11 July 1977 - This Don Wasn't So Dandy

On 11 July 1977, Don Revie became the first manager to resign from the English national team. At the time, he had the worst winning percentage of any full-time England manager.

Revie had risen to prominence at Leeds, having joined them as a player in 1958, then taking over as manager in 1961 (he served as player-manager for one season before retiring as a player in 1962). He took them from the Second Division to the league champions, winning the top flight in 1969 and 1974. Along the way, he also won the Inter-Cities Fair Cup twice (1968, 1971), the FA Cup (1972), and the League Cup (1968).

After winning his second league title in 1974, the Football Association picked him as the replacement for World Cup-winning boss Alf Ramsey (Joe Mercer served briefly as caretaker in the interim). But Revie was unable to repeat the success he had enjoyed at Leeds, as England missed out on qualification for the 1976 European Championship and the 1978 World Cup. In all, England claimed only fourteen wins in 29 matches during his tenure, for a winning percentage of 48.3%.

Revie's departure created a firestorm. He resigned to take charge of the United Arab Emirates national team for a reported 4-year contract worth £340,000. That was controversial enough, but rather than issue a statement through the FA, he sold the story to the Daily Mail. The FA responded by suspending him for 10 years for "bringing the game into disrepute," but Revie successfully overturned the ban in court.

He left the UAE post in 1980 and managed Riyadh's Al-Nassr (1980-84) and Cairo's Al-Ahly (1984-85) before retiring to Scotland, where he passed away in 1989.

8 February 1966 - He Should've Limited The Striking To The Ball

On 8 February 1966, future European Footballer of the Year and World Cup Golden Boot winner Hristo Stoichkov was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

A winger/forward, he first rose to international prominence with CSKA Sofia, where his 38 goals in the 1989-90 season made him Europe's highest goalscorer. But he also created a reputation as a loose cannon, receiving a brief suspension from football for his involvement in a fight during the 1985 Bulgarian Cup.

In 1990, he moved to Barcelona. He soon became a fan favorite as Barça enjoyed one of their most successful periods, winning five La Liga titles (including four straight from 1991-94) and the 1992 European Cup. Guiding Bulgaria to the third-place playoff match at the 1994 World Cup, he contributed six goals to finish as the tournament's joint top scorer. He won the Ballon d'Or that year as Europe's greatest player.

But his hot temper followed him to Barcelona and, in his first season there, he received another brief suspension for stamping on a referee's foot. He eventually left Barça in 1995 and started a wandering journey that included stays with Parma (1995-96), Barcelona again (1996-98), CSKA Sofia again (1998), Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr (1998), and J-League side Kashiwa Reysol (1998-99).

In 2000, he moved to the United States to play two season with the Chicago Fire and one, his last, with DC United. During that last season, he again stirred up controversy by breaking the leg of a player from American University during a scrimmage with DC United, receiving a suspension and $2,000 fine.