19 December 2002 - Rowley Rests In Peace

On 19 December 2002, striker Arthur Rowley died at the age of 76. His career total of 434 goals remains an English league record.

Born in Wolverhampton in 1926, Rowley began his professional career in 1944 with West Brom. He failed to settle at the Hawthorns, however, and moved to Fulham in 1948. There, his 19 goals helped the Cottagers win the Second Division, but his scoring touch left him in the top flight and Fulham sold him on to Leicester City in 1950.

He flourished at Leicester, knocking in 28 goals in his first season there. In his second season, he increased his tally to 38, then raised it again the next year to 41. In all, he scored a total of 265 goals in 321 appearances for the Foxes, making him their second all-time leading scorer, behind Arthur Chandler (273 in 419 appearances). His best season was 1956-57, when his total of 44 set a club record for a single season.

In the summer of 1958, Leicester manager Dave Halliday sold Rowley to Shrewsbury as player-manager (an unpopular move among Leicester fans and one that contributed to Halliday's sacking later that year). Rowley continued to score in waves, netting 38 times in his first season there--and setting another club record for single season. By the time he retired from playing in 1965, he was the club's all-time leading scorer with 152 league goals.

He remained with Shrewsbury as manager for another three years and later took charge of Sheffield United (1968-69), Southend United (1970-76), and Knighton Town (1976) before retiring for good.

12 September 1964 - A Red Letter Day

On 12 September 1964, Football League referees handed out a single-day record six red cards.

Of those, only one occurred in the top flight, as Leicester City playmaker David Gibson was sent off in a 3-2 loss at Leeds United. Meanwhile, in Division Two, Newcastle's Ron McGarry and Coventry City's Brian Wood were both ejected in a match Newcastle won 2-0.

Division Four had most of the day's ejections, with Aldershot's Dick Renwick seeing red in a scoreless draw with Notts County, while Stockport County's Ian Sandiford and Torquay United full back Colin Bettany were sent off in a match that Torquay won 1-0.

While the tally remains a record day in England, it pales in comparison to the 36 red cards issued by a referee in a fifth-tier Argentinian match in 2011.

6 May 1961 - Spurs Do The Double

On 6 May 1961, Tottenham Hotspur completed their Double by winning the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City. Spurs were the first team to win the FA Cup and the League in the same season since Aston Villa did it in 1897.

Tottenham had already won the league in a season that saw them hold onto the top spot from the first week to the last. They had endured only seven losses all season, but one of those came at the hands of Leicester City, who won 2-3 at White Hart Lane in the first week of February.

Playing before a crowd of 100,000 at Wembley, Leicester suffered an early setback with an injury to right back Len Chalmers (who remained on the pitch in diminished capacity until the 80th minute). They nonetheless maintained their composure and held the dynamic Spurs attack in check for 65 minutes. Then, in the 66th minute, Spurs winger Terry Dyson sent the ball in for forward Bobby Smith, who powered the ball past keeper Gordon Banks. Nine minutes later, the pair connected again, with Smith providing the assist for Dyson's header.

It was the third FA Cup for Tottenham, who went on to win it again the following season, then four more times for a total of seven.

4 May 1966 - Shilton Robs Banks

On 4 May 1966, goalkeeper Peter Shilton made the first of his Football League record 1,005 appearances, starting for Leicester in a 3-0 win over Everton.

Shilton joined Leicester's youth academy in 1963 at the age of 13, then moved up to the first team in 1966 at the insistence of their starting goalkeeper, Gordon Banks. He was only 16 when he got his first start, replacing Banks for a home match against Everton and keeping a clean sheet in the 3-0 victory.

Banks went on to win the World Cup with England the following summer, but Leicester traded him away to Stoke soon after, preferring to stick with Shilton for the 1967-68 season. Shilton made 286 league appearances for Leicester before following in Banks's footsteps and moving to Stoke in 1974. After three seasons with Stoke, he moved again, and spent time at Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Wimbledon, Bolton, Coventry, West Ham, and Leyton Orient before retiring in 1997 at the age of 47.

He also holds the appearance record for England, with 125 caps between 1970 and 1990.

25 March 2006 - Reading Rockets To The Top

On 25 March 2006, Reading FC secured promotion to the Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Leicester City. And they did it in record time.

As recently as 2002, they were in Division Two, but they won promotion to Division One that year, then reached the Championship in 2004. In their second season there, they got off to a poor start, losing to Plymouth 1-2 on opening day. But they followed that loss by going unbeaten for their next 33 league matches--they lost only twice all season. Along the way, they took the table's top spot in November and held on to it for the duration.

Going into their match against Leicester City, Reading were 16 points clear of second-place Sheffield United, with seven matches left to play for both teams. Critically, they were also nineteen and twenty points clear, respectively, of Walsall and Leeds United, who were the other teams in contention for the top two automatic promotion spots. 

Approximately 3,000 Reading supporters made the trip to Walkers Stadium--part of an overall crowd of 25,578--only to see the visitors go down 1-0 in the 38th minute due to a goal from Leicester's Iain Hume. But they equalized with a header from Kevin Doyle in the 85th minute and escaped with a draw. As it turned out, the results from the day's other matches meant they would have secured a top-two finish even with a loss. 

It was their first promotion to the top flight and it was the earliest any team had guaranteed promotion since the league went to a 46-game season. Unfortunately for Reading, they stayed in the Premier League for only two seasons before dropping back down to the Championship in 2008.

30 January 1937 - A Good Day To Stay At Home

On 30 January 1937, the home sides went undefeated in all 35 FA Cup and Football League matches.

Of the 16 FA Cup matches that day, only one involved two top-ten First Division clubs, as 6th place Derby County rolled to a comfortable 3-0 win over 3rd place Brentford in the FA Cup. Other First Division match-ups in the Cup included 15th place Preston North End hammering 14th place Stoke City 5-1, 10th place Everton beating 19th place Sheffield Wednesday 3-0, and 1st place Arsenal crushing 22nd place Manchester United, 5-0. Both Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United would end the season in the two relegation spots.

Arsenal's margin of victory was the largest in the Cup that day, but was both matched and exceeded in Division Two, where Blackburn beat Newcastle 6-1 and, in the day's most lopsided result, Blackpool rode over Bradford Park Avenue, 6-0.

Meanwhile, Luton Town provided the Cup's shock of the day, as the Third Division South side held reigning League champions Sunderland to a 2-2 draw. Two other Third Division South teams provided upsets, as Millwall defeated First Division Chelsea 3-0 and Exeter City beat Second Division Leicester City 3-1. Exeter's victory looked even more impressive at the end of the season, as Leicester won the Second Division, while Exeter finished 21st in the Third Division South.

Four Cup matches went to replays, including York City's scoreless draw at Swansea. It was part of a pattern for York, who had earned home replays in the two previous rounds. But the pattern broke with Swansea, who won at York, 1-3. In fact, the visiting teams won three of the four replays for that round, with the only exception being Sunderland's 3-1 victory over Luton. Sunderland (pictured) proceeded to win the FA Cup that year, beating Preston North End in the Final.

7 September 1999 - It's All Downhill From Here

On 7 September 1999, forward Ade Akinbiyi became Division Two's then-record signing when he moved from Bristol City to Division One Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Wolves, who were making a promotion push, paid £3.5 million for the England-born Nigerian international, which was a club record at the time (and remains the highest fee ever received by Bristol City). Akinbiyi had scored 21 goals the previous season and the club hoped he would fill the shoes of striker Robbie Keane, who had left that summer for Coventry City.

Akinbiyi performed well, scoring 16 goals for Wolverhampton in the 1999-2000 season, but they just missed the Division Two playoffs, finishing in seventh place, two points behind the last playoff position. At the end of the season, he moved to Leicester City for £5.5 million, but failed to bring his scoring touch. He recorded only 11 goals in 58 League appearances for the Foxes, resulting in the Sun calling him "The League's Worst Striker."

He left Leicester in 2002 and played for a number of clubs in England and the United States. He most recently played for English sixth-division club Colwyn Bay as player-manager, but left in January 2015.

25 March 2006 - Reading Rockets To The Top

On 25 March 2006, Reading FC secured promotion to the Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Leicester City. And they did it in record time.

As recently as 2002, they were in Division Two, but they won promotion to Division One that year, then reached the Championship in 2004. In their second season there, they got off to a poor start, losing to Plymouth 1-2 on opening day. But they followed that loss by going unbeaten for their next 33 league matches--they lost only twice all season. Along the way, they took the table's top spot in November and held on to it for the duration.

Going into their match against Leicester City, Reading were 16 points clear of second-place Sheffield United, with seven matches left to play for both teams. Critically, they were also nineteen and twenty points clear, respectively, of Walsall and Leeds United, who were the other teams in contention for the top two automatic promotion spots.

Approximately 3,000 Reading supporters made the trip to Walkers Stadium--part of an overall crowd of 25,578--only to see the visitors go down 1-0 in the 38th minute due to a goal from Leicester's Iain Hume. But they equalized with a header from Kevin Doyle in the 85th minute and escaped with a draw. As it turned out, the results from the day's other matches meant they would have secured a top-two finish even with a loss.

It was their first promotion to the top flight and it was the earliest any team had guaranteed promotion since the league went to a 46-game season. Unfortunately for Reading, they stayed in the Premier League for only two seasons before dropping back down to the Championship in 2008.

19 December 2002 - Rowley Rests In Peace

On 19 December 2002, striker Arthur Rowley died at the age of 76. His career total of 434 goals remains an English league record.

Born in Wolverhampton in 1926, Rowley began his professional career in 1944 with West Brom. He failed to settle at the Hawthorns, however, and moved to Fulham in 1948. There, his 19 goals helped the Cottagers win the Second Division, but his scoring touch left him in the top flight and Fulham sold him on to Leicester City in 1950.

He flourished at Leicester, knocking in 28 goals in his first season there. In his second season, he increased his tally to 38, then raised it again the next year to 41. In all, he scored a total of 265 goals in 321 appearances for the Foxes, making him their second all-time leading scorer, behind Arthur Chandler (273 in 419 appearances). His best season was 1956-57, when his total of 44 set a club record for a single season.

In the summer of 1958, Leicester manager Dave Halliday sold Rowley to Shrewsbury as player-manager (an unpopular move among Leicester fans and one that contributed to Halliday's sacking later that year). Rowley continued to score in waves, netting 38 times in his first season there--and setting another club record for single season. By the time he retired from playing in 1965, he was the club's all-time leading scorer with 152 league goals.

He remained with Shrewsbury as manager for another three years and later took charge of Sheffield United (1968-69), Southend United (1970-76), and Knighton Town (1976) before retiring for good.

12 September 1964 - A Red Letter Day

On 12 September 1964, Football League referees handed out a single-day record six red cards.

Of those, only one occurred in the top flight, as Leicester City playmaker David Gibson was sent off in a 3-2 loss at Leeds United. Meanwhile, in Division Two, Newcastle's Ron McGarry and Coventry City's Brian Wood were both ejected in a match Newcastle won 2-0.

Division Four had most of the day's ejections, with Aldershot's Dick Renwick seeing red in a scoreless draw with Notts County, while Stockport County's Ian Sandiford and Torquay United full back Colin Bettany were sent off in a match that Torquay won 1-0.

6 May 1961 - Spurs Do The Double

On 6 May 1961, Tottenham Hotspur completed their Double by winning the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City. Spurs were the first team to win the FA Cup and the League in the same season since Aston Villa did it in 1897.

Tottenham had already won the league in a season that saw them hold onto the top spot from the first week to the last. They had endured only seven losses all season, but one of those came at the hands of Leicester City, who won 2-3 at White Hart Lane in the first week of February.

Playing before a crowd of 100,000 at Wembley, Leicester suffered an early setback with an injury to right back Len Chalmers (who remained on the pitch in diminished capacity until the 80th minute). They nonetheless maintained their composure and held the dynamic Spurs attack in check for 65 minutes. Then, in the 66th minute, Spurs winger Terry Dyson sent the ball in for forward Bobby Smith, who powered the ball past keeper Gordon Banks. Nine minutes later, the pair connected again, with Smith providing the assist for Dyson's header.

It was the third FA Cup for Tottenham, who went on to win it again the following season, then four more times for a total of seven.

4 May 1966 - Shilton Robs Banks

On 4 May 1966, goalkeeper Peter Shilton made the first of his Football League record 1,005 appearances, starting for Leicester in a 3-0 win over Everton.

Shilton joined Leicester's youth academy in 1963 at the age of 13, then moved up to the first team in 1966 at the insistence of their starting goalkeeper, Gordon Banks. He was only 16 when he got his first start, replacing Banks for a home match against Everton and keeping a clean sheet in the 3-0 victory.

Banks went on to win the World Cup with England the following summer, but Leicester traded him away to Stoke soon after, preferring to stick with Shilton for the 1967-68 season. Shilton made 286 league appearances for Leicester before following in Banks's footsteps and moving to Stoke in 1974. After three seasons with Stoke, he moved again, and spent time at Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Wimbledon, Bolton, Coventry, West Ham, and Leyton Orient before retiring in 1997 at the age of 47.

He also holds the appearance record for England, with 125 caps between 1970 and 1990.

30 January 1937 - A Good Day To Stay At Home

On 30 January 1937, the home sides either won or drew all 35 FA Cup and Football League matches.

Of the 16 FA Cup matches that day, only one involved two top-ten First Division clubs, as 6th place Derby County rolled to a comfortable 3-0 win over 3rd place Brentford in the FA Cup. Other First Division match-ups in the Cup included 15th place Preston North End hammering 14th place Stoke City 5-1, 10th place Everton beating 19th place Sheffield Wednesday 3-0, and 1st place Arsenal crushing 22nd place Manchester United, 5-0. Both Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United would end the season in the two relegation spots.

Arsenal's margin of victory was the largest in the Cup that day, but was both matched and exceeded in Division Two, where Blackburn beat Newcastle 6-1 and, in the day's most lopsided result, Blackpool rode over Bradford Park Avenue, 6-0.

Meanwhile, Luton Town provided the Cup's shock of the day, as the Third Division South side held reigning League champions Sunderland to a 2-2 draw. Two other Third Division South teams provided upsets, as Millwall defeated First Division Chelsea 3-0 and Exeter City beat Second Division Leicester City 3-1. Exeter's victory looked even more impressive at the end of the season, as Leicester won the Second Division, while Exeter finished 21st in the Third Division South.

Four Cup matches went to replays, including York City's scoreless draw at Swansea. It was part of a pattern for York, who had earned home replays in the two previous rounds. But the pattern broke with Swansea, who won at York, 1-3. In fact, the visiting teams won three of the four replays for that round, with the only exception being Sunderland's 3-1 victory over Luton. Sunderland (pictured) proceeded to win the FA Cup that year, beating Preston North End in the Final.

7 September 1999 - It's All Downhill From Here

On 7 September 1999, forward Ade Akinbiyi became Division Two's then-record signing when he moved from Bristol City to Division One Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Wolves, who were making a promotion push, paid £3.5 million for the England-born Nigerian international, which was a club record at the time (and remains the highest fee ever received by Bristol City). Akinbiyi had scored 21 goals the previous season and the club hoped he would fill the shoes of striker Robbie Keane, who had left that summer for Coventry City.

Akinbiyi performed well, scoring 16 goals for Wolverhampton in the 1999-2000 season, but they just missed the Division Two playoffs, finishing in seventh place, two points behind the last playoff position. At the end of the season, he moved to Leicester City for £5.5 million, but failed to bring his scoring touch. He recorded only 11 goals in 58 League appearances for the Foxes, resulting in the Sun calling him "The League's Worst Striker."

He left Leicester in 2002 and played for a number of clubs in England and the United States. He most recently played for Notts County, but was released in May 2010.