On 7 September 1977, Liverpool midfielder Ian Callaghan made his third England appearance--a record 11 years and 49 days after his previous one.
A Liverpool player since the start of his professional career in 1960, Callaghan (pictured at far left) earned his first England cap at he age of 24 in a June 1966 friendly against Finland (England won 3-0). His second came the following month in the World Cup, as England beat France 2-0 in the group stage. It was his only appearances of the tournament, which England went on to win. Although his failure to take part in the final meant that he did not receive a winner's medal at the time, he eventually received one in 2009, along with all of the other squad members.
Despite his perfect record, he then went over a decade without playing for the national team. He continued to star for Liverpool, however, winning a total of five league titles, two FA Cups, two UEFA Cups, and two European Cups between 1964 and 1978.
In 1977, after missing England's previous 108 games, he returned to the national team for a friendly against Switzerland, which ended as a scoreless draw. The gap of 11 years and 49 days between caps remains an England record.
He made a fourth and final appearance the following month in a 2-0 win over Luxembourg.
On 6 September 1978, former Japan national team captain and FIFA World Player of the Year Homare Sawa was born in Tokyo.
She started her footballing career at the age of thirteen with L.League champions Yomiuri Beleza, making thirteen appearances for them in 1991. She remained there for a total of ten seasons, scoring 79 goals in 136 appearances while winning league titles (1991-93). She spent two more spells with Beleza from 2004 to 2009 then again in 2011, winning another six league titles.
In between, she played in the United States for the Denver Diamonds (1999), Atlanta Beat (2001-03), and Washington Freedom (2009-10).
Sawa received her first call-up to the Japanese national team in 1993 and played a key role in their run to the quarterfinals in the 1995 Women's World Cup. She starred for them in the next four World Cups, and eventually captained them to the trophy in 2011 with a win over the United States on penalties in the final. That performance helped her win the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Award.
She won silver with Japan at the 2012 Summer Olympics, then announced her immediate retirement from international football. She played club football in Japan for Kobe Leonessa from 2010 until 2015, when she retired completely.
On 5 September 1931, Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson died after colliding with a player during an Old Firm match. He was 22.
Thomson signed with Celtic in 1926 at the age of 17 and, by February 1927, he had become the team's first-choice keeper, helping them win that year's Scottish Cup. Only 5 feet 9 inches tall, he was small for the position, but made up for it with an impressive leaping ability and a willingness to challenge for any ball. His assertive style of play led to severe injury in 1930, as a diving save left him with a broken jaw, several cracked ribs, and two lost teeth. In that same year, he received his first call-up to the Scottish national team.
Then, in September 1931, an undefeated Celtic visited Ibrox to play Rangers in the first Old Firm derby of the season. Early in the second half, with the match scoreless, Thomson went for a loose ball and collided with Rangers striker Sam English, whose knee struck the keeper in the head. The incident left Thomson with a fractured skull and a ruptured artery. He was rushed to the hospital where he underwent an operation to reduce swelling in his brain, but it was unsuccessful and he died later that night.
Approximately 30,000 people attended his funeral in Cardenden, with many of them reportedly walking there from Glasgow, 55 miles away.
On 4 September 1955, Sporting hosted the first European Cup match, drawing 3-3 with Partizan in Lisbon.
Gabriel Hanot, editor of the French magazine L'Equipe, spurred the creation of the tournament, originally named the European Champions' Club Cup. The magazine selected sixteen initial participants--each from a different country--chosen to represent a cross-section of the best European clubs (though some of their preferred teams, such as Chelsea, declined the invitation). They were then placed them directly into a two-legged knockout round.
Sporting were chosen from Portugal despite finishing the previous season in third place. Partizan had fared even worse, finishing fifth in the Yugoslavian league.
A crowd of 33,000 watched that first match, played at Lisbon's Estádio Nacional, and were rewarded when Sporting midfielder João Martins (pictured) scored the opening goal in the 14th minute. Partizan winger Miloš Milutinović equalized in the 45th minute, then put the visitors ahead five minutes later. At the same time, the referee compounded Sporting's frustration, ejecting defender João Galaz from the match.
Despite being down to ten men, Sporting drew level with a 60th-minute goal from winger Joaquim Almeida, then fell behind again after a Partizan forward Stjepan Bobek in the 73rd before Martins salvaged a draw, scoring his second of the day in the 78th minute.
Partizan went on to win the second leg 5-2 on 12 October (with Milutinović scoring four) to advance to the quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual champions Real Madrid.
On 3 September 1892, Manchester United played their first league match, losing 4-3 to Blackburn Rovers. Although it was an inauspicious start to an inauspicious season, United have since become the league's most decorated team, winning the title a record twenty times.
For the first season, the club still went by their original name of Newton Heath. Founded in 1878, they attempted to join the Football League upon its creation in 1888, but were rejected for four years. Finally admitted for the 1982-93 season, they opened the campaign away at Blackburn where they lost 4-3.
They proceeded to go winless for their next five matches, losing another three and finished the season dead last in twentieth place. But they avoided relegation by beating Small Heath FC (later known as Birmingham City) in a playoff. Their next season, however, did see them drop into the Second Division for several years before finally returning in 1906 and winning their first league title in 1908.
Since then, they have increased their total to 20, with their most recent title coming in 2013.
On 2 September 1961, midfielder Carlos Valderrama was born in Santa Marta, Colombia. He went on to become the national team's appearance leader with 111 caps.
Nicknamed "El Pibe" (the Kid) and easily recognized for his bushy blonde perm, Valderrama started his career with Unión Magdalena in 1981. By 1985, he was with Deportivo Cali and made his national team debut in a 3-0 loss to Paraguay and went on to captain the team for three successive World Cups (1990, 1994, 1998).
In the 1990 World Cup, he provided the assist for a stoppage-time equalizer against West Germany to send Colombia into the Round of 16 for the first and only time. He retired from international play after the 1998 tournament, having made a record 111 appearances.
Two years before that, he became one of the high-profile signings for the new American league, MLS, joining the Tampa Bay Mutiny for the league's first season in 1996. He later played for the Miami Fusion (1998), had another spell with Tampa Bay (1999-2000), and then one for the Colorado Rapids (2001-02) before retiring as the league's second-ranked all-time assist leader with 114 (he has since dropped to fourth in the assist table after being passed by Landon Donovan and Brad Davis).
On 1 September 1992, the first Championship Manager video game hit store shelves. The series has since become one of the most successful in UK history.
The game, written by brothers Paul and Oliver Collyer, was first released on the Amiga and Atari platforms, but soon moved to PCs. Pitched as "the most realistic football management simulation ever," it allowed players to manage teams from the top four divisions in English football through the league and cup competitions (including European tournaments).
It initially drew criticism for the lack of graphics, which resulted from the game's focus on managerial decisions instead of match play, but later versions allowed the user to watch the matches unfold. One version, Championship Manager 4, became the fastest-selling PC game of all time in the UK.
The Collyer brothers formed their own company, Sports Interactive, to develop the game. In 2004, a split with publisher Eidos Interactive resulted in the Collyers and SI losing the rights to the Championship Manager name. They formed a partnership with Sony and began a separate franchise under the name Football Manager. The two games now compete against each other.
In the summer of 2012, in honor of the game's twentieth anniversary, BackPage Press published a book titled Football Manager Stole My Life.
On 7 September 1977, Liverpool midfielder Ian Callaghan made his third England appearance--a record 11 years and 49 days after his previous one.
