4 January 2005 - Mendes Denied

On 4 January 2005, Tottenham were denied three points when a Pedro Mendes goal against Manchester United wasn't given, despite the ball being a full meter over the line. The match ended as a scoreless draw.

The two teams met at Old Trafford with Spurs having won six of their previous seven to rise from 15th in the league to 7th. United were on a similar streak, holding down 3rd place after winning eight of the last nine matches. The hosts controlled most of the match, enjoying the better of possession and taking a handful of decent shots, but were repeatedly denied by Spurs keeper Paul Robinson.

Spurs had a few chances of their own, but the day's most memorable moment came in the 89th minute. Mendes, seeing United keeper Roy Carroll off his line, fired a shot from near the midfield line. Carroll raced back and appeared to catch the ball easily, but dropped it. It bounced into the goal, crossing well over the line, as Carroll scrambled to knock it away. Unfortuately for the visitors, neither referee Mark Clattenburg nor linesman Ray Lewis saw the ball clear the line, so neither awarded the goal and the match ended 0-0.

The missed goal sparked cries for the use of goal-line technology, but FIFA has so far resisted any such move. And, ultimately, it had little impact on either club, as United finished in 3rd separated by several points on both sides and Spurs ended up in 9th, though the extra two points would have pushed them up to 8th.

3 January 2003 - Nowak Calls Time On His Playing Career

On 3 January 2003, the Chicago Fire traded team captain Piotr Nowak to New England, but he retired about a month later before suiting up for his new club.

The Polish international midfielder joined Chicago in 1998 after a four-year tenure with 1860 Munich that saw him named Poland's Player of the Year (1996) and the Bundesliga's best playmaker (1995-96). He made an immediate impact with the fledgling MLS side, who named him the team MVP in his first season as they won the MLS Cup and the US Open Cup.

More successes followed, including another US Open Cup in 2000, as Nowak collected two more MVP awards in 2000 and 2001. By the end of the 2002 season, he set the club's current all-time assist record at 48. But salary cap considerations led Chicago to trade their then-38-year old captain to New England for the 2003 season. Later that year, Chicago made him the first inductee in their "Ring of Fire," honoring past players.

Just over one month after the trade announcement, Nowak chose to retire rather than continue his playing career in New England. He wasn't done with football altogether, however, as he took over as manager of DC United in 2004, winning that season's MLS Cup. He left DC in 2006 to work with the US national team and, in 2009, became the first head coach for the Philadelphia Union.

2 January 1965 - A True Young Gunner

On 2 January 1965, Arsenal forward John Radford became the club's youngest player to score a hat-trick when he put three past Wolves just under two months short of his 18th birthday.

Radford came up through the Arsenal youth system, joining them in 1962 at the age of 15. Two years later, he signed a professional contract, then made his first-team debut that March. It was his only appearance of the 1963-64 season, but he featured more the following season, leading up to his record-breaking performance against Wolves at the age of 17 years and 315 days.

He was a key component of the club's Double-winning 1970-71 season, scoring 21 league goals as Arsenal claimed the title and providing the assists for both goals in their 2-1 win over Liverpool in that season's FA Cup final. He also helped them win the 1969-70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Radford remained with Arsenal until 1976, having scored 149 goals--enough to take second place on the club's all-time scorer list at the time, behind Cliff Bastin (178), though they have since been overtaken by Ian Wright (185) and Thierry Henry (226).