16 March 2002 - The Battle Of Bramall Lane

On 16 March 2002, a match between Sheffield United and West Brom was abandoned after 82 minutes and three red cards.

The ejections started early, as United goalkeeper Simon Tracey received a 9th-minute red card for handling the ball outside the box, forcing United to make an early substitution to bring on their back-up keeper. West Brom capitalized on the man advantage, with forward Scott Dobie scoring in the 18th minute. Captain Derek McInnes doubled the lead in the 63rd minute, then sparks started to fly.

United manager Neil Warnock made a double substitution in the 64th minute, bringing on midfielder Georges Santos and forward Patrick Suffo, but neither remained on the pitch for long. Santos received his red card in the 65th minute for a violent two-footed tackle on West Brom's Andy Johnson. One minute later, Suffo received his marching orders for headbutting McInnes.

After another goal from Dobie (77'), United lost two more players to injury. Having already made all three substitutions and lost three players, they were down to six men, leading referee Eddie Wolstenholme to abandon the match in the 83rd minute.

West Brom manager Gary Megsom refused to participate in a replay, but it turned out to be unnecessary, as the FA allowed the 0-3 result to stand.

4 February 1937 - Stanley And Steele Strike For Stoke

On 4 February 1937, Stoke City recorded their record victory, beating West Brom by the score of 10-3. It is also West Brom's record loss.

The teams met at Stoke's Victoria Ground separated by six spots in the table, with Stoke in fourteenth and West Brom sitting in twenty-first, only one place above the bottom. Their previous match ended as a 2-2 draw, so few people expected what happened next.

Powered by their star forward Stanley Matthews (pictured, left), Stoke took the lead in the 10th minute (scored by Freddie Steele (pictured, right) from a Matthews cross), but West Brom equalized one minute later. They scored again in the 20th minute and never looked back. Steele converted a 32nd-minute penalty to extend the lead to 3-1, then scored again to push the lead to 4-1 by the break.

In the second half, Stoke continued to surge and were up 5-1 before West Brom got their second goal. But Steele continued to torment the Baggies, scoring twice more to push the score to 7-2 en route to the final score of 10-3.

Steele went on to score a club record 33 league goals that season, part of his career total of 140 in 224 league appearances.

5 January 1963 - The FA Cup Gets Put On Ice

On 5 January 1963, the longest round in FA Cup history kicked off, as severe winter weather forced postponements that stretched out into the middle of March.

Britain's coldest winter since 1740 delivered a combination of snow and ice, sending the country into what commentators called "the Big Freeze." Consequently, all of the FA Cup matches scheduled for that Saturday were postponed except for three--two in the North West (Sunderland's 1-4 win at Preston North End and Tranmere Rovers' 2-2 draw with Chelsea) and one in the South West (West Brom's 1-5 win at Plymouth).

Some matches were played a few days later while others suffered repeated postponements. Birmingham City's contest against Bury included a replay, one match that had to be abandoned, and a total of 14 postponements before Bury claimed a 2-0 victory on 7 March. In all, there were 261 postponements over the course of three weeks.

The round finally ended on 11 March when Middlesbrough beat Blackburn in a replay.

19 December 2002 - Rowley Rests In Peace

On 19 December 2002, striker Arthur Rowley died at the age of 76. His career total of 434 goals remains an English league record.

Born in Wolverhampton in 1926, Rowley began his professional career in 1944 with West Brom. He failed to settle at the Hawthorns, however, and moved to Fulham in 1948. There, his 19 goals helped the Cottagers win the Second Division, but his scoring touch left him in the top flight and Fulham sold him on to Leicester City in 1950.

He flourished at Leicester, knocking in 28 goals in his first season there. In his second season, he increased his tally to 38, then raised it again the next year to 41. In all, he scored a total of 265 goals in 321 appearances for the Foxes, making him their second all-time leading scorer, behind Arthur Chandler (273 in 419 appearances). His best season was 1956-57, when his total of 44 set a club record for a single season.

In the summer of 1958, Leicester manager Dave Halliday sold Rowley to Shrewsbury as player-manager (an unpopular move among Leicester fans and one that contributed to Halliday's sacking later that year). Rowley continued to score in waves, netting 38 times in his first season there--and setting another club record for single season. By the time he retired from playing in 1965, he was the club's all-time leading scorer with 152 league goals.

He remained with Shrewsbury as manager for another three years and later took charge of Sheffield United (1968-69), Southend United (1970-76), and Knighton Town (1976) before retiring for good.

10 April 1886 - I'll Bet Joe's Nickname Was "Sweetcheeks"

On 10 April 1886, Blackburn Rovers won their third straight FA Cup. It was only the second--and last--time any club won three in a row.

Founded in 1875, Rovers found early success in the FA Cup. They advanced to the Final in 1882 where they lost to Old Etonians, 1-0. After a Second Round exit in the 1882-83 tournament (which was won by local rivals Blackburn Olympic), Rovers returned to the Final in 1884 and 1885, winning both against Scottish side Queen's Park.

In the 1886 Final, they faced off against West Bromwich Albion. The two sides first met on 3 April at the Finals' usual venue, London's Kennington Oval, but played to a scoreless draw. West Brom proposed playing into extra time, but Blackburn declined, forcing a replay one week later.

The replay was held at the Racecourse Ground in Derby, the first time a Final had been hosted outside of London. A crowd of 12,000 watched as Rovers secured a 2-0 victory with goals from forwards Joe Sowerbutts and James Brown (who was also the team captain). Before then, the only team to win three consecutive FA Cups was London side Wanderers, who won the tournament in 1876, 1877, and 1888.

West Brom won the Cup two years later and have five FA Cups total. Blackburn meanwhile, went on to win it three more times for a total of six, with the last coming in 1928.

1 March 1979 - The Seventh Time's The Charm

On 1 March 1979, West Brom defeated Leeds United in the teams' seventh meeting of the season.

They first met that season back in August, battling to a scoreless draw in the second round of the League Cup. Another scoreless draw followed before Leeds advanced with a 1-0 victory. They also met twice in the league where they split the results by both losing at home.

Only two days after the second league meeting, they faced off at the Hawthorns in the fourth round of the FA Cup and finally found their shooting form, playing to a 3-3 draw. That result set up the replay for 1 March at Elland Road.

Scoreless at the end of regulation, the replay went to extra time, where West Brom revenged their League Cup exit with a 2-0 win. Unfortunately for the Baggies, they were eliminated in the next round by Southampton (the same team that knocked Leeds out of the League Cup).

1 August 1976 - Kanu Can Do

On 1 August 1976, future Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu was born in the city of Owerri. He would go on to become the most decorated African footballer in history.

Kanu made his professional debut in 1991 at the age of 16 for Nigerian First Division club Federation Works, scoring 20 goals in 35 appearances before moving to fellow Nigerian club Iwaunyanwu Nationale, now known as Heartland FC, in 2002. He won the Nigerian Premier League title in 1993, his first silverware.

He rose to international prominence in 1993, when he signed with Dutch side Ajax. There, he won three consecutive Eredivisie titles (1994, 1995, 1996) and the UEFA Champions League (1995). He left Ajax for Inter in the summer of 1996, after captaining Nigeria to the Olympic gold medal - a feat that earned him the 1996 African Footballer of the Year award. But a defective aortic valve limited his playing time with Inter and he moved to Arsenal in February 1999.

He resumed his successful streak at Arsenal, winning two Premier League titles (2002 and 2004) and two FA Cups (2002, 2003). But the emergence of Thierry Henry pushed Kanu to the bench and, dissatisfied with his reduced playing time, he moved to West Bromwich Albion in 2004. He spent two seasons with West Brom, then moved to Portsmouth, where he again raised the FA Cup in 2008.

15 July 1989 - The Death Of Laurie Cunningham

On 15 July 1989, 33-year old former Real Madrid winger Laurie Cunningham died in a car accident in Madrid. He had been the club's first English signing, which was one of many "firsts" throughout his fifteen-year professional career.

Born in London, Cunningham signed his first professional contract with Leyton Orient. He played there for three years before moving to West Bromwhich Albion, where he was joined by Cyrille Regis and, the next year, Brendon Batson to mark the first time an English side fielded three black players at the same time. Cunningham's pace and exciting style of play drew favorable attention and he became the first black player to represent England at any level when he played for the under-21s in a 1977 friendly. Two years later, he became the first black player fielded by the English senior side in a competitive match (Viv Anderson had played earlier for England, but in a friendly).

In the summer of 1979, he made his historic switch to Real Madrid for £950,000. He scored twice in his league debut against Valencia and also played well in both league matches against Barcelona as Real won La Liga and the Copa del Rey that season. The next season, he helped Real reach the European Cup Final, where they lost 1-0. But injuries soon impaired his ability and he went on loan to Manchester United (1982-83) and Sporting Gijon (1983-84) before transferring to Marseille in 1984.

With his pace reduced, he spent the remainder of his career as a wandering journeyman, spending time with Leicester City (1985-86), Rayo Vallecano (1986-87), Wimbledon (1987-88), and Charleroi (1987-88). He returned to Rayo Vallecano in 1988 and scored the goal that secured their promotion to the Spanish First Division for the 1989-90 season. He was looking forward to his return to Spain's top flight when he had the car crash that killed him.

29 April 1901 - Liverpool Walks To The Top

On 29 April 1901, Liverpool beat hosts West Bromwich Albion 0-1 to secure their first League title. It was a remarkable acheivement for the club, who had been sitting in eighth place in the middle of February, seemingly out of the title race.

Their march to the title started on 23 February with a win at Sunderland, 0-1, that lifted Liverpool to seventh place. It was the start of a 12-match unbeaten run to end the season, including wins over Notts County, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle, and a draw against Bury, all of whom, along with Sunderland, were challenging for title.

The match against West Brom was Liverpool's last of the season. The Reds were sitting in second place, even on points with first-place Sunderland, who had completed their season five days earlier, so even a draw would win the title for the Merseysiders. And West Brom were in last place, already assured of relegation, so few people expected them to put up much of a fight.

West Brom, however, came to play and were somewhat unlucky to go down 1-0 in the first half after their goalkeeper parried a shot into the path of Liverpool's John Walker, who slammed it home. Liverpool held the Baggies off in the second half to clinch the win and the title. It was the first of eighteen League titles for Liverpool, a record they share with Manchester United.

20 April 1895 - Villa Wins The Cup, Then Loses It

On 20 April 1895, Aston Villa (pictured) scored what was at the time the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history to beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 before a crowd of 42,560 at London's Crystal Palace. Because many of those attendees were slow entering the stadium, they missed the record-setting goal.

There is some dispute about who actually scored the goal. According to post-match reports, Villa center forward John Devey started the match, kicking the ball to inside-left Dennis Hodgetts, who then sent it to winger Charlie Athersmith on the right. Athersmith then crossed it to the goalmouth, where it fell to inside forward Bob Chatt, who then half-volleyed it toward the goal. The ball entered the goal sometime between the 30th and 39th second of the match.

Press reports credited the goal to Chatt, but some Villa players said later that West Brom keeper Joe Reader deflected Chatt's shot into the path of Devey, who fired it into the net. In any event, the FA still lists Chatt as the goalscorer on the 30th second. It turned out to be the match-winner, as neither team was able to penetrate the other's defense for the remainder of the match.

It was the second FA Cup title for Villa, who had won it in 1887 by beating West Brom 2-0. Villa didn't get to hold on to it for very long, though, as the 1895 Cup itself was stolen shortly after the Final and has never been recovered.

Villa's record goal stood for 114 years until it was overtaken in 2009 when Everton's Louis Saha scored at the 25-second mark in their 2-1 loss to Chelsea.

1 February 1936 - The Floodgates Opened

On 1 February 1936, the sides in the four levels of the English pyramid set a collective League record by scoring (or conceding) a total of 209 goals in a single day. Nine players scored hat-tricks and three players bagged four goals each.

The goals were scored in 44 different matches, for an average of 4.75 goals per match. Highlights included Chester City's 12-0 win over York City and Chesterfield's 5-6 win at Crewe Alexandra, both of which were in Division Three North. In the top flight, Brentford rolled over Wolves 5-0 and West Brom flooded Liverpool 6-1, while the largest margin of victory in Division Two was West Ham's 6-0 win over Bury. The only scoreless League match that day was Aldershot's 0-0 draw with Bristol City in Division Three South.

Division One's last place team Aston Villa delivered the day's biggest upset by beating hosts Derby County, then in second place, by the score of 1-3. The win did little to change Villa's fortunes, however, as they finished second from bottom are were relegated to Division Two.