ON THIS DAY
1888: An informal meeting of clubs interested in forming a football league was held at Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street. The first formal meeting was held on April 17.
1906: The first rugby union international between England and France was played in Paris. England won 35-8.
1929: The Grand National attracted a record field of 66 runners. The 100-1 winner was Gregalach, ridden by Bob Everett.
1950: Two-time darts world champion Jocky Wilson was born. The Scot died on March 24, 2012.
2006: England’s Kelly Sotherton won gold in the heptathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
2008: Somerset confirmed opening batsman Marcus Trescothick had ended his England career.
2009: England’s women beat New Zealand by four wickets to win the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final in Sydney. 2010: Football Association chief executive Ian Watmore resigned. 2013: The London Legacy Development Corporation announced West Ham United as anchor tenants of London’s Olympic Stadium. Plans were unveiled to transform the venue into a 54,000-seater stadium by the start of the 2016-17 season. 2015: Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard apologised for being sent off within a minute of coming off the bench for his final appearance against Manchester United, who won 2-1 in the Premier League at Anfield.
2016: FIFA’S ethics committee opened formal proceedings against six individuals, including former World Cup winning coach and player Franz Beckenbauer, over the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany.
2018: England suffered their sixth-worst result in Test history after collapsing for 58 against New Zealand at Auckland’s Eden Park.