On 5 May 1992, eighteen people died when a terrace collapsed at the Stade Armand-Césari in Furiani, Corsica during a Coupe de France semifinal.
Local side Bastia had advanced through the tournament to face Ligue 1 leaders Marseille in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to play Monaco in the final. Bastia's directors decided to capitalize on the high-profile match by increasing the stadium's capacity, building a temporary terrace to hold an additional 10,000 fans. But before the match got underway, the new structure collapsed, killing eighteen people and injuring over 2,300 others.
The teams never played their semifinal, as the FFF decided to cancel the remainder of the tournament, leaving the Coupe de France without a winner for the first time.
On 4 May 1966, goalkeeper Peter Shilton made the first of his Football League record 1,005 appearances, starting for Leicester in a 3-0 win over Everton.
Shilton joined Leicester's youth academy in 1963 at the age of 13, then moved up to the first team in 1966 at the insistence of their starting goalkeeper, Gordon Banks. He was only 16 when he got his first start, replacing Banks for a home match against Everton and keeping a clean sheet in the 3-0 victory.
Banks went on to win the World Cup with England the following summer, but Leicester traded him away to Stoke soon after, preferring to stick with Shilton for the 1967-68 season. Shilton made 286 league appearances for Leicester before following in Banks's footsteps and moving to Stoke in 1974. After three seasons with Stoke, he moved again, and spent time at Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Wimbledon, Bolton, Coventry, West Ham, and Leyton Orient before retiring in 1997 at the age of 47.
He also holds the appearance record for England, with 125 caps between 1970 and 1990.
On 3 May 2006, Heart of Midlothian secured second place with a 1-0 win over Aberdeen. It was the first time anyone had come between Celtic and Rangers at the top of the table since 1995.
Hearts had started the season with a 12-match unbeaten run in the league that included a 1-0 victory over Rangers. But they remained in second place for the entire second half of season, thanks in part to a critical 3-0 win over Celtic on 30 April. When they faced Aberdeen, Hearts were one point ahead of Rangers with a game in hand, but had to play away at Ibrox the next week in their final match of the season.
Although playing in front of their home fans and needing the win, Hearts struggled to create many opportunities. But Aberdeen center back Zander Diamond literally handed them a lifeline when he was flagged for a handball in the box in the 54th minute. Midfielder Paul Hartley converted the ensuing spot-kick for the game's only goal.
The win put Hearts four points clear of Rangers. So, although they lost to Rangers on the last day, they held on to second place, becoming the first team to come between Celtic and Rangers since Motherwell did it in 1995.
On 2 May 1953, Blackpool rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Bolton 4-3 in the FA Cup Final. Although Blackpool forward Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick, the match is nicknamed "the Matthews Final" after his teammate, winger Stanley Matthews, who inspired the comeback.
The two teams had split their meetings in the league that season, with both teams winning at home to set up the decider in the Final. It was Blackpool's third trip to the Final after losing their first two, while Bolton had already won it three times.
Playing before a crowd of 100,000 at Wembley, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse put his team ahead in only the second minute with a speculative shot from outside the box that bounced through the arms of keeper George Farm. Mortensen equalized in the 35th minute, but goals from Bobby Langton (40') and Eric Bell (55') made it look like Bolton's cup to lose.
But thirteen minutes later, the 38-year old Matthews blew through the Bolton back line and cross the ball in for a Mortensen header. In the 89th minute, Mortensen equalized with a free kick to complete his hat-trick. Blackpool controlled the ball for the remaining time, with Matthews befuddling the defense with clever dribbling and speed (though it certainly helped that two Bolton players were playing injured for the last 20 minutes). In the second minute of stoppage time, he provided another cross in from the right that was headed in by left winger Bill Perry for the win.
It was Blackpool's first major silverware and the only major club trophy won by Matthews in his 33-year career.
On 1 May 2002, Real Madrid and Barcelona met in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal match-up. The game ended as a 1-1 draw, which was enough to see Madrid through to claim their ninth European Cup/Champions League trophy.
The fierce rivals had faced off twice before in the competition, with Madrid winning both legs of their semifinal meeting in the spring of 1960 and going on to win the Final. The next fall, it was Barcelona who advanced, winning 4-3 on aggregate in the first round en route to the Final, which they lost to Benfica.
By May of 2002, they had already played each other three times. Madrid won twice, including a 2-0 victory in the semifinal's first leg (the other match was a 1-1 draw in the league). Playing before a crowd of 75,000 at the Bernabéu, Barcelona pressed for the needed goals, but it was Madrid who took the lead with a left-footed shot from Raúl in the 43rd minute.
Barça were finally rewarded in the 48th minute when Madrid defender Iván Helguera deflected a cross into his own net. The visitors continued to press for chances, but wasted them as shots from Javier Saviola, Patrick Kluivert, Luis Enrique, and Geovanni all shot wide.
The match ended 1-1 and Madrid went on to the Final in Glasgow where they beat Bayer Leverkusen, 1-2.
On 30 April 1949, Paraguay secured their record victory, beating Bolivia 7-0 in the Copa América.
Dating back to 1910, the national team of Paraguay had finished as runners-up in the tournament three times, but had never won it. By the time they played Bolivia in 1949, they were again in second place, just behind Brazil, after losing to Uruguay ten days earlier.
Playing before a crowd of 45,000 at Rio de Janeiro's Estádio São Januário, Paraguay looked determined to maintain their title challenge with a first-half hat-trick from Jorge Benítez. Forward Dionisio Arce added a fourth before the break. They contributed another goal each in the second half, while Pedro Fernández joined them on the scoresheet. It was a crushing defeat for Bolivia, but not their worst of the tourney--they had already lost to Brazil 10-1 earlier that month.
Paraguay went on to beat Brazil 2-1 in the last scheduled match. The win drew the teams level in the table, forcing a playoff. That match ended 7-0, but Paraguay were on the wrong end that time as Brazil claimed their third Copa América title. Paraguay did eventually win the tournament in 1953 and again in 1979.
In 2010, Paraguay matched the 7-0 scoreline with a win over Hong Kong in a post-World Cup friendly.
On 29 April 1996, Franz ("Der Kaiser") Beckenbauer returned to Bayern Munich for a second stint as manager and collected another piece of silverware in his two months in charge.
Beckenbauer, who won four league titles and three European Cups with Bayern from 1964 to 1977, originally returned to the club for the second half of the 1993-94 season. After lifting them to the 1994 Bundesliga title, he stepped aside as manager, handing the reins to Giovanni Trapattoni. Beckenbauer remained with the club as president.
Otto Rehhagel was their manager for the 1995-96 season, but despite some success on the pitch, he had a difficult relationship with the team's players, who considered his tactics and style to be too old-fashioned. Bayern cut ties with him in April 1996, just as the team was preparing to contest the UEFA Cup Final.
Once more, they turned to Beckenbauer, who took over for the last two months of the season. His first match in charge was the UEFA Cup Final, which ended as a 2-0 victory over Bordeaux. Bayern proceeded to win one and draw one of their last four matches to secure a second-place spot in the Bundesliga. Beckenbauer stepped down once again, and once again turned the club over to Trapattoni.
On 5 May 1992, eighteen people died when a terrace collapsed at the Stade Armand-Césari in Furiani, Corsica during a Coupe de France semifinal.
