On 5 October 1946, Newcastle beat Newport County 13-0, setting a record margin for both teams.
The match, in the ninth week of the Second Division season, was the Newcastle debut of forward Len Shackleton, who had signed four days earlier from Bradford Park Avenue for the substantial fee of £13,000 (just £1,500 under the record at the time). Shackleton had scored 171 goals in 217 league appearances for Bradford and Newcastle were counting on him to provide a spark to their offense.
His first contribution to the scoreline, however, was not a goal, but an assist, as he set up center forward Charlie Wayman's opening goal after just five minutes. Wayman netted a first-half hat-trick, but was outdone by Shackleton, who had four by the break as Newcastle led 7-0. Wayman eventually got a fourth, while Shackleton finished with six en route to the final score of 13-0. It matched the scoreline set by Stockport County against Halifax in 1936 and remains a joint English league record (though far short of the 26-0 thrashing delivered to Hyde United by Preston North End in the first round of the FA Cup in October 1887).
Despite his scoring prowess, Shackleton, an inveterate prankster, ran afoul of Newcastle's management and the club sold him to Sunderland in February 1948 for the then-record fee of £20,500. He remained there until an ankle injury forced his retirement in 1957.
On 4 October 2010, just days before a scheduled African Cup of Nations qualifier, FIFA issued a worldwide ban against Nigeria, suspending them from participating in any football competitions. It was the second such ban received by the team in just over three months.
The suspension was the latest in a series of dramatic events that had hounded the team since their inglorious exit from the World Cup where, despite being tipped by many to make a strong run, they finished at the bottom of their first-round group and left having earned just a single point. Little more than a week after their last World Cup match, a 2-2 draw with South Korea, frustrated Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan issued his own ban, forbidding the team from participating in any international competition for two years, though he soon reconsidered and rescinded the suspension six days later.
In August 2010, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) held elections despite an alleged court order instructing them to postpone the voting. Shortly afterward, the National Association of Nigerian Footballers filed suit against the new NFF officers and received a Lagos High Court ruling that the elections were null and void.
That latest event was the final straw for FIFA, whose rules prohibit government intervention in the affairs of its members. In announcing the ban, FIFA stated that "During the period of suspension, the NFF will not be able to be represented in any regional, continental or international competitions, including at club level, and also not in friendly matches."
Following the announcement, the NAFC pledged to drop their challenge against the NFF at an upcoming court hearing. In response, FIFA lifted the ban provisionally, allowing the Super eagles to play their qualifier on 10 October (they lost to Guinea, 1-0).
On 3 October 1909, an Austrian student who had recently moved to Italy founded his second football club. Known as Bologna FC 1909, the club went on to become Italian and European champions.
The student, Emilio Arnstein, had spent time at university in Poland and Austria. In the latter, he and his brother had founded their first football club, Black Star FC. Immediately upon arriving in Bologna, Arnstein began looking for others who shared his passion for football.
He found several like-minded enthusiasts, including Louis Rauch, a Swiss dentist who became the club's first president, as well as Guido Della Valle, the first vice-president, Arrigo Gradi, the first captain, and Carlo Sandoni, the club's first general manager and sponsor. Arnstein assumed the position of councilman, along with Leone Vicenze. According to the official club history, the colors red and blue were chosen based on the colors of Gradi's college, Schönberg di Rossbach in Switzerland, though they are also prominent on the city's coat of arms.
Bologna played their first official match on 20 March 1910, beating local rivals Virtus 9-1. They won their first league title in 1925, then repeated as champions six more times (1929, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1964). They have also twice won the Coppa d'Italia (1970, 1974).
They have enjoyed success in Europe as well, winning the Central European Mitropa Cup three times (1932, 1934, 1961). Their most recent honor came in 1998, when they won one of the three UEFA Intertoto Cup brackets to advance to the UEFA Cup. Since then, however, they have struggled, and recently spent three seasons in Serie B between 2005 and 2008 and another in 2014-15.
On 2 October 2010, Mainz joined an exclusive group by opening their season with a record-matching seven straight league wins. Like the others before them, however, the streak ended at seven.
Bayern Munich were the first team to win their first seven Bundesliga matches back in 1995 and Kaiserslautern matched the feat in 2001. In the 2010-11 season, Mainz beat both of them en route to their own streak. It started in August with Stuttgart and included wins over Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, and Cologne to extend the run to six.
Their seventh match came against Hoffenheim, who had beaten Mainz twice the previous season. But the hosts, who were sitting at the top of the table, wasted no time in taking the lead--striker Sami Allagui put them ahead in just the second minute. Hoffenheim striker Demba Ba equalized in the 41st minute, Ádám Szalai (pictured at right) restored the lead six minutes later. Hoffenheim midfielder Luiz Gustavo inadvertently extended the lead with a 59th-minute own goal and the two teams traded late strikes to end the match as a 4-2 Mainz victory.
Unfortunately for Mainz, they fell short of taking sole possession of a new record, falling to Hamburg 0-1 in their next match two weeks later. Since then, Bayern Munich broke the record by opening with eight straight league wins in 2012, then pushed the record to ten in 2015.
On 1 October 2000, Arsenal striker Thierry Henry raised his profile with a stellar goal against Manchester United.
Henry had already established himself as a top class scorer the previous season, his first in England, by providing 26 goals in 47 appearances. But although there were some excellent strikes, nothing compared to the one he launched against Manchester United in October 2000.
United, the defending Premier League champions, were sitting at the top of the table when they visited Highbury, while the Gunners were three points back in fourth place. After half an hour, the match was scoreless when Henry struck. Positioned about 20 yards out with his back to the goal, he received a pass from defender Gilles Grimandi. With United defender Denis Irwin closing in, Henry's first touch flicked the ball into the air. Then, in one motion, he pivoted toward the goal and shot the ball.
It followed a high arc, curling across the goal and falling into the top right corner. United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was caught completely off-guard and was unable even to make a play for the ball. It turned out to be the match winner, though United repeated as champions with Arsenal a distant second.
On 30 September 1962, a brace from Pelé helped Santos capture their first Copa Libertadores, beating two-time defending champions Peñarol in a replay.
Peñarol were appearing in their third straight final after winning the first two editions of the tournament in 1960 and 1961. Santos, meanwhile, were in the final for the first time. The two teams had finished the first two legs with one win each, with the Brazilians taking a 1-2 victory in Montevideo and the Uruguayans returning the favor in São Paulo, 2-3.
Level with two points each, the tournament rules required a replay at a neutral venue to determine the winner. Playing before a crowd of 60,000 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Peñarol were wrong-footed early when their midfielder Omar Caetano put the ball into his own net in the 11th minute. Peñarol were unable to put the ball into Santos' net, however, while 20-year old Pelé, who had scored twice in the first round, doubled his tournament tally with goals in the 48th and 89th minutes to seal the 3-0 victory.
It proved to be the start of a strong international run for Santos, who went on to repeat as Copa Libertadores champions in 1963 while following both wins with victories in the Intercontinental Cup.
On 29 September 1988, Real Madrid won their first Supercopa de España, despite losing to Barcelona 2-1.
It was the last major domestic trophy that Real had yet to win (though they did win the tournament's predecessor, the Copa Eva Duarte, in 1947). When the Supercopa started in 1982, Real Madrid, as Copa del Rey winners, played La Liga champions Real Sociedad, but lost 1-4 on aggregate. When Real Madrid next qualified by winning the league in 1986 and 1987, the competition was not held in either year.
In 1988, they won the league for a third straight time, setting up a Supercopa meeting against Copa del Rey champions Barcelona. They got off to a great start, winning the first leg 2-0 at the Bernabéu with late goals from Míchel (71') and Hugo Sánchez (78'). That carried over into the second leg on 29 September, played at Camp Nou, when striker Emilio Butragueño put them up 0-1 in the 14th minute.
That proved to be the decisive goal, as Barcelona midfielder José Mari Bakero netted a brace (37', 77') to bring the aggregate score to 3-2. That's how it ended, with Madrid taking the honors.
Since then, they've gone on to win it a total of nine times, including 1989, when they won it automatically as winners of both the Copa del Rey and the league.
On 5 October 1946, Newcastle beat Newport County 13-0, setting a record margin for both teams.
