On 10 May 1980, Celtic won their 26th Scottish Cup, beating Rangers 1-0 before a crowd of over 70,000 at Glasgow's Hampden Park. The match itself was overshadowed by the pitch invasion afterward, followed by a riot among the rival supporters.
The Final was the last chance for either team to claim a major trophy that season, as both had been eliminated from the League Cup and Aberdeen had won the SPL a week earlier, one point ahead of second-place Celtic. Rangers finished back in fifth place.
Nevertheless, the Final itself was fairly tame. Neither team created many chances and they were scoreless after 90 minutes. Celtic found the advantage in extra time as forward George McCluskey diverted a Danny McGrain volley past Rangers keeper Peter McCloy. It was the only goal of the match, enough to give Celtic the 1-0 win and the Scottish Cup.
As the referee blew the final whistle, a multitude of Celtic supporters rushed onto the pitch. But what started as a victory celebration soon turned into a full-scale riot, as Rangers supporters joined their opposite number on the pitch and several fights broke out. The police tried to separate the two groups, but were hopelessly outnumbered.
Afterward, the SPL determined that alcohol had been a major contributor to the violence and banned its sale at league matches. Despite recent pleas to lift the ban, it remains in place.
On 9 May 2001, 126 football fans died at the Accra Sports Stadium, making it Africa's worst ever sports-related disaster. It was one of several such incidents in Africa over a period of less than a month, including similar disasters in South Africa (43 killed on 11 April), the Congo (14 killed on 29 April), and the Ivory Coast (39 killed on 6 May).
The fans were in Accra that night to watch a derby match between hosts Hearts of Oak and fellow Accra club Asante Kotoko. The visitors were up 1-0 near the end of the match, but Hearts of Oak scored two late goals to take the lead. With about five minutes left, frustrated Asante Kotoko supporters began ripping seats out of the stands and throwing them onto the pitch. The police responded by firing tear gas into the crowd, causing a panic. Most of the victims were crushed in the ensuing stampede, while a few died from suffocation.
Although six policemen were charged with manslaughter, authorities later determined that the tragedy was compounded by the fact that several stadium gates were locked at the time, preventing the crowd from escaping.
The Ghanian government established a special scholarship for children of the victims and also erected a memorial statue at the stadium, which has since been renamed Ohene Djan Stadium.
On 8 May 1949, the Philadelphia Nationals and the New York Americans played for that year's ASL title at Randall's Island in New York City, though the match was interrupted for a friendly between an ASL All-Star team and visiting Belfast Celtic (pictured).
The ASL title should have been decided a few weeks earlier, but three teams - the Nationals, the Americans, and Brooklyn Hispano - ended the season in a three-way tie for first, so the ASL scheduled a playoff. The Nationals, by virtue of the best goal differential of the three teams, received a bye to the Final, where they would play the winner of the first playoff match between Brooklyn and New York.
The ASL set the Final for 8 May as a prelude to the previously-scheduled friendly against Belfast. Belfast were a high-profile side, with 19 Irish League trophies, including the 1947 and 1948 titles, and the friendly on 8 May was the starting point for their 10-match tour of the US and Canada that spring and summer. The ASL planned to hold the ASL Final first, followed by the All-Stars' match against Belfast.
As it turned out, however, Philadelphia and New York were even at the end of 90 minutes (some reports say 2-2, others say 3-3), so they stopped play and allowed the friendly to proceed. Belfast and the All-Stars (who included members of the New York Americans) drew 2-2, then the championship match resumed, with Philadelphia eventually claiming the title. It was part of a double for the team, who also won that year's Lewis Cup.
On 7 May 1986, Romanian side Steaua Bucureşti won the European Cup, beating Barcelona on penalties, 0-0 (2-0), before a crowd of 70,000 at Seville's Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. The star of the day was Steaua's goalkeeper, Helmuth Duckadam, who was hailed afterward as the Hero of Seville.
The Romanians had ridden a strong defense to the Final, not conceding more than one goal in any earlier match and keeping four clean sheets. The last of those clean sheets was the critical semifinal second leg against Anderlecht. Down 1-0 from the first leg, Steaua stifled the Belgian offense while scoring three goals of their own to advance 3-1 on aggregate.
Barcelona, meanwhile, had several close calls, advancing from the first and second rounds by virtue of the away goal rule and winning their semifinal match-up against Gothenburg in a penalty shootout.
The first 120 minutes of the Final itself were rather dull, with the Romanians content to sacrifice their offense in favor of a stern defense that the Catalonians could not penetrate. But all the excitement that had been held at bay during those first two hours spilled out in the penalty shootout. For the first four shots - two from each side - the keepers guessed correctly each time and swatted the ball away. Steaua forward Marius Lăcătuş finally broke the deadlock, blasting a powerful shot just under the bar and into the roof of the net.
Duckadam saved yet another kick, a low rolling shot to his right, then Steaua midfielder Gavril Balint sent Barça keeper Javier Urruticoechea the wrong way to put the Romanians up 2-0. Barça's hopes then fell to forward Marcos Alonso, but again, Duckadam guessed correctly, diving to his left to save the kick. He had saved all four shots against him, leading Steaua to their first (and to date, only) European Cup trophy.
On 6 May 1990, hosts Canada kicked off the 1990 North American Nations Cup with a 1-0 win over the United States.
Organized by the North American Football Confederation, the competition has been played only four times - 1947, 1949, 1990, and 1991 - with each tournament consisting of three teams. Canada, despite being a member of the NAFC, did not participate in either of the first two, both of which were won by Mexico.
After a 41-year break, the NAFC resurrected the Cup, which was hosted that year by Canada and included the United States and Mexico. Although both Canada and Mexico fielded full-strength teams, the US sent a B squad as their preparations for the US-hosted 1990 World Cup led to fixture congestion. As a result, the US does not consider the 1990 North American Nations Cup matches as official results.
Official or not, Canadian striker John Catliff scored the match's only goal to give his side the 1-0 win. Catliff had played for Harvard University, where he was selected to the 1986 All-America first team, before moving to the Canadian Soccer League in 1987. He went on to win the tournament for the Canadians, scoring both goals in their 2-1 win over Mexico on 13 May.
The US finally won the trophy in 1991, after which the North American Nations Cup was replaced by the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
On 5 May 1956, Manchester City defeated Birmingham City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final before a crowd of over 100,000 at London's Wembley Stadium. It was a remarkable win, considering that the Man City goalkeeper, Bert Trautmann (pictured, center), played the last seventeen minutes with a broken neck.
Although it was Manchester City's second consecutive appearance in the Final, having lost 3-1 to Newcastle the previous year, the English press hailed Birmingham as favorites due to a strong run up to the Final that saw them concede only two goals while scoring eighteen. Man City, on the other hand, had advanced in every round by a mere one-goal margin. But they had an advantage in Trautmann, whom the Football Writers' Association had recently named Footballer of the Year.
Manchester City pressured the Birmingham goal from the opening kickoff, resulting in a third-minute strike from forward Joe Hayes that gave them a 1-0 lead. Birmingham quickly equalized, however, when a 15th-minute shot ricocheted off a Man City defender to wrong-foot Trautmann, then landed in the path of forward Noel Kinsey, who slotted it home.
The two sides were evenly matched to the hour mark, when Man City took advantage of Birmingham's defensive lapses to score two quick goals from forwards Bobby Johnstone (62') and Jack Dyson (64'). Birmingham attacked the Man City goal with renewed fervor when, in the 73rd minute, forward Peter Murphy collided with Trautmann. Murphy's knee rammed into Trautmann's neck, knocking the keeper unconscious.
The rules at the time did not alow for substitutes, so after Trautmann recovered, he insisted on staying on the pitch as Manchester City complete the 3-1 win. Three days later, Trautmann's neck still hurt, so he went to a doctor who confirmed that he had dislodged five vertebrae, one of which was broken in two. Trautmann became a folk hero at Manchester City, for whom he played until 1964, making over 500 appearances.
On 4 May 1987, Chelsea midfielder Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas i Soler was born in the city of Vilassar de Mar, Catalonia, Spain. Just over nineteen years later, he would become the youngest person to play for Spain in a World Cup.
He started his career in the youth squad of Catalonian side Mataró, but moved to Barcelona's youth academy when he was 10 years old. Despite impressive performances for the Barça reserves, he had failed to crack the first team by 2003 and moved to London to play for Arsenal. He did not play in any League matches for the Gunners in the 2003-04 season, but became their youngest first team player in history when he played in a League Cup match against Rotherham United on 23 October 2003. Just over a month later, he became the club's youngest-ever goalscorer when he netted in their 5-1 League Cup win over Wolves.
By the 2005-06 season, Fàbregas had solidified a starting position in the Arsenal midfield and was a key member of their run to that season's Champions League Final, where they lost 2-1 to his old club, Barcelona. His performance that season impressed Spanish manager Luis Aragonés, who called Fàbregas up for a friendly against the Ivory Coast on 1 March 2006, making him the youngest player to be capped by Spain for over 70 years.
He remained with the national side for the 2006 World Cup, making his first tournament appearance as a second-half substitute against the Ukraine on 14 June 2006. At 19 years, 41 days old, he remains the youngest player to appear for Spain in a World Cup. He later helped guide Spain to the Euro 2008 title, scoring the winning penalty in their quarterfinal shootout against Italy. Fàbregas is currently finishing his first season with Chelsea after playing for Barcelona from 2011 to 2014.
