Review of the football year

13 April 2012

David Beckham is on the front pages for the first, but not last, time in 2000, when Posh Spice says he wears her underwear. The Manchester United star, in Brazil for the World Club Championship, is sent off for a high challenge on Mexican Jose Milian, prompting the joke: "When you wear women's knickers there is always the danger your tackle goes over the top."

JANUARY

28 Glenn Hoddle, who never said them things about disability, returns to management at Southampton while Dave Jones leaves to spend more time with his lawyers. He is cleared of the sex charges later in the year.

FEBRUARY

Pele reveals he had bent more than the ball and had gay sex as a teenager. Later in the year several players, including Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg, publically declare their heterosexuality.

12Wimbledon's defeat at Chelsea is followed by a player brawl in the Stamford Bridge tunnel. Chelsea assistant manager Gwyn Williams said: "Someone fell coming down the steps, there was a scuffle but someone got the wrong idea. There is nothing in it."
Dons skipper Robbie Earle is more open: "There was more action in the tunnel than in the recent Mike Tyson fight."

16 Five days after joining Leicester, Stan Collymore is sent home from the holiday resort of La Manga in disgrace after admitting setting off a fire extinguisher in the bar.

23 The 85-year-old Sir Stanley Matthews dies.

MARCH

3 Chelsea sign a £50 million deal with BSkyB.

7 End of an era at Wimbledon as director Sam Hammam clears his office at Selhurst Park. John Hartson's £6m move to Spurs collapses after problems with a medical. Hartson's agent says even Mother Teresa would have failed it - but then again she has been dead for some time.

13 Steve Coppell says he will put his own cash into a fans' fund to save Crystal Palace.

14 Happy-go-lucky Nicolas Anelka is banned without pay for 45 days by Real Madrid after missing training. President Lorenzo Sanz says: "Something does not turn around properly in his head." Anelka wins a European Cup medal and moves to Paris St Germain.

29 Shortly after telling Standard Sport: "I have a great relationship with chairman Mohamed Fayed. He is backing me," Paul Bracewell pays the price for Fulham's faltering promotion bid and is shown the door at Fulham. Two days later they bring in Jean Tigana.

APRIL

3 Standard Sport reveals that Alex Ferguson made a second bid for Sol Campell, this time offering £17m

MAY

1 Egil Olsen packs his welly boots and returns to Norway after being sacked as Wimbledon manager. Terry Burton takes over but the Dons go down.

4 Arsenal's Ukrainian defender Oleg Luzhny advises compatriot Sergei Rebrov not to go to Spurs. Standard Sport later reveals Rebrov is the new Tony Hancock - a radio ham fanatic.

17 Arsenal lose the UEFA Cup Final on penalties to Galatasaray as trouble in Copenhagen mars the event.

20 Chelsea win a dire FA Cup Final beating Aston Villa 1-0 with a goal from Roberto Di Matteo. David 'Calamity' James drops the ball and says: "It's the first time I've cried in 15 years." Following David Beckham's League trophy parade with baby Brooklyn, Dennis Wise takes his son Henry up with him to collect the Cup.

JUNE

1 Rio Ferdinand is left out of the England squad but the West Ham defender says: "I'm not worried. There is plenty to look forward to for me." This turns out to be sexual exploits in Ayia Napa in Cyprus followed by an £18m move to Leeds.

2 Chelsea sign striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for £15m.

3 After a draw with Brazil and a win over Ukraine, England complete their Euro 2000 warm-up with a 2-1 victory over Malta in which Alan Shearer is accused of breaking an opponent's nose with his elbow.

12 England waste a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Portugal. Beckham gives a one-fingered gesture to fans abusing him. For once the nation rallies behind him but Roy Hattersley calls him a national liability. Posh snaps back: "He's a blinkered old has-been."

15 George Graham denies he wants David Ginola to go after the winger is linked with a £3m move to Aston Villa. Oddly, he ends up leaving.

18 Amid claims of shenanigans, UEFA threaten to expel England from Euro 2000 if there is a repeat of violence in Charleroi. A row blows up over FA chairman Geoff Thompson's remarks that Kevin Keegan 'needs help' from Howard Wilkinson. The whole of England groans.

20 Three days after England's Euro 2000 campaign was back on track with a 1-0 win over Germany, our dreams of glory were shattered by Phil Neville's late lunge against Romania. A 3-2 defeat means England are out.

30 A leaked FIFA technical report into the 2006 World Cup bid places England behind Germany and South Africa.

JULY

1 France beat Italy with a Davud Trezeguet golden goal in the final of Euro 2000.

6 Germany wins 2006 vote on the third ballot after 78-year-old Charles Dempsey abstains, allowing the Hun to beat South Africa. There are allegations of death threats, bribes and mystery letters. The big charms of Claudia Schiffer seem to have won it.

24 The world transfer record is broken when Luis Figo leaves Barcelona for Real Madrid for £37m. In the same week Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit join Barcelona from Arsenal for a combined £30m.

AUGUST

22 The start of a difficult five months for Arsenal's Patrick Vieira, who is sent off for the second successive game when he is dismissed against Liverpool. Manager Arsene Wenger will be charged with physically intimidating fourth official Paul Taylor in Sunderland's tunnel two days earlier.

SEPTEMBER

England draw 1-1 with France. Much of the attention focuses on Marcel Desailly's spat with Martin Keown with the Chelsea defender pointing towards the scoreboard when France are leading 1-0. There is no truth in the rumour Desailly murmured "the bells, the bells". The pair kiss and make up before Chelsea's Premiership match with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge soon after.

12 Despite winning the FA Cup and beating Manchester United in the Charity Shield, Gianluca Vialli is sacked by Ken Bates. Vialli later blames Mr Nice Guy for helping getting him sacked. No one is willing to own up to the nickname.

OCTOBER

7 England lose 1-0 to Germany in the last game at Wembley and Keegan quits. The celebrations last only few seconds until Wilkinson takes over and leads England to a miserable 0-0 draw in Finland.

17 Arsenal are in another bad-tempered 1-1 draw with Lazio. Diego Simeone needs six stitches after clashing with Gilles Grimandi and Vieira tells Standard Sport that Sinisa Mihajlovic called him a black bastard and a f*****g black monkey.

20 Chelsea's Gus Poyet says there are communication problems at Chelsea with non-English speaking manager Claudio Ranieri.

22 A day after Newcastle block the Football Association's move for Bobby Robson - Peter Taylor and Steve McClaren are unveiled as the new England dream team.

29 Adam Crozier and David Dein fly out by private jet to sign up Lazio coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as the new England coach on five-year contract starting 1 July next year, bringing with him the wonderfully named Tord Grip.

NOVEMBER

5 Adam Crozier confirms Standard Sport's story there were club-based divisions within the England camp. There are also reports of heavy gambling among the players.

20 Ron Noades, chairman of Brentford, sacks himself as manager.

26 Leeds beat Arsenal and Robert Pires calls David O'Leary "a whore" after the Leeds manager winds him up by blowing kisses at him. The Gunners are "losing the plot, " says O'Leary.

DECEMBER

16 Terry Venables, back in the game with Middlesbrough, leads his strugglers to a 1-0 win over Chelsea.

17 Chairman Alan Sugar confirms he is willing to sell his shares in Tottenham.

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