18 January 1961 - The Ceiling Is Lifted (And The Sky's The Limit)

On 18 January 1961, England finally lifted the wage restriction for footballers that had previously capped their earnings at £20 per week (£17 in the close season).

The wage limit was one of two concerns for players of the time. The other was the retain-and-transfer system, which gave the clubs complete authority regarding player movement from one club to another. Together, the two matters nearly prompted a player strike in January 1961, backed by the Professional Footballers' Association and their chairman, Jimmy Hill (pictured, at left).

Hill, who played for Brentford from 1949-52, then for Fulham from 1952-61, became the PFA chairman in 1957 and continued the organization's longstanding opposition to the wage restriction. The Football Association and the Football League, however, argued that the £20 weekly wage was a fair one, being 25% higher than the average industrial wage at the time. But at a PFA meeting earlier that January, Bolton's Tommy Banks generated support for a challenge, pointing out that anyone could take a crack at being a miner, but few miners could play football in front of 30,000 spectators every week.

The threat of the impending strike forced the authorities to capitulate and lift the wage. While many players saw their wages doubled as a result, Hill's Fulham teammate Johnny Haynes was the greatest beneficiary, becoming England's first £100-a-week player.

Since then, wages have increased dramatically, with several of the Premier League's top players pulling in a reported £200,000 per week.

The retain-and-transfer system remained in place until 1963.

17 January 1970 - Haynes Makes His Fulham Farewell

On 17 January 1970, Fulham icon Johnny Haynes played his last match for the London club, a 1-1 home draw with Stockport County.

Dubbed "the Maestro," Haynes started his professional career with Fulham in 1952. Before his departure in 1970, he made a club record 658 appearances and scored a then-record haul of 158 goals (later surpassed by Gordon Davies in 1991). Haynes, however, preferred creating goal opportunities to scoring them and was once described by Pelé as "the best passer of the ball I've ever seen." He broke yet another record in 1961 when Fulham made him the first player in England to earn a weekly wage of £100.

Fulham were in the Second Division when Haynes joined the club. He helped them earn promotion to the top flight in 1959 on the heels of his 26 league goals, a career best. But after 9 seasons in the First Division, they suffered back-to-back relegations and played Haynes' last season in Division Three.

After leaving Fulham, he spent five seasons in South Africa before retiring. After his death from a brain hemorrhage in 2005, Fulham renamed a stand a Craven Cottage in his honor and also retired his number 10 shirt. Three years later, the club unveiled a statute of Haynes outside the stadium.

29 May 1963 - "... And A Child Shall Lead Them ..."

On 29 May 1963, center back Bobby Moore became England's youngest senior team captain at 22 years, 47 days.

Moore, who played for West Ham from 1958 to 1974, earned his first senior cap for England in May 1962 in a 4-0 friendly victory over Peru. He played a significant role for England in the 1962 World Cup, which ended in a quarterfinal defeat to eventual winners Brazil.

His appearance on 29 May 1963 was only his 12th for the national team. Long-serving captain Johnny Haynes had just retired and his immediate successor, Jimmy Armfield, was injured, leading new manager Alf Ramsey to hand the captain's armband to Moore. He rewarded Ramsey's faith by leading the team to a 4-2 win over Czechoslovakia.

Armfield reclaimed the captaincy upon his return, but Moore received it permanently in 1964. He led England to victory in the 1966 World Cup, which made him an English football icon. He made a total of 108 appearances for the national team, a record at the time that was later surpassed by goalkeeper Peter Shilton (125 caps) and David Beckham (109, as of the time of this writing).