On this Day in Football History - 13 April: David Seaman's Save, Man Utd Kit Mayhem & More

Lockdown continues and the lack of football rumbles on, leaving us left to do nothing but reminisce about the good old days.

Fortunately, the past is pretty long, leaving plenty of footballing nostalgia to sift through.

So kick back for five minutes and have a read through the very best football action that's taken place down the years on 13 April.


1996 - Manchester United Kit Madness

Matthew Le Tissier,Ryan Giggs

​Manchester United were flying high at the top of the Premier League when they found themselves 3-0 down at Southampton thanks to goals from Ken Monkou, Neil Shipperley and Matt Le Tissier.


Sir Alex Ferguson blamed the grey kit that United had been wearing for their first half performance, claiming his players couldn't pick each other out against the grey backdrop of the crowd. The Red Devils changed into a new kit at half time, emerging for the second half in a completely different blue strip. 


The game finished 3-1, United won the title that season and Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager in the history of the Premier League. Imagine if Steve McClaren had tried to get away with that.


1997 - Zola Scores Stunner in FA Cup Semi Final

Gianfranco Zola

​Chelsea progressed into the final of the FA Cup with a 3-0 win over Wimbledon thanks to a brace from Mark Hughes and moment of magic from Gianfranco Zola.

The Italian doubled Chelsea's lead just past the hour mark, producing a fabulous piece of skill to tee himself up in the box, before firing a shot past Neil Sullivan in the Wimbledon goal.

The Blues would go on to win the cup that year, defeating Middlesborough in the final.


2003 - David Seaman's Iconic Save

​Arsenal reached the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over Division One side ​Sheffield United, with David Seaman producing a stunning save late on to preserve his clean sheet and Arsenal's advantage.

Paul Peschisolido headed seemingly into an empty net, only for Seaman - aged 39 and making his 1,000th senior appearance - to athletically spring from nowhere and somehow claw the ball off the line. 

It was a quite ridiculous save. It's mesmerising to watch time and time again and still be unsure how Seaman produced the sheer agility and rapid reflexes to keep the ball out.


2008 - Steven Gerrard Makes 300th Liverpool Appearance

Liverpool's English midfielder Steven Ge

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard celebrated his 300th Liverpool appearance in style, scoring one and setting up another as the Reds ran out 3-1 winners over Blackburn - the side the midfielder made his debut against back in 1998.

Fellow Liverpool icons Fernando Torres and Andy Voronin were also on the scoresheet that day.


2014 - Liverpool 3-2 Manchester City

FBL-ENG-PR-LIVERPOOL-MAN CITY

Title rivals ​Liverpool and Man City played out an absolute cracker at Anfield. A David Silva strike and an own goal from Glen Johnson saw City pull the scores level, after Liverpool had raced into a 2-0 lead inside half an hour thanks to Raheem Sterling and Martin Skrtel.


But 12 minutes from time, Philippe Coutinho hit the winner to put Liverpool just four wins away from sealing their inaugural Premier League title. 


Unfortunately for Brendan Rodgers' side, an infamous Gerrard/ Demba Ba combination would put paid to that dream two weeks later.


2019 - Lincoln City Secure Promotion

Danny Cowley

The Cowley ​brothers completed their remarkable job at Lincoln City by securing promotion to League One, taking the club from the National League to the third tier in the space of three years.

The Imps drew 1-1 at home to Cheltenham to confirm promotion. In doing so, they became the first club in the Football League to win promotion in the 2018/19 season.


Birthdays Galore

A whole host of footballing finery celebrate their birthdays today. Make as many hand washing- coronavirus-happy birthday song jokes as you feel appropriate.

Spain's World Cup winning captain Carlo Puyol turns 42​, while poor old Inter youngster Alessandro Bastoni will probably have had bigger plans than social isolating for his 21st. 


Rudi Voller, Claudio Bravo and Anderson are also all celebrating their birthdays. Maybe they can all pool together and hire out a Wacky Warehouse for a joint party when all this is over.



Source : 90min