two seasons later, they ended dead last in the division and had to be re-elected to the league.

In October 1903, Mangnall left Burnley for Manchester United. They were in the Second Division at the time, but he guided them to a second-place finish in 1906 and promotion to the First Division. He led them to their first league title in 1908, the FA Cup in 1909, then to a second league title in 1911.

He moved to Manchester City in September 1912, after losing to them in his last match in charge of United, and remained there until his retirement in 1924.

27 October 1906 - The Death Of David Wilson

On 27 October 1906, Leeds City forward David "Soldier" Wilson died of an apparent heart attack during a match against Burnley. He was 23 years old.

Wilson had debuted for Leeds only the previous December, after transferring from Hull City for a fee of £150. A gifted passer, he proved also to be a prolific scorer, tallying 13 goals in 15 games that first season, enough to make him the club's top scorer. Injuries plagued him, though--he missed eight matches at the end of the 1905-06 season and missed a few others at the start of the next one.

By the time Leeds hosted Burnley at Elland Road in October, Wilson had appeared in a total of five matches that fall and had not scored in any of them. It was a physical match, with Leeds inside-left Jack Lavery taking a knock that greatly reduced his effectiveness. Then, after 60 minutes, with the match scoreless, Wilson withdrew to the locker room complaining of heavy chest pains.

About 15 minutes later, another injury forced Leeds left winger Harry Singleton to retire from the match. With Singleton out and Lavery still hurt, Wilson decided to return to the pitch despite his own pain and against the advice of others. The Yorkshire Evening Post later reported that "Though his chest was very sore, Wilson said he could not remain there while the Leeds City team were in such straits."

After only a few minutes, the pain became so great that Wilson again withdrew. He stepped into a hot bath, where he soon lost consciousness, then died from what was later diagnosed as heart failure. The match was still in progress, with Burnley taking a late goal to win 0-1.

Prior to Wilson's death, at least six other footballers had died from injuries sustained while playing, but he was the first to die during a match. His wife later laid much of the responsibility for his death on cigarettes, noting that had been a very heavy smoker.

15 August 2009 - But He's Still Young At Heart

On 15 August 2009, 37-year old Burnley defensive midfielder Graham Alexander became the oldest debutant in Premier League history when he started against Stoke City on the season's opening day.

Oddly enough, Alexander was starting his fourteenth season as a professional, having spent all of that time in England. In 1991, he signed his first professional contract with his youth club, Scunthorpe United, then in the Fourth Division. After three seasons there, he moved to Luton Town (1995-99), then Preston North End (1999-2007), before moving to Burnley in 2007. Burnley's promotion for the 2009-10 season, however, gave him his first chance to play in the English top flight.

His Premier League debut was inauspicious - Burnley lost 0-2 to Stoke City and were eventually relegated - but Alexander made 33 appearances and scored seven goals. He had captained the side against Stoke that day in place of injured skipper Steven Caldwell and was named the full-time captain for the 2010-11 season.

2 May 1960 - The Clarets Claim The Crown

On 2 May 1960, Burnley defeated Manchester City, 1-2, at Maine Road on the last day of the season. The win vaulted the Clarets from third place to first, securing their second League title.

Burnley has a storied history in English football. The club started initially as a rugby club before switching to association football in 1882, then became one of the founding Football League members in 1888. They spent the next two decades moving between the top two divisions, then settled comfortably into the top flight for a period starting in 1913. They claimed their first major honor in 1915, winning the FA Cup, and finished fourth in the table before World War I stopped League play.

When play resumed in 1919, Burnley picked up where they had left off, finishing second that season. The next season, they won their first League title thanks to a record-setting run of 30 unbeaten matches. Despite a third place finish in 1921-22, the Clarets started a steady decline that resulted in their relegation in 1930. They returned to the First Division in 1947, finishing third that season behind Arsenal and Manchester United, then strung together a series of mid-table finishes, including a couple of years where they finished sixth, before their title-winning 1959-60 campaign.

That year, they consistently challenged for the title, but spent most of the season behind Wolverhampton and Tottenham, which is where they were on the final day. Wolves were in first on 54 points, with Spurs and Burnley both one point behind (Spurs were in second thanks to a better goal average), but Burnley still had a game in hand. By beating City on the final day, Burnley jumped the teams in front of them to steal the title.

Burnley remained in the top flight until 1971 and has since moved among the top three divisions. They are currently playing in the top flight once more, having earned promotion to the Premier League for the 2014-15 season, but have struggled and are sitting in the relegation zone once again.

4 December 1965 - Spurs See Red (For The First Time In 37 Years)

On 4 December 1965, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 in a league match at Turf Moor. The match was notable for the sending off of Spurs forward Frank Saul, which ended the club's 37-year streak without a dismissal in a league match.

Saul played his youth football for his hometown club of Canvey Island, then signed his first professional contract with Tottenham in 1960, in time to play for the Double-winning side of 1960-61. He stayed at White Hart Lane for eight seasons, scoring 37 goals in 116 league appearances. In 1968, he transferred to Southampton and later played for Queens Park Rangers, Millwall, and Dagenham before retiring in the late 1970s.

Prior to Saul's dismissal, the last Spurs player to be sent off in a league match was full back Cecil Poynton, who was ejected in a 2-0 loss to Stoke on 27 October 1928.

4 January 1866 - The Man Who Managed Manchester

On 4 January 1866, Ernest Mangnall, who managed Manchester United to their first two titles, was born in Bolton. He also later managed Manchester City.

After an amateur career as a goalkeeper for Bolton, Mangnall moved into management with Burnley, starting in 1900. The club had been relegated into the Second Division at the end of the previous season and Mangnall narrowly missed out on getting them back into the top flight, delivering a third-place finish in his first season, four points away from the last promotion spot. But two seasons later, they ended dead last in the division and had to be re-elected to the league.

In October 1903, Mangnall left Burnley for Manchester United. They were in the Second Division at the time, but he guided them to a second-place finish in 1906 and promotion to the First Division. He led them to their first league title in 1908, the FA Cup in 1909, then to a second league title in 1911.

He moved to Manchester City in September 1912, after losing to them in his last match in charge of United, and remained there until his retirement in 1924.

27 October 1906 - The Death Of David Wilson

On 27 October 1906, Leeds City forward David "Soldier" Wilson died of an apparent heart attack during a match against Burnley. He was 23 years old.

Wilson had debuted for Leeds only the previous December, after transferring from Hull City for a fee of £150. A gifted passer, he proved also to be a prolific scorer, tallying 13 goals in 15 games that first season, enough to make him the club's top scorer. Injuries plagued him, though--he missed eight matches at the end of the 1905-06 season and missed a few others at the start of the next one.

By the time Leeds hosted Burnley at Elland Road in October, Wilson had appeared in a total of five matches that fall and had not scored in any of them. It was a physical match, with Leeds inside-left Jack Lavery taking a knock that greatly reduced his effectiveness. Then, after 60 minutes, with the match scoreless, Wilson withdrew to the locker room complaining of heavy chest pains.

About 15 minutes later, another injury forced Leeds left winger Harry Singleton to retire from the match. With Singleton out and Lavery still hurt, Wilson decided to return to the pitch despite his own pain and against the advice of others. The Yorkshire Evening Post later reported that "Though his chest was very sore, Wilson said he could not remain there while the Leeds City team were in such straits."

After only a few minutes, the pain became so great that Wilson again withdrew. He stepped into a hot bath, where he soon lost consciousness, then died from what was later diagnosed as heart failure. The match was still in progress, with Burnley taking a late goal to win 0-1.

Prior to Wilson's death, at least six other footballers had died from injuries sustained while playing, but he was the first to die during a match. His wife later laid much of the responsibility for his death on cigarettes, noting that had been a very heavy smoker.

15 August 2009 - But He's Still Young At Heart

On 15 August 2009, 37-year old Burnley defensive midfielder Graham Alexander became the oldest debutant in Premier League history when he started against Stoke City on the season's opening day.

Oddly enough, Alexander was starting his fourteenth season as a professional, having spent all of that time in England. In 1991, he signed his first professional contract with his youth club, Scunthorpe United, then in the Fourth Division. After three seasons there, he moved to Luton Town (1995-99), then Preston North End (1999-2007), before moving to Burnley in 2007. Burnley's promotion for the 2009-10 season, however, gave him his first chance to play in the English top flight.

His Premier League debut was inauspicious - Burnley lost 0-2 to Stoke City and were eventually relegated - but Alexander made 33 appearances and scored seven goals. He had captained the side against Stoke that day in place of injured skipper Steven Caldwell and was named the full-time captain for the 2010-11 season.

2 May 1960 - The Clarets Claim The Crown

On 2 May 1960, Burnley defeated Manchester City, 1-2, at Maine Road on the last day of the season. The win vaulted the Clarets from third place to first, securing their second League title.

Burnley has a storied history in English football. The club started initially as a rugby club before switching to association football in 1882, then became one of the founding Football League members in 1888. They spent the next two decades moving between the top two divisions, then settled comfortably into the top flight for a period starting in 1913. They claimed their first major honor in 1915, winning the FA Cup, and finished fourth in the table before World War I stopped League play.

When play resumed in 1919, Burnley picked up where they had left off, finishing second that season. The next season, they won their first League title thanks to a record-setting run of 30 unbeaten matches. Despite a third place finish in 1921-22, the Clarets started a steady decline that resulted in their relegation in 1930. They returned to the First Division in 1947, finishing third that season behind Arsenal and Manchester United, then strung together a series of mid-table finishes, including a couple of years where they finished sixth, before their title-winning 1959-60 campaign.

That year, they consistently challenged for the title, but spent most of the season behind Wolverhampton and Tottenham, which is where they were on the final day. Wolves were in first on 54 points, with Spurs and Burnley both one point behind (Spurs were in second thanks to a better goal average), but Burnley still had a game in hand. By beating City on the final day, Burnley jumped the teams in front of them to steal the title.

Burnley remained in the top flight until 1971 and has since moved among the top three divisions. They are currently playing in the top flight once more, having earned promotion to the Premier League in 2009, but have struggled this season and are sitting in the relegation zone once again.

4 December 1965 - Spurs See Red (For The First Time In 37 Years)

On 4 December 1965, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 in a league match at Turf Moor. The match was notable for the sending off of Spurs forward Frank Saul, which ended the club's 37-year streak without a dismissal in a league match.

Saul played his youth football for his hometown club of Canvey Island, then signed his first professional contract with Tottenham in 1960, in time to play for the Double-winning side of 1960-61. He stayed at White Hart Lane for eight seasons, scoring 37 goals in 116 league appearances. In 1968, he transferred to Southampton and later played for Queens Park Rangers, Millwall, and Dagenham before retiring in the late 1970s.

Prior to Saul's dismissal, the last Spurs player to be sent off in a league match was full back Cecil Poynton, who was ejected in a 2-0 loss to Stoke on 27 October 1928.

8 September 1888 - And We're Off!

On 8 September 1888, Aston Villa's Gershom Cox (pictured in back, third from the right) scored the Football League's first goal when he found the net in the 30th minute of Villa's opening-day match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Unfortunately for Cox and Villa, however, the net was his own.

On the same day, Preston North End captain Fred Dewhurst scored in the 3rd minute against Burnley (a match Preston went on to win 5-2). Athough records from that time are sparse, it is believed that Villa-Wolves kicked off at 3:00 p.m., while the Preston-Burnley match started at 3:50 p.m. So Cox's goal came at 3:30 and Dewhurst's goal came at 3:52.

Fortunately for Cox, his own goal was not the game-winner for Wolves, as Villa's Tom Green scored an equalizer to end the match at 1-1.

[2013 update: The BBC reported in July 2013 that, due to new research uncovered about the start times of the matches on that day, the first goal was scored by Bolton winger Kenny Davenport, who struck after just two minutes against Derby County.]