As it’s a date which falls close to the end of the season, May 5 has seen plenty of dramatic encounters. The stakes are high, and that always leads to some real entertainment.
Whether it’s a cup final, semi-final or a league game which can decide the fate of an entire division, May 5 has seen it all. And if you want a little more, how about a mass brawl and someone nearly dying?
Let’s take a look at what went down on this day in history.
1928 – Dixie Dean Hits 60
On this day…
Dixie Dean’s hat-trick against Arsenal for champions Everton in 1928 took his tally to a record 60 goals in a league season. That’s a full 11 goals more than any other player in English top flight football either before or since.https://t.co/TXX6b1lWd0 pic.twitter.com/q9G86Wr1Ff— Everton FC News (@LivEchoEFC) May 5, 2020
Everton icon Dixie Dean bagged a hat-trick against Arsenal which brought his tally for the 1927/28 season to 60 goals – a record which is yet to be beaten.
“People ask me if that 60-goal record will ever be beaten. I think it will,” he once said of his record. “But there’s only one man who’ll do it. That’s the fellow that walks on the water. I think he’s about the only one.”
1956 – Bert Trautmann Plays on With a Broken Neck
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann sealed his place in history by playing the final 17 minutes of his side’s 1956 FA Cup final victory over Birmingham City with a broken neck.
A nasty collision led to the injury, but Trautmann was given some smelling salts and somehow decided to carry on. When he collected his winner’s medal, his neck was noticeably crooked, and despite early medical tests suggesting he was fine, a later examination determined that he had fractured five vertebrae and could have easily died from the injury.
1966 – Dortmund Edge Out Liverpool in Cup Winners’ Cup
On this day in 1966, Liverpool lost their firsr ever European final. 1966 Cup Winners Cup saw #LFC face Borussia Dortmund at Hampden Park. It was 1-1 after 90 minutes but Borussia got a winner in extra time. Ron Yeats tried to stop Libuda’s lob but ended up scoring an own goal. pic.twitter.com/S9KexOJCwi
— LFChistory.net (@LFChistory) May 5, 2020
Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool both reached their first European final in 1966 when they met for the European Cup Winners’ Cup final, and it was the German side who came out on top.
An extra-time strike from Stan Libuda led to an unfortunate own goal from goalkeeper Ron Yeats, and that was enough to steer Dortmund to glory that day, making them the first German side to ever win a European trophy.
1984 – Diego Maradona Loses His Head
The 1984 Copa del Rey final went down in infamy after Diego Maradona sparked a mass brawl by attacking a handful of Athletic Bilbao players.
Having been taunted and targeted by Bilbao throughout, the Barcelona man launched a headbutt, an elbow and a flying knee at three different players, prompting players from both sides to start throwing hands.
And in what was obviously just a massive coincidence, this happened to be Maradona’s final game for Barcelona after the Spanish side decided that it might not be worth keeping him anymore.
2002 – Juventus Seal Unlikely Serie A Title
The 2001/02 Serie A title was Inter’s to lose, having been six points clear of Juventus with five games remaining, and somehow they ended up throwing it all away.
Inter won just two of their last five games and eventually fell down to third, giving Juventus the chance to sneak in and win the title on the final day of the season.
2009 – Cristiano Ronaldo Tears Arsenal Apart
Manchester United sealed their place in the 2009 Champions League final with a 3-1 win over Arsenal, thanks in no small part to a dominant performance from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo added to an early Park Ji-sung goal when he fired home a free kick from all of a bazillion yards, before channelling his inner Usain Bolt to finish off a devastating counter attack.
2010 – Spurs Seal 1st Champions League Qualification
The end of the 2009/10 season saw Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City face off at the City of Manchester Stadium in a straight shoot-out for the final Champions League spot, and it was Spurs who came out on top.
It took until the 82nd minute for Spurs to make the breakthrough, as Peter Crouch headed home to send the away fans crazy and book Spurs a ticket to their first Champions League tournament.
2010 – Motherwell & Hibernian Score All the Goals
Ah, 6-6 draws. We’ve all seen them. They happen all the time. Totally.
Back in 2010, Motherwell and Hibernian played out an enthralling 6-6 draw which was only settled in the 93rd minute thanks to a thunderous strike from Lukas Jutkiewicz. Standard stuff, really.
2012 – Didier Drogba Seals FA Cup for Chelsea
Goals from Ramires and Didier Drogba were enough to steer Chelsea to FA Cup glory at Liverpool’s expense in 2012.
Andy Carroll pulled one back for Liverpool after the break and thought he had snatched a late equaliser, only for Petr Čech to pull out a ludicrous save and somehow claw the ball back away from the line.
2014 – Crystanbul
We’ve already heard about Liverpool’s historical victory in Istanbul, but now it’s time for Crystal Palace’s stunning comeback in Crystanbul.
After the Reds’ Premier League title charge was left hanging by a thread thanks to the famous ‘slip-up’ against Chelsea, Liverpool threw away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Palace and gift Manchester City the league title. Dwight Gayle still gives Liverpool nightmares.
Let’