12 September 1964 - A Red Letter Day

On 12 September 1964, Football League referees handed out a single-day record six red cards.

Of those, only one occurred in the top flight, as Leicester City playmaker David Gibson was sent off in a 3-2 loss at Leeds United. Meanwhile, in Division Two, Newcastle's Ron McGarry and Coventry City's Brian Wood were both ejected in a match Newcastle won 2-0.

Division Four had most of the day's ejections, with Aldershot's Dick Renwick seeing red in a scoreless draw with Notts County, while Stockport County's Ian Sandiford and Torquay United full back Colin Bettany were sent off in a match that Torquay won 1-0.

8 July 1980 - Ireland's Lucky Striker

On 8 July 1980, future Tottenham Hotspur striker and all-time Republic of Ireland scoring leader Robbie Keane was born in Dublin.

Keane began his professional career in 1997 with Wolverhampton and scored twice on his debut for the club. After only two seasons there, he moved to Coventry City in 1999 for £6 million, a British record at the time for a teenager, and again notched a brace on his club debut. He stayed with Coventry for only a single season and spent the next three seasons with three different clubs: Inter (where he made only 6 appearances in the 2000-01 season), then Leeds United (where he played from 2000-02), and Tottenham.

He enjoyed relative stability at Tottenham, playing there for a total of eight seasons from 2002 to 2011, broken by short spells at Liverpool (19 appearances in the 2008-09 season), Celtic (16 appearances in the 2009-10 season), and West Ham (9 appearances in the 2010-11 season). Over the course of his club career, he has scored 210 goals in 549 appearances.

In 1998, while still with Wolves, Keane earned his first cap for Ireland. He has since played for them a total of 108 times. In September 2004, he scored his 21st goal for Ireland to match the record set by Niall Quinn, then passed it with a brace the next month. His current tally stands at 51 after he scored both goals in Ireland's 2-0 win over Macedonia in a Euro 2012 qualifier played in June 2011.

27 February 1999 - The Last Of The English Starting XIs

On 27 February 1999, Aston Villa fielded an all-English starting eleven--the last time that's happened in the Premier League.

At the time, Villa were in fourth place and took the pitch that day at home against Coventry City, who were sitting in the relegation zone at 18th. Coventry had not won at Villa Park in 23 attempts and Villa had won the season's earlier fixture at Highfield Road, 1-2, so would have been understandably confident if not for the fact that they had taken only a single point from their last four league matches.

The visitors struck first when their Australian striker, John Aloisi, found the back of the net after 25 minutes. The situation grew worse for the hosts when manager John Gregory had to make two substitutions before the break, replacing Ian Taylor and Steve Watson with Mark Draper and Gareth Barry (still keeping a full English side).

Dion Dublin eventually scored for Villa from the penalty spot, but another goal from Aloisi and two stunning strikes from Dutch midfielder George Boateng ended the day 1-4 to Coventry.

(Villa's starting XI that day were Michael Oakes, Alan Wright, Gareth Southgate, Steve Watson, Riccardo Scimeca, Ian Taylor, Paul Merson (pictured), Simon Grayson, Lee Hendrie, Dion Dublin, and Julian Joachim; with Gareth Barry, Stan Collymore, and Mark Draper as substitutes.)

9 February 2010 - Gray And Keys Just Haven't Been Paying Attention

On 9 February 2010, Amy Fearn became the first woman to referee an English Football League match when she took charge of the last 20 minutes of Coventry City's contest against Nottingham Forest.

Despite the recent controversy that saw Sky Sports analysts Andy Gray and Richard Keys lose their jobs after making sexist remarks against Premier League assistant referee Sian Massey, England's Football League has used female officials since 1991, when Wendy Toms served as a reserve official for a Third Division match. Toms later worked as an assistant referee in both the Football League and the Premier League, and also refereed matches in the non-League Football Conference starting in 1996.

But no woman had ever been the primary official in England's top four divisions until Fearn. A financial analyst for Rolls Royce who has worked as an official since she was 14, Fearn had worked League matches as a referee's assistant since 2006. And she was again filling that role for the Coventry-Forest match when, with 20 minutes left, the match's originally-assigned referee, Tony Bates, left the pitch with a leg injury. Fearn then took the whistle and her place in history.

The match ended as a 1-0 win for Coventry. Although Fearn heard a few taunts, she shrugged them off, saying afterward "I just laugh and take it with a pinch of salt." Coventry striker Clinton Morrison praised Fearn, saying "There was no dissent when she was in charge and no bad language. It would have been interesting if there had been any controversy but there wasn’t because she did a very good job. There is only one thing that matters about the person in charge and that is how good a referee they are."

8 April 1996 - Busst's Bad Break

On 8 April 1996, Coventry City defender David Busst suffered one of the most horrific injuries in football history during a Premier League match against Manchester United.

Just under two minutes into the match at Old Trafford, Coventry won a corner kick and Busst (pronounced "Boost") rushed forward into United's penalty area. As the kick came in, United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel knocked the ball toward Busst, who slipped in between two United players to get a toe on it. Then, as Busst tells it, "that's when the screaming started." He fell to the ground with his right leg bent at an unnatural right angle - his tibia and fibula both had snapped in two after colliding with United's Brian McClair and Denis Irwin.

The match was delayed for 15 minutes while the ground staff cleaned blood off the pitch. Reportedly, Schmeichel was so disturbed by the sight of the injury that he vomited. He also later sought counseling to deal with the memory. Soon after the match, he visited Busst in the hospital, as did United's Alex Ferguson, Steve Bruce, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Eric Cantona, as well as Busst's Coventry City teammates.

Busst underwent a total of 22 operations to repair the damage, but while the doctors saved his leg, he never played professional football again. He remains involved with the game, however, and currently serves as director of Coventry City's Football in the Community program.

16 October 2004 - Eastwood Was Quick On The Draw

On 16 October 2004, 19-year old Welsh forward Freddy Eastwood made his first League start in record-setting fashion, scoring for Southend United in the first few seconds. He added two more goals later to complete his hat-trick, leading Southend to a 4-2 win over Swansea City.

Eastwood started his football career with Southend as a member of their youth squad from 1997 to 1999. In 1999, he moved to West Ham's youth academy and signed his first professional contract with the Hammers in 2002. He was released in 2003, having failed to make any League appearances.

He signed with non-League side Grays Athletic for the 2003-04 season, and became the club's top scorer that season with 37 goals. In October 2004, he returned on loan to Southend, then in League Two.

In that first match, he headed home a cross in 7.7 seconds, a League record for a debut. His scored his second in the 58th minute, then his third in the 87th minute.

Eastwood left Southend after the 2006-07 season, having scored 49 league goals in 111 appearances. He currently plays for Coventry City.

30 August 1919 - A Nation's Long Wait Is Over

On 30 August 1919, English League football began its first season since 1915, when the League was suspended for World War I.

While many clubs fielded teams for regional competitions during that period, all Football League and FA Cup matches were cancelled for the duration of the war. When League play resumed on 30 August 1919, it picked up where it had left off, so that clubs who had been relegated or promoted in 1915 finally appeared in their new surroundings.

Both Derby County and Preston North End played their first League matches since achieving promotion at the end of the 1914-15 season by finishing first and second, respectively, in Division Two. Derby enjoyed their season debut with a 1-1 draw against Manchester United (whose 1919-20 squad is pictured above), while Preston suffered the top flight's most lopsided result of the day, a 4-0 beating at the hands of Blackburn.

Tottenham Hotspur, on the other hand, opened its season in the Second Division, relegated after finishing at the bottom of the First Division table in 1915. Their Division Two opener was a stellar 0-5 win away to Coventry City, which was the largest margin of victory that day in the second tier. The start was no fluke, as Spurs went on to win Division Two and earn promotion back to the top flight in 1920.

19 May 1977 - Who's In The Top Flight Now, Jimmy Hill?

On 19 May 1977, Sunderland were controversially relegated out of the English top flight after losing 2-0 away to Everton on the last day of the season.

At the start of the day, Sunderland was battling Coventry City and Bristol City for the final relegation spot. Sunderland were in the third-bottom position with 34 points, one point behind the other two clubs, who were playing against each other. Coventry chairman Jimmy Hill (pictured) delayed the start of their match for 15 minutes, claiming "crowd congestion" as the reason for the late start. As soon as he learned of the Sunderland result, Hill had the score announced in the stadium, where the match was tied 2-2. Sunderland's loss meant that both teams each needed only a draw to stay ahead of the Black Cats and avoid the drop. Both Coventry and Bristol switched to very conservative game plans and the match ended 2-2.

Hill was subsequently reprimanded by the Football Association for delaying the kick-off, but the results of that day were allowed to stand.

Hill, who later became a television pundit, attended Fulham's 2008 match against Sunderland at Craven Cottage. When the Black Cat supporters in the stands saw him, they made clear that they remembered his role in their 1977 relegation, showering him with boos and verbal abuse. Hill had to be led out of the stadium under police escort.