28 February 2005 - Delia Smith Cooks Up Some Controversy

On 28 February 2005, Manchester City beat Norwich in a match best remembered for a halftime call to action by Norwich owner Delia Smith.

In their first Premier League season since 1995, Norwich were struggling and looked likely to return to the second tier. By the time they hosted Manchester City at Carrow Road in February, they had dropped down into the table's twentieth spot, having won only three of their 27 matches. So it was a bit of a shock when Norwich surged to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Dean Ashton (12') and Leon McKenzie (16'). But they could not hold the lead, conceding twice before the break, one each to Antoine Sibierski (25') and Robbie Fowler (37').

With the two teams level at half time, Norwich majority shareholder and celebrity chef Delia Smith took a microphone and tried to inspire the home supporters, saying she had "a message for the best football supporters in the world. We need a twelfth man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let's be having you! Come on!" 

Smith's outburst drew mixed criticism, with some applauding her devotion to the club and others claiming her behavior was undignified. In any event, her exhortation had little effect, as Norwich conceded another Fowler goal in the 90th minute and lost 2-3. 

They were relegated at the end of the season, but returned to the Premier League in 2011. After bouncing back and forth a couple of times, they were relegated again for the 2016-17 season and currently play in the Championship.

27 February 1977 - Maradona Goes International

On 27 February 1977, Argentina beat Hungary 5-1 in a friendly that marked the international debut of 16-year old Diego Maradona.

At the time, Hungary had been the more successful team, with two World Cup finals (1938 and 1954), three Olympic gold medals (1952, 1964, 1968) and one silver medal (1972). But they were in decline, failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, the 1976 Olympics, or the 1976 European Championship. Argentina, meanwhile, had reached the Olympic final in 1928 and the World Cup final in 1930, but had since done little on the global stage (they did have 12 Copa América trophies, however).

For the friendly, they met at the Bombanera in Buenos Aires, where approximately 60,000 people turned out to watch. By half time, the hosts were up 4-0 with a hat-trick from Daniel Bertoni (11', 18') and a goal from Leopoldo Luque (37'). Luque added another just after the break (47') to extend the lead to 5-0 before Hungary substitute Zombori Sándor pulled one back in the 61st minute.

One minute later, Argentina made a couple of substitutions of their own, taking Ricardo Villa off for Jorge Benítez and replacing Luque with young Argentinos Juniors midfielder Diego Maradona. It was Maradona's first appearance for Argentina and he would go on to become the country's greatest player, earning a total of 91 caps and leading them them to World Cup glory in 1986.

25 February 1912 - Every Tradition Starts Somewhere (Even Barcelona's)

On 25 February 1912, 15-year old Paulino Alcántara set three club records when he scored a hat-trick for Barcelona on his debut. He eventually set a fourth as Barça's all-time leading goalscorer.

In a club renowned for its youth academy, Alcántara set the standard. Born in Iloilo City in the Philippines in 1896, the striker began his youth career in Spain with FC Galeno before joining Barcelona in 1912. He was just 15 years, 14 months, and 8 days old when he made his first appearance--against Català in the Catalonian Championship--making him the youngest player to debut with the Barcelona first team. Not content to settle for that record, he also contributed three goals in the 9-0 win, making him the club's youngest goalscorer and youngest player to net a hat-trick.

Apart from a brief break from 1916 to 1918 when he returned to the Philippines, Alcántara remained with Barcelona until his retirement in 1927. During that period, he won five Copa del Rey titles and ten Catalonian Championships (he also won two league titles with Bohemian while in the Philippines). He finished his Barça career with a record total of 357 goals in 357 games. That remained the club record until Lionel Messi broke it in 2014. 

Alcántara became a doctor after his retirement, but went on to become a coach (he briefly managed the Spanish national team), then returned to Barcelona as a member of the club's board of directors.

24 February 2004 - I Can Do One Of Those In 140 Seconds (It's Not The Hat-Trick)

On 24 February 2004, Bournemouth substitute forward James Hayter set a Football League record when he scored a hat-trick in just 2 minutes and 20 seconds. And it wasn't even his biggest event of the week.

Hayter had been with the Cherries since 1996 and had already tied a club record when he scored four against Bury in October 2000. But that was a relativiely minor accomplishment when compared to his performance against Wrexham in February 2004.

Bournemouth were already up 3-0 when Hayter came on in the 84th minute, but scored twice in the 86th minute then once more in the 88th minute. With all three goals coming in the span on 140 seconds, it was the fastest hat-trick in English league history, beating the previous record of 130 seconds set by Gillingham's Jimmy Scarth in 1952. Unfortunately for Hayter, his parents did not see his record accomplishment, having left early when they thought he wasn't going to play.

Despite the record hat-trick, the most memorable event of Hayter's week actually occurred three days earlier with the birth of his son.

23 February 1901 - This One Went To Eleven

On 23 February 1901, Scotland opened the British Home Championship by getting their record margin of victory.

Ireland arrived at Celtic Park in Glasgow that day to face Scotland, who were the defending champions, but were completely unprepared for awaited them, as Scotland racked up 11 goals on the day--four from Celtic's Sandy McMahon (pictured), four from Rangers' Robert Hamilton, two from Celtic's John Campbell, and, for good measure, one from former Preston North End Invincible David Russell. Meanwhile, the Irish team were unable to breach the Scottish defense, so the match ended 11-0.

It was Scotland's biggest win, but it wasn't Ireland's worst result, as they had been beaten 13-0 by England in 1882. Scotland went on to draw their next two matches with Wales and England to finish as tournament runners-up (England won). Ireland finished last, losing all three matches.

22 February 2006 - Australia's Continental Shift

On 22 February 2006, Australia made their first appearance as a member of the Asian Football Confederation, beating Bahrain 1-3 in an Asian Cup qualifier.

Established in 1922, the Australian national team was a founding member of the Oceania Football Confederation, formed in 1966, along with New Zealand and Fiji. They were the federation's most successful team, but believed that the level of competition hurt their chances in major tournaments against teams from stronger federations--prior to 2006, they had qualified for only one World Cup, in 1974, which they exited in the group stage.

In 2005, the Asian Football Confederation issued a formal invitation for Australia to join, which the OFC executive committee endorsed unanimously. After FIFA's approval, the move became official in January 2006. In their first official match as an AFC member, played in Bahrain's National Stadium, they fell behind 1-0 thanks to a goal from Husain Ali (35'), but got goals from Archie Thompson (pictured) (53'), Josip Skoko (79'), and Ahmad Elrich (penalty, 87') to claim the win.

The increased level of competition had the desired result, as Australia went on to qualify for that year's World Cup and reached the Round of 16 before falling to eventual champions Italy, 1-0.

21 February 2008 - Gazza's Days Get Darker

On 21 February 2008, former England star midfielder Paul Gascoigne's tragic battle with alcoholism and depression resulted in his compulsory admission to a mental hospital for treatment. Unfortunately for all involved, it did little good and he continues to struggle with his problems.

Gascoigne, popularly known as "Gazza," enjoyed a remarkable career that started in 1985 with Newcastle and included spells at Tottenham (1988-92), Lazio (1992-95), and Rangers (1995-98), among others. Meanwhile, he was capped 57 times by England between 1988 and 1998, including a standout performance in the 1990 World Cup that sparked "Gazzamania" back in England.

But throughout, he struggled in his personal life with addiction and other issues, including depression and bipolar disorder. His problems grew worse after his retirement in 2004, followed by a short and unsuccessful spell as manager of Kettering Town that ended with his sacking in 2005 after only 39 days in charge. He claimed later that he was drinking up to four bottles of whisky and vodka per day.

In February 2008, police were called to the Newcastle hotel where he was staying while recovering from a hip operation. After he threatened to harm himself, he was taken into custody and compelled to enter a mental health facility. But by the end of the year, he was again deep into his alcoholism, reportedly drinking up to 30 cans of beer per day.

After promising signs of recovery in 2009, Gascoigne again relapsed in 2010, culminating in two separate October arrests for drunk driving and possession of cocaine. A series of rehab attempts and relapses followed, most recently by his January 2017 entrance into a new rehab program.