4 February 1899 - Rollin' On The River

On 4 February 1899, a group of 16 vocational school students in the northwestern German city of Bremen used some sports equipment they won as a prize to found the club that would later be known as Werder Bremen. The club would go on to become one of Germany's most successful and influential clubs.

Originally named Fußballverein Werder, using a German word meaning "river peninsula" to reflect the riverside pitch that was their first home, the club played its first match on 10 September 1899, a 1-0 win over local rivals ASC 1898 Bremen. They acheived their first significant successes under the Third Reich, winning division titles in 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1942.

They enjoyed intermittent success in the post-war years, winning the German Cup in 1961 and the league title in 1965. After a subsequent decline, including relegation for the 1980-81 season, the club returned to glory in the late '80s and early '90s, winning the Bundesliga title in 1988 and 1993, the German Cup in 1991, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. They most recently won the league in 2004 and the German Cup in 2009.

In addition to their successes on the pitch, Werder has helped transform the nature of the game (for better or worse) from amateur to professional, including being the first club to charge for admission and the first to hire a professional manager.

3 February 2008 - Going To Agogo

On 3 February 2008, hosts Ghana defeated neighboring rivals Nigeria in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. The 2-1 win for the Black Stars avenged losses to Nigeria in two of the previous three tournaments.

Playing in Accra's Ohene Djan Stadium before a crowd of 45,000, Nigeria's Super Eagles took a first-half advantage when striker Yakubu Ayegbeni converted a 35th-minute penalty kick. The score momentarily silenced the home crowd, but they soon regained their voice and exploded with joy when Ghana midfielder Michael Essien equalized in the second minute of first-half injury time.

Ghana carried the momentum into the second half and continued to press, despite the sending off of their captain, John Mensah. In the 88th minute, striker Junior Agogo (pictured) netted the match-winner, sending the Black Stars through to the next round.

Perhaps drained from their emotional win over Nigeria, the Black Stars were unable to find the net in their next match, a 1-0 loss to Cameroon, but did not go home empty-handed, beating the Ivory Coast 4-2 in the third-place match.

2 February 2009 - Arsenal Get Their Arshavin

On 2 February 2009, Arsenal completed their long courtship of Russian playmaker Andrey Arshavin, with the former Zenit St. Petersburg player agreeing to move to the London club for a fee close to £15 million.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had shown interest in Arshavin after the 2008 Euros, in which the Russian had emerged as a star for his national team, but initial discussions in the summer of 2008 proved fruitless. And, although talks resumed in the January transfer window, it appeared that those talks would similarly fail to result in an agreement. The on-again-off-again deal dragged on until the last day of the window and was not completed until late that evening.

Despite Arsenal's lengthy pursuit, their signing of Arshavin was a departure from the club's usual transfer policy under Arsene Wenger, who usually preferred not to purchase players at the peak of their career nor to make big signings in the January window.

Arshavin proved to be shrewd purchase, however. When he signed for Arsenal, the Gunners were sitting in fifth place, five points behind Aston Villa. Arshavin instantly adapted to the Premier League and began scoring for the club, including all four goals in Arsenal's 4-4 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. By the end of the season, Arsenal had overtaken Villa to finish in fourth place and qualify for the Champions League.

His success at Arsenal proved short-lived, however, as he scored only 31 goals in 143 appearances. In March 2012, he returned to Zenit on loan, then signed a permanent deal there in June 2013 on a free transfer from Arsenal.

1 February 1936 - The Floodgates Opened

On 1 February 1936, the sides in the four levels of the English Football league pyramid set a collective record by scoring (or conceding) a total of 209 goals in a single day. Nine players scored hat-tricks and three players bagged four goals each.

The goals were scored in 44 different matches, for an average of 4.75 goals per match. Highlights included Chester City's 12-0 win over York City and Chesterfield's 5-6 win at Crewe Alexandra, both of which were in Division Three North. In the top flight, Brentford rolled over Wolves 5-0 and West Brom flooded Liverpool 6-1, while the largest margin of victory in Division Two was West Ham's 6-0 win over Bury. The only scoreless League match that day was Aldershot's 0-0 draw with Bristol City in Division Three South.

Division One's last place team Aston Villa delivered the day's biggest upset by beating hosts Derby County, then in second place, by the score of 1-3. The win did little to change Villa's fortunes, however, as they finished second from bottom are were relegated to Division Two.

31 January 2009 - Wolfsburg Reaches The Turning Point

On 31 January 2009, Wolfsburg drew 1-1 with hosts Köln, continuing their season-long road winless streak in the league. Cruelly, the goal that denied them their first away victory was scored by Köln's Romanian forward Sergiu Radu, who was on loan from Wolfsburg.

Going into the match, the schizophrenic Wolves were sitting 8th in the Bundesliga table, having gone undefeated at home, but their nine previous away matches that season had ended in five losses and four draws. Against Köln, they appeared to be heading for yet another loss, as Radu put the hosts up 1-0 with a strike in the 34th minute. Köln had several chances to increase their lead, but were denied by a combination of poor finishing and excellent work from Wolves' Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio. Wolfsburg salvaged the draw with a 77th-minute equalizer from their Brazilian striker Grafite (pictured).

Although Wolfsburg left with yet another draw, Grafite's goal proved to be a defining moment for the club, as they carried the momentum from the Köln match into a 10-game winning streak. That streak, which included four away wins, equalled the German top flight's record winning streak and finished with Wolfsburg sitting on top of the table.

Wolfsburg lost only twice more that season (both on the road) and remained at the top to claim the Bundesliga title--the club's first major trophy. Grafite went on to become the Bundesliga's top scorer that season, with 28 goals in 25 league appearances, and was named the league's Footballer of the Year.

30 January 2006 - The Rams Butt Brown Out

On 30 January 2006, second-division Derby County sacked manager Phil Brown after only seven months in charge.

Derby had taken a risk in hiring Brown, whose only prior experience in the top job consisted of five matches as caretaker manager of Bolton Wanderers. Bolton won four of the five, but gave the permanent position to Sam Allardyce, who retained Brown as an assistant.

After he took over at Derby in June 2005, the Rams won only seven of their 33 matches, with 14 draws and 12 losses. They were sitting in 19th place when Brown was fired. Derby replaced him with Billy Davies, who led the Rams to promotion for the 2007-08 season, but was himself fired in November 2007 as Derby floundered in the top flight.

Brown, meanwhile, moved to second-division Hull City in December 2006 and led them to the Premier League for the 2008-09 season. Unlike Derby, Hull managed to stay up in their first season, finishing one point out of the relegation zone. That season was not without controversy for Brown, who drew sharp criticism for his behavior, including one incident in which he kept his players on the pitch at halftime and shouted at them in full view of the crowd (pictured above).

Brown's contract at Hull ended in June 2010 after the club dropped into the Championship. In January 2011, he took over at Preston North End, but was unable to save the club from relegation and was sacked eleven months later. He is currently the manager at Southend United, talking charge in March 2013.

29 January 2006 - Eight May Be Enough, But Nine Is Better

On 29 January 2006, the United States beat Norway 5-0 in a friendly at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Three of the Yanks' goals were scored by forward Taylor Twellman, whose hat-trick was only the ninth in the history of the US national team.

Twellman, who plays his club ball for the MLS' New England Revolution, was making a push for inclusion in the 2006 World Cup side. Despite winning the MLS Golden Boot in 2005, he had scored only one previous international goal, in October 2005, since his call up to the senior team in 2002.

Although Twellman appeared to find his scoring touch, contributing another goal in a 3-2 friendly win over Japan in February 2006, he was not part of the side that traveled to Germany in 2006. That team managed to score only one goal--a 43rd-minute strike from Clint Dempsey against Ghana--and was eliminated from the tournament in the group stage. (They also benefited from an Italy own goal to draw 1-1 with the eventual champions.)

Twellman rejoined the national team for their successful 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign and made his last appearance on 19 January 2008.