THOSE WERE THE DAYS
ON THIS DATE IN SPORTING HISTORY
1901: Snooker great Joe Davis was born. He went on to win 15 world titles, starting with the inaugural World Championship in 1927, up to his retirement from the event in 1946. He also won the world professional billiards title four times. He died in 1978. 1964: George Best made his debut for Northern Ireland, helping them to a 3-2 win over Wales in Swansea. He went on to represent his country 37 times and scored nine goals but never played in a major finals.
1985: Undisputed world middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler destroyed Thomas Hearns in arguably the most explosive fight in boxing history, stopping his opponent in the third round in Las Vegas.
1986: Viv Richards hit a Test century off 56 balls against England on his home ground of St John’s, Antigua. 1989: The FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest turned into the worst tragedy in British sporting history, with 96 fans losing their lives in the Hillsborough disaster.
2005: Former Scotland coach Ian McGeechan announced he was quitting as the Scottish Rugby Union’s director of rugby to take up a similar post at Wasps.
2009: The ECB announced that former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower had been appointed England team director. 2018: Manchester City became Premier League champions as they took an unassailable lead in the title race after Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to West Brom.