5 October 1929 - The Mystery Milestone

On 5 October 1929, somebody scored the English Football League's 100,000th goal. But nobody is quite sure who it was.

The milestone goal was the 65th one scored that day, just over 41 years after Bolton's Kenny Davenport scored the League's first goal on 8 September 1888. Unfortunately, it is impossible to identify the responsible individual because no records exist to indicate the timing of the scores.

In all, 44 matches were played that day in the four League divisions, delivering a grand total of 150 goals. Division Three (South) delivered the most with 50, including the day's highest tally - a 6-3 victory by Swindon Town over visiting Merthyr Town.

In Division One that day, the high-water mark was 6, set by Sheffield Wednesday's 2-4 win at Burnley. Division Two matched that number with Blackpool's 2-4 win at Barnsley and Notts County's 3-3 home draw with Stoke City. Division Three (North) followed with 5, set by Darlington's 3-2 home win over Halifax Town and Crewe Alexandra's away win over Stockport County.

Of the 44 matches played that day, only three finished as scoreless draws.

4 April 1991 - The Robins Find Their Batman

On 4 April 1991, former Tottenham star midfielder Glenn Hoddle (pictured second from the right) was appointed player-manager of Division Two side Swindon Town F.C. 

Prior to his term with Swindon, he had just finished a successful four-year term at AS Monaco in France playing under Arsene Wenger. (He spent a month with Chelsea in the interim, but made no senior appearances for the Blues before taking the post with the Robins).

Swindon Town was Hoddle's first managerial appointment. At the time he took charge, the Robins were 17th in the Division 2 table and in danger of relegation. Hoddle kept them up, but just barely, taking only 7 points of the 24 available during the remainder of the season and finishing in 21st place, only two points above the drop zone.

Under Hoddle, the Robins finished in 8th place the following season. The improvement continued in the 1992-93 season, when Swindon reached the playoffs and earned promotion to England's top flight, the recently-established Premier League.

Hoddle went on to manage Chelsea from 1993-96 (as player-manager from 1993-95, and solely as manager in 1996), then England from 1996-99. His tenure with English national team was controversial, despite qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, where England lost to Argentina on penalties in the second round in a match famous for David Beckham being sent off in the 47th minute. Hoddle was dimissed from the English side in 1999 after giving an interview with the Times in which he suggested that physical disabilities were the result of bad karma "from another lifetime."

Hoddle returned to management with Southampton (2001-01), Tottenham Hotspur (2001-03), and Wolverhampton Wanderers (2004-06), but has since retired from management.

In 2008, he established the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Jerez, Spain to aid former Premier League and Football League Championship players in their efforts to return to professional football.

20 August 1960 - Pretty Much The Opposite Of His Last Name, Then

On 20 August 1960, John Trollope made the first of his league-record 770 appearances for Swindon Town in a 1-1 draw with Halifax Town.

Born in Wroughton, just over three miles away from Swindon's County Ground, Trollope spent his entire career with the club. A left back, he made his debut at the age of seventeen in their Division Three opener against Halifax and went on to appear in all but two of their league matches that season.

He continued to feature for them over the next twenty years, as they fluctuated between Divisions Two and Three. Between 1960 and 1978, he never made fewer than 35 league appearances and usually made more than 40 each season.

By the time he retired in 1981, his tally reached a total of 770, setting the current league record for the most appearances at a single club. After hanging up his boots, however, he didn't go far, taking over as the club's manager from 1981 to 1983.

28 May 1970 - Don"t Try To Tell Me They Weren't Taking It Seriously

On 28 May 1970, Swindon Town won the inaugural Anglo-Italian Cup, beating Napoli 3-0 in a final that had to be abandoned in the 79th minute.

Founded by Italian agent Gigi Peronace, who had dealings with several English clubs, that first tournament included a total of twelve teams--six from each country. The Italian clubs--Napoli, Juventus, Lanerossi, Roma, Fiorentina, and Lazio--all hailed from Serie A, finishing between third and tenth at the end of the previous season. Meanwhile, only four of the English clubs--Wolverhampton, West Brom, Sunderland, and Sheffield Wednesday--had been in the top flight for 1969-70 (and both Sunderland and Wednesday were relegated). The other two teams were Middlesbrough and Swindon, both from the Second Division.

Swindon were unusually prepared for the competition, however. As the 1969 League Cup champions, they played a two-game series that year against the Coppa Italia holders, Roma, and won 5-2 on aggregate. They continued that dominance in the Anglo-Italian Cup, winning three of their four group-stage games against Juventus and Napoli. Their one defeat was a 1-2 loss to Napoli and they got an opportunity to avenge that result when they met Napoli again in the final, played at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples.

There, Swindon midfielder Peter Nobles put them up 0-2 with goals in the 24th and 58th minutes. Forward Arthur Horsfield added a third in the 62nd minute, prompting a section of the home fans to hurl rocks and bottles onto the pitch. The police responded with tear gas, which served only to further aggravate the supporters, who then began to start fires and rip seats out of the concrete. With eleven minutes left, the referee sent the players into the dressing room and abandoned the match.

Despite the incidents, the Anglo-Italian Cup continued to be played annually through 1973 and was revived briefly from 1992 to 1996.

5 October 1929 - The Mystery Milestone

On 5 October 1929, somebody scored the English Football League's 100,000th goal. But nobody is quite sure who it was.

The milestone goal was the 65th one scored that day, just over 41 years after Aston Villa's Gershom Cox scored the League's first goal on 8 September 1888. Unfortunately, it is impossible to identify the responsible individual because no records exist to indicate the timing of the scores.

In all, 44 matches were played that day in the four League divisions, delivering a grand total of 150 goals. Division Three (South) delivered the most with 50, including the day's highest tally - a 6-3 victory by Swindon Town over visiting Merthyr Town.

In Division One that day, the high-water mark was 6, set by Sheffield Wednesday's 2-4 win at Burnley. Division Two matched that number with Blackpool's 2-4 win at Barnsley and Notts County's 3-3 home draw with Stoke City. Division Three (North) followed with 5, set by Darlington's 3-2 home win over Halifax Town and Crewe Alexandra's away win over Stockport County.

Of the 44 matches played that day, only three finished as scoreless draws.

9 June 1993 - Ince Leads The Three Lions

On 9 June 1993, Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince became the first black captain of the English national team, leading them against the United States in a U.S. Cup match before a crowd of 37,462 at Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts.

Ince, who grew up supporting West Ham, played his youth football for the Hammers and started his professional career there in 1984 before transferring to Manchester United in 1989. He made his senior team debut for England in September 1992, impressing in a 1-0 loss to Spain in a friendly.

For the match against the United States, Ince's impressive form and injuries to team leaders David Platt and Tony Adams convinced manager Graham Taylor to give the captain's armband to Ince. Unfortunately for England, the match did not go their way as the U.S. earned a 2-0 win with goals from Thomas Dooley (42') and Alexi Lalas (72'), who had come on as a substitute for Dooley in the 69th minute.

Ince left Manchester United for Inter Milan in 1995 and subsequently played for Liverpool, Middlesbrough, and Wolves before becoming player-manager of Swindon Town in 2006 and then Macclesfield Town in 2007. He retired from playing after the end of the 2006-2007 season and managed MK Dons for 2007-08 season.

In 2008, he again made history with a move to Blackburn Rovers, where he became the first black manager of a team in England's top flight.

8 May 1999 - Carlisle Partied Like It Was ... Well ... 1999

On 8 May 1999, Carlisle United goalkeeper Jimmy Glass scored one of the club's most important goals.

It was the last match of the season in the Third Division, the bottom tier of English League football, and Carlisle needed a win at home against Plymouth Argyle to avoid relegation out of the League.

The match was tied 1-1 with 10 seconds left when Carlisle earned a corner. Glass, who had just recently arrived on loan from Swindon and was playing in only his third match for Carlisle, rushed forward into the Plymouth penalty area, leaving no one on Carlisle's side of the pitch. The corner was knocked away by the Plymouth keeper, but fell straight to Glass, who volleyed it into the bottom corner, claiming the win at the death. The Carlisle supporters invaded the pitch in celebration.

Carlisle and Swindon were unable to come to terms regarding a possible transfer, so Glass returned to Swindon at season's end. He never played again for Carlisle, but remains a club legend for his goal on that day.

4 April 1991 - The Robins Find Their Batman

On 4 April 1991, Glenn Hoddle (pictured second from the right) was appointed player-manager of Division Two side Swindon Town F.C. A former star midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, where he had made 377 appearances (88 goals) between 1975-87, Hoddle was a skillful and creative player.

Prior to his term with Swindon, he had just finished a successful four-year term at AS Monaco in France playing under Arsene Wenger. (He spent a month with Chelsea in the interim, but made no senior appearances for the Blues before taking the post with the Robins).

Swindon Town was Hoddle's first managerial appointment. At the time he took charge, the Robins were 17th in the Division 2 table and in danger of relegation. Hoddle kept them up, but just barely, taking only 7 points of the 24 available during the remainder of the season and finishing in 21st place, only two points above the drop zone.

Under Hoddle, the Robins finished in 8th place the following season. The improvement continued in the 1992-93 season, when Swindon reached the playoffs and earned promotion to England's top flight, the recently-established Premier League.

Hoddle went on to manage Chelsea from 1993-96 (as player-manager from 1993-95, and solely as manager in 1996), then England from 1996-99. His tenure with English national team was controversial, despite qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, where England lost to Argentina on penalties in the second round in a match famous for David Beckham being sent off in the 47th minute. Hoddle was dimissed from the English side in 1999 after giving an interview with the Times in which he suggested that physical disabilities were the result of bad karma "from another lifetime."

Hoddle returned to management with Southampton (2001-01), Tottenham Hotspur (2001-03), and Wolverhampton Wanderers (2004-06), but has since retired from management.

In 2008, he established the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Jerez, Spain to aid former Premier League and Football League Championship players in their efforts to return to professional football.