4 April 2009 - Hungry Like The Wolves

On 4 April 2009, upstart Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg reached the top of the table by crushing the previous season's champions, Bayern Munich, 5-1 before a sellout crowd of over 31,000 at Wolfsburg's Volkswagen Arena. The small northern German side never looked back, remaining at the top to claim their first Bundesliga title at the end of the season.

Wolfsburg entered the match full of optimism, riding a seven-game winning streak that started in the first week of February with a 2-0 home win over VfL Bochum. And they had already beaten Bayern in Munich 2-4 earlier in the season.

On the day, Wolfsburg and Bayern were tied for second, even on points (48), goals scored (53), and goals allowed (31). The sides remained even through the first 45 minutes, exchanging late first-half goals from Wolfsburg's Christian Gentner and Bayern's Luca Toni. But in the second half, the balance shifted in Wolfsburg's favor with a quick brace from Bosnia striker Edin Džeko (63', 66'), then a goal from his Brazilian teammate Grafite (74'). Grafite (pictured) later matched his strike partner's tally, capping off the win with a brilliant 77th-minute backheel that was hailed as one of the best Bundesliga goals in history.

The win was especially sweet for manager Felix Magath, who arrived in Wolfsburg in 2007 after having been sacked from Bayern earlier in the year. It lifted Wolfsburg into first place, where they remained for the rest of the season after winning six and drawing two of their last eight matches.

3 April 2009 - This "V" Is For "Vacation" (From The National Team)

On 3 April 2009, the Scottish FA announced that Scotland internationals and Rangers teammates Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor were banned from making any further national team appearances. The bans were the result of the duo's conduct over the previous week, which included a late-night drinking session after a Scotland loss to the Netherlands on 29 March and making "rude gestures" while on the bench for a match against Iceland on 1 April.

Ferguson had been a stalwart for Scotland, earning his 45th cap in the match against the Netherlands - 28 of those as captain. He was also a key player for Rangers, having played for them from 1994 to 2003, then returning at the start of the 2005-06 season when he was given the captain's armband by then-manager Alex McLeish.

McGregor, by contrast, had made only 6 appearances for Scotland before the ban. But he had played for Rangers since 2001, with a couple of loan spells in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, and had captained the club in the absence of Ferguson.

Although both players had started against the Netherlands, manager George Burley dropped them to the bench against Iceland because they had violated team rules by staying out staying past curfew. While that alone would likely not have been enough to cause their dismissal, they compounded the situation by making rude "v-signs" to the cameras during the Iceland match. Upon learning of the gestures, the SFA sent the pair home from training, then issued the ban on 3 April. Rangers also took action, suspending both players for two weeks and stripping the captaincy from Ferguson.

It may not be the end of the road for the pair, however. New Scotland manager Craig Levein has expressed his desire to select both Ferguson and McGregor, though he has not yet done so.

2 April 2005 - And Then There Were Eight

On 2 April 2005, visiting Aston Villa pounded Newcastle 0-3 before a crowd of 52,306 at St. James' Park. It was an all-out humiliation for the hosts, who finished the match with only eight men thanks to three red cards, two of which were issued for a fight between Newcastle teammates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer.

Newcastle entered the match as heavy favorites, having lost only once in their previous 17 matches. Villa, meanwhile, had won away from home only twice in 15 attempts that season. But any optimism among the home supporters was dashed by Juan Pablo Angel's 5th-minute strike that put the visitors ahead 0-1.

Newcastle applied constant pressure for an equalizer that never came, despite several close misses and a legitimate cry for a penalty when skipper Alan Shearer's header struck the arm of Villa defender Jlloyd Samuel. The referee, however, ruled that the contact was not deliberate.

The referee did award a penalty kick for a handball in the second half, as Newcastle substitute Steven Taylor handled a Villa shot on the line, earning himself a red card in the process. Gareth Barry converted the 73rd-minute kick to extend Villa's lead to 2-1, then extended it further when Darius Vassell earned another penalty thanks to a challenge from Newcastle's Stephen Carr in the 80th minute. That's when the match moved from embarrassing to surreal.

Shortly after Barry's second penalty kick, Bowyer apparently took offense when Dyer did not pass him the ball and the two ended up in a full-bore brawl. Barry stepped in to separate the two, but both Bowyer and Dyer were sent off for violent conduct.

Oddly enough, Bowyer left Newcastle for West Ham at the end of the 2005-06 season, then was joined by Dyer, who arrived at Upton Park in the summer of 2007. They continued to play together until January 2009, when Bowyer left for Birmingham City.