6 January 1939 - The Man Who Powered Dynamo

Iconic Dynamo Kyiv player and manager Valeriy Lobanovsky was born on 6 January 1939. He would eventually guide Kyiv to the first major European honor for any Soviet club, winning the 1975 Cup Winners' Cup.

Born in Kyiv, Lobanovsky joined Dynamo's youth team, then played there professionally from 1957 to 1964. He was a prolific scorer, especially from set pieces, tallying 42 goals in 144 league appearances for his hometown team while winning the club's first Soviet Cup (1954) and league title (1961). He retired from playing in 1968, after two seasons each with Chornomorets Odessa and Shakhtar Donetsk.

He moved quickly into management, taking charge of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in 1969 before Dynamo called him back in 1974. There, his then-novel scientific approach to training and diet helped the club to European victory in his first season, beating Ferencváros in the 1975 Cup Winners' Cup.

Lobanovsky remained with Dynamo until 1990 (taking a brief break in 1982-83 to manage the Soviet national team). During his tenure, they won eight league titles, six Soviet Cups, and the 1986 Cup Winners' Cup. He returned again in 1997 and picked up where he had left off, winning five consecutive Ukrainian Premier League titles and advancing to the semifinals of the 1998-99 UEFA Champions League.

In 2002, he suffered a stroke after a match and died one week later. In honor of his service, Dynamo renamed their stadium in his honor.

5 January 1919 - Racing To The Title

On 5 January 1919, Argentina's Racing Club won their second consecutive Copa Aldao, defeating Peñarol 2-1.

Also known as the Copa Rio de la Plata, the competition ran from 1913 to 1955 and pitted Argentina's national champion against the champion of Uruguay--one of three separate competitions at the time between the two countries (the others were the Tie Cup (1900-1919) and the Honor Cup (1905-1920)). The trophy was donated in 1913 by Ricardo Aldao, president of the Federación Argentina de Football at the time.

The 1918 edition, actually played in January 1919, was the third consecutive appearance for Racing, who lost to Nacional in 1916, but defeated them in a two-legged final in the following season. They returned to the competition after completing an unbeaten 1918 season in the domestic league, winning 17 of their 19 matches and drawing the other two. Peñarol had fared almost as well in Uruguay, winning 15, drawing two, and losing one. They had also won that season's Honor Cup the previous month.

On the day, Racing won 2-1, but it was their last appearance in the competition. Peñarol went on to win their first Copa Aldao in 1928 and finished as runners-up five more times.

4 January 1909 - Hola, España!

On 4 January 1909, representatives of several clubs met in Madrid to form the Spanish football federation. The meeting was held at the offices of Real Madrid, with club president Adolfo Meléndez serving as the federation's first secretary.

Originally named the Federación Española de Clubs de Football, the new organization followed the model of England's FA, with the express purpose of creating a Spanish national team. After 11 years, they finally accomplished that mission when Spain played their first full international, a 1-0 win over Denmark in the 1920 Summer Olympics, where they took the silver medal. It took them another 44 years to win their first major honor, the 1964 European Championship, which they followed with an Olympic gold medal in 1992.

In February 2007, they began a record-tying unbeaten run of 35 unbeaten matches that included the 2008 European Championship (they repeated as champions in 2012). Despite those successes, critics labeled Spain as underachievers for failing to advance farther in the World Cup than their fourth-place finish in 1950. That ended in 2010, when Spain lifted the Cup over the Netherlands in a dramatic extra-time Final.

Now known as the Real Federación Española de Fútbol, or RFEF, the federation oversees the top four levels of the Spanish football pyramid, as well as both men's and women's national teams and the national futsal team.

3 January 2004 - Plymouth Rocks Chesterfield

On 3 January 2004, Plymouth Argyle got off to a brilliant start against Chesterfield, scoring 5 goals in the first 18 minutes. They added 2 more to complete the 7-0 rout and match their biggest-ever margin of victory.

Playing before a crowd of 13,109 at Plymouth's Home Park, the hosts were celebrating their centennial year by sitting at the top of the Division Two table, while Chesterfield were third from bottom in the relegation zone. Plymouth quickly ended any thoughts of an upset, with Lee Hodges providing the opening goal in the 4th minute. But things soon turned much, much worse for Chesterfield and their keeper, Carl Muggleton.

Tony Capaldi doubled Plymouth's lead in the 11th minute, while Nathan Lowndes added a third one minute later. David Friio (pictured) then scored his first of the day in the 16th minute, with Lowndes netting another in the 17th.

Chesterfield, meanwhile, found it difficult to mount any effective attack because they could not hold on to the ball--they finished the match with a possession rate of only 22% . Friio, however, had no such difficulty and completed a hat-trick with goals in the 36th and 89th minutes. The 7-0 scoreline matched Plymouth's record margin of victory set in 1932 (and matched once before in 1994).

2 January 1921 - The Launch Of Cruzeiro

On 2 January 1921, a group of Italian immigrants founded the Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Now known as Cruzeiro, it has since become one of the country's most successful clubs.

The club identified strongly with Italy, originally open only to Italians and even adopting their colors from the Italian flag. But after Brazil entered World War II in 1942, the government prohibited club names from including references to the Axis nations. So, after a couple of interim iterations, Palestra Itália became Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, using the Spanish name for the Southern Cross constellation. They also abandoned the Italian tricolor for blue and white.

They won their first regional title, the Campeonato Mineiro, in 1926 and have since won it a total of 36 times, including 5 straight from 1965 to 1969, when they were led by Tostão, their all-time leading goalscorer. In 2003, they became the first club to win the Brazilian domestic treble of the top flight, the Copa do Brasil, and Campeonato Mineiro. They have also enjoyed international success, including twice winning the Copa Libertadores (1976, 1997).

Cruzeiro has maintained their success, winning the Brazilian Série A title in 2013 and 2014.

1 January 2008 - A Sound In The Forest

On 1 January 2008, Nottingham Forest hosted Huddersfield Town in a League One match that delivered controversy before the opening whistle.

Several clubs across the UK started their matches that day with a moment of silence for Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, who collapsed during a match three days earlier and died. Forest manager Colin Calderwood, a former teammate of O'Donnell's, elected not to join them, however, saying "The fact that it was a boy in Scotland, does that make it any different to a boy in Colombia?"

Forest proceeded to win the match, 2-1, and subsequently earned promotion to the Championship for the 2008-09 season.

Calderwood later had cause to regret his comments. In October 2010, he became manager of Hibernian less than a month before Motherwell were scheduled to visit. Before that match, played on 13 November, the Motherwell supporters demanded an apology from Calderwood. He duly obliged, saying "It's something that has caused offense and for that I can only apologize."

31 December 1972 - Coupet Rolls Off The Line

On 31 December 1972, French goalkeeper Grégory Coupet was born. He went on to help Lyon to a record seven straight Ligue 1 titles from 2002 to 2008.

Born in the commune of Le Puy-en-Velay in south-central France, Coupet joined the youth program of his local club, Olympique Le Puy, but signed his first professional contract with Saint-Étienne in 1993. He made only one appearance for the club that first season, but established himself as a regular starter the following year. Despite his promising performances, Les Verts were relegated at the end of the 1995-96 season, prompting his move to rivals Lyon in December 1996.

At Lyon, Coupet anchored a defense that saw steady improvement in the club's final league position every year, culminating in their league title at the end of the 2001-02 season--the first in an unprecedented seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles. Along the way, they also won the Coupe de France (2008), Coupe de la Ligue (2001), and the Trophée des Champions (six times, from 2002 to 2007). By the time Coupet left Lyon for Atlético Madrid in the summer of 2008, he had made 518 appearances, ranking him second on the club's all-time list behind Serge Chiesa (541 appearances from 1969 to 1983).

Despite his club success, including Ligue 1 Keeper of the Year awards in 2004 and 2005, Coupet never enjoyed a long run as France's first-choice keeper, falling behind Fabien Barthez earlier in his career, then behind Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda later. Nevertheless, he earned a total of 34 caps, including a starting run during Euro 2008.

He retired in 2011 after finishing his career at Paris Saint-Germain.