17 September 1974 - They Should Have Saved Some For Later

On September 1974, Liverpool kicked off their Cup Winners' Cup campaign by pounding Norwegian club Strømsgodset by the score of 11-0. It remains Liverpool's greatest margin of victory, with nine separate players scoring goals.

It was the second Cup Winners' Cup appearance for Strømsgodset, who were eliminated in the first round in the 1970-71 competition. They fared no better in 1974, when they traveled to Anfield for the first leg of their first-round match-up with Liverpool.

The Reds wasted no time in establishing their dominance, going ahead in the third minute with a penalty kick by Alec Lindsay. Phil Boersma doubled the lead 10 minutes later and Liverpool went up 5-0 by halftime with a strike from Phil Thompson (30'), another from Boersma (40'), and one from Steve Heighway (42'). The second half was even worse for the Norwegians, as Peter Cormack (65') got on the scoresheet, followed by goals from Thompson (74'), Emlyn Hughes (76'), Tommy Smith (85'), Ian Callaghan (87'), and Ray Kennedy (88').

The Reds were less prolific in the remainder of the tournament, winning the second leg 1-0, then dropping out of the competition on away goals after drawing 1-1 on aggregate with Ferencváros in the second round.

15 September 1941 - Scoring In The Sixties

On 15 September 1941, Hungarian striker and 1967 European Footballer of the Year Flórián Albert was born in the village of Hercegszántó. He has been described as one of the most elegant players of all time.

Albert spent his entire career with one club, Ferencváros. From 1958 to 1974, he made 351 league appearances and scored 255 goals, for a career average of just over 0.72 goals per match. Both Albert and his club had prolific success in the 1960s. In the 1959-60 and 1960-61 seasons, he was the Hungarian league's top scorer, with 27 and 21 goals respectively, and later repeated the feat in 1964-65. Ferencváros, meanwhile, won four league titles (1963, 1964, 1967, and 1968), as well as the 1965 Fairs Cup (the predecessor to the UEFA Cup). He was also the top scorer in the 1966-67 Fairs Cup with 8 goals, despite being eliminated in the third round by Eintracht Frankfurt, a feat which was instrumental in his winning the Ballon d'Or.

He retired in 1974 after making only 9 appearances and scoring 2 goals in the '73-'74 season. In 2007, Ferencváros named their stadium in his honor.