29 December 1980 - Arrivederci, Gigi

On 29 December 1980, Luigi "Gigi" Peronace, the first football agent in England, died of a heart attack in Montevideo. He was 55 years old.

The Calabria-born Peronace (pictured at far left) held a variety of roles in football, including serving as a translator for Juventus managers William Chalmers and Jesse Carver. He also served as Carver's business manager at Tornio, but left there in 1954 to become the transfer manager at Lazio.

He moved into agency in 1957, when he was contacted by then-Leyton Orient manager Alex Stock, who was interested in taking charge of an Italian club. Peronace helped negotiate a deal with Roma and Stock became their manager later that year. That same year, he was involved in bringing Leeds United forward John Charles to Juventus for a British-record fee of £65,000 (almost double the previous record).

Peronace helped shatter that record when he negotiated the sale of Denis Law from Manchester City to Torino for £100,000. He then beat it again when he helped Law move back to Manchester (this time for Manchester United) for £115,000. Meanwhile, he was also involved in Jimmy Greaves' switch from Chelsea to AC Milan and Joe Baker's move from Hibernian to Torino, then later helped Liam Brady join Juventus from Arsenal.

He wasn't only an agent--in addition to serving as general manager for the Italian national team for the 1978 World Cup and the 1980 European Championship, he helped organize the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1970 (it was later named the Gigi Peronace Memorial).

27 December 1931 - Long Live The King

On 27 December 1931, legendary center forward and Welsh international John Charles was born in Swansea. Known as the "King John," Charles starred for both Leeds United and Juventus.

In 1948, at the age of 17, he started his career with Leeds United, who were then in the Second Division. He played at Elland Road until 1957, scoring 150 goals in 297 league appearances, and helping the side earn promotion to the First Division in 1956.

In 1957, Charles moved to Juventus for the then-British record fee of £65,000. While in Italy, he won three Scudettos (1958, 1960, 1961) and two Coppa Italia titles (1959, 1960). His success with Juventus brought him several individual accolades, starting with the 1958 Italian Player of the Year award. He was later voted the greatest foreign player ever to play in Serie A and, in 2001, was the first non-Italian elected to the Azzurri Hall of Fame.

He returned to Leeds in 1962, but failed to recapture his former glory, making only 11 appearances. He then spent time with Roma (1962-63), Cardiff City (1963-66), Hereford United (1966-71), and Welsh side Merthyr Tydfil (1972-74) before retiring in 1974.

Charles was elected to the English Hall of Fame in 2002. Leeds have honored their former hero by naming both the West Stand and the reserve stadium in his honor. He died in 2004.

16 June 1927 - The Real Hebrew Hammer

On 16 June 1927, Yaakov Hodorov was born in Rishon LeZion, Palestine. Remembered as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, he played for the Israeli national team from 1949 to 1964.

Hodorov began his professional career in 1942 at the age of 15 with his hometown club Maccabi Rishon LeZion, but moved after a couple of years to local rival Hapoel Rishon LeZion. In 1947, he moved again, this time to Hapoel Tel Aviv, where he spent the majority of his club career and won his first major honors - the Israeli league championship in 1957 and the Israeli cup in 1960.

One of Hodorov's most memorable matches was a World Cup qualifier against Wales on 5 February 1958. At the time, Israel was playing in the Asian Football Confederation and almost qualified for the 1958 World Cup without playing a match. Israel's first scheduled opponent was Turkey, who refused to compete in the Asian group, allowing Israel to advance. Israel's opponent in the second round, Indonesia, withdrew from qualification after FIFA rejected their request to play Israel on neutral ground. Israel was then scheduled to play Sudan in the third round, but the Sudanese refused to play.

Israel would have qualified automatically, but FIFA ruled that, apart from the hosts and the defending champions, no team could qualify without playing a match and thus drew Wales for a special playoff against Israel. After Wales won the first leg 2-0 in Israel, the teams met in Cardiff on 5 February 1958. Wales again won 2-0, but Hodorov drew high praise for making several outstanding saves and playing after suffering a broken nose in a collision with Welsh striker John Charles.

Hadorov reportedly received numerous offers to play for European clubs including Arsenal, Dundee United, and Fenerbahçe, but chose to play his entire career in Israel.

In 2006, the Israeli government awarded him the Israel Prize for excellence and contribution to sports. He had a stroke shortly before the presentation ceremony, however, and was unable to attend. He died on 31 December 2006 at the age of 79.