ON THIS DAY
1882: Sir Jack Hobbs, one of England's finest cricketers, was born. In a first-class career lasting from 1905 to 1934, he scored 61,237 runs at an average of 50.65 - mostly for Surrey. He made an all-time record 197 first-class hundreds. He died on December 21, 1963.
1996: Blackburn announced the appointment of Sampdoria coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as their new manager. The Swede, who went on to manage England from 2000 to 2006, later changed his mind about a move to Ewood Park.
1997: Frank Williams, former chief designer Adrian Newey and technical director Patrick Head were cleared of manslaughter charges in Imola at the inquest into the fatal crash of Ayrton Senna in 1994.
2001: Tottenham's Les Ferdinand scored the 10,000th Premiership goal, against Fulham at White Hart Lane.
2001: Na Fianna defeated Rathnew on a 1-6 to 0-9 score line in the Leinster Club Senior Football Championship final. The winning team featured Armagh players Kieran McGeeney and Des Mackin.
2004: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was fined 15,000 and "severely reprimanded" by the Football Association after being found guilty of improper conduct. He accused Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy of "cheating" in a television interview.
2008: Blackburn announced manager Paul Ince had been "relieved of his duties", with the club second-bottom of the Premier League.
2012: Tour de France and Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Jessica Ennis was second, with Andy Murray in third place.
2013: Andre Villas-Boas was sacked as Tottenham manager after 18 months in charge.
2014: England slumped to an 87-run one-day international defeat against Sri Lanka in Colombo to concede a 5-2 series defeat.
BIRTHDAYS
Briege Corkery (GAA): Ladies Gaelic football and camogie player, and holder of six All-Ireland senior camogie medals, in addition to seven All-Ireland Senior Ladies football medals, born 1986.
Paul Kerrigan (GAA): Cork footballer and winner of an All-Ireland SFC medal in 2010, born 1986.
(Main picture: Cork star Paul Kerrigan's evades Mayo's Lee Keegan to drive forward an attack in the 2014 All-Ireland Senior quarter-final at Croke Park, Dublin)
Bobby George (darts) - former World Championship finalist, now a pundit, born 1945.
Joel Garner (cricket) - former West Indies fast bowler, born 1952.
William Perry (gridiron) - former Chicago Bears defensive lineman nicknamed 'The Refrigerator', born 1962.
Heike Drechsler (athletics) - double Olympic long jump champion for West Germany, born 1964.
Dennis Wise (soccer) - former Chelsea, Wimbledon and England midfielder, born 1966.
Donovan Bailey (athletics) - Canada's 1996 Olympic 100m champion, born 1967.
Michelle de Bruin (swimming) - Irish star who won three Olympic gold medals in 1996 but was later banned after being found guilty of tampering with a drug test, born 1969.
Craig White (cricket) - former England and Yorkshire all-rounder, now Hampshire coach, born 1969.
Sylvain Distin (soccer) - Former Everton, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Bournemouth defender, born 1977.
Trevor Immelman (golf) - South African who won the 2008 Masters, born 1979.
Mats Hummels (soccer) - Bayern Munich and Germany defender, born 1988.
QUICK QUIZ
1. In which city did Real Madrid win the Champions League in 2014?
2. Which two Cullyhanna players opted out of the Armagh squad in 2017?
3. Which Swiss tennis player won the 2014 Australian Open, the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open?
4. Phillips Idowu is an Olympic silver medallist in which event?
5. Which two teams did Down beat in this year’s National League?
(See quiz answers at bottom)
SPORT ON TV
Today (Saturday, December 16)
CRICKET: Fourth day of the third Ashes Test from Perth, Australia v England - BT Sport 1 0200 (Sun).
SOCCER: Premier League, Leicester v Crystal Palace - Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League 1130, Manchester City v Tottenham - BT Sport 1 1700; Championship, Cardiff v Hull - Sky Sports Main Event 1715; Scottish Premiership, Aberdeen v Hibernian - BT Sport 1 1200; Serie A, Inter Milan v Udinese and Torino v Napoli - eir Sport 1 1355 and 1655; A-League, Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United followed by Central Coast Mariners v Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix - BT Sport 2 from 0630; Welsh Premier League, Cefn Druids v Bangor City - S4C 1700.
RUGBY UNION: European Champions Cup, Montpellier v Glasgow and Bath v
Toulon - Sky Sports Action 1245 and 1715, Leinster v Exeter - BT Sport 2 1445, Racing 92 v Castres - Sky Sports Action, Sky Sports Main Event 1500.
DARTS: World Championship - Sky Sports Main Event 1940.
SWIMMING: European Short Course Championships from Copenhagen - Eurosport 1 1630.
SNOOKER: Scottish Open - Eurosport 1 1245 and 1845.
BOXING: WBO world middleweight title bout, Billie Joe Saunders v David Lemieux - BT Sport 2 0030 (Sun).
AMERICAN FOOTBALL: NFL, Detroit Lions v Chicago Bears - Sky Sports Action 2100, Sky Sports Main Event 2300, Kansas City Chiefs v Los Angeles Chargers - Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action 0100 (Sun).
SQUASH: AJ Bell World Championship - BT Sport 2 1730.
ICE HOCKEY: NHL, Boston Bruins v New York Rangers - eir Sport 1 2200.
RACING: From Cheltenham - ITV4 1330.
Tomorrow (Sunday, December 17)
CRICKET: Australia v England, third Test - BT Sport 1 0200 (Mon); India v Sri Lanka, one-day international - Sky Sports Cricket 0750, Sky Sports Main Event 0800.
SOCCER: Premier League, West Brom v Manchester United and Bournemouth v Liverpool - Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League 1330 and 1615; Scottish Premiership, Hearts v Celtic - Sky Sports Main Event 1200; Serie A, Hellas Verona v AC Milan - eir Sport 1 1125, BT
Sport 1 1130, Bologna v Juventus - BT Sport 1 1345, Sampdoria v Sassuolo, Benevento v SPAL and Atalanta v Lazio - eir Sport 1 1355, 1655 and 1940; Bundesliga, Hannover v Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin - BT Sport/ESPN 1430 and 1700; Ligue 1, Lyon v Marseille - BT Sport 1 1945.
RUGBY UNION: European Champions Cup, Wasps v La Rochelle - Sky Sports Action 1245, Clermont Auvergne v Saracens and Leicester v Munster - BT Sport 2 1500 and 1715; European Challenge Cup, Cardiff Blues v Sale - Sky Sports Action 1500.
DARTS: World Championship - Sky Sports Main Event 1900.
SWIMMING: European Short Course Championships - Eurosport 1 1600.
SNOOKER: Scottish Open - Eurosport 1 1245 and 1845.
EQUESTRIAN: Olympia 2017 - BBC Two England 1330.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL: NFL, four matches - Sky Sports Action from 1730,
Sky Sports Main Event from 1100.
BASKETBALL: NBA, Toronto Raptors v Sacramento Kings - BT Sport 2 2030.
SQUASH: AJ Bell World Championship - BT Sport 1 1700.
QUICK QUIZ answers: 1. Lisbon; 2. Mickey Murray and Sean Connell; 3. Stan Wawrinka; 4. Triple Jump; 5. Derry and Meath
