On This Day - February 1, 2009: Manchester City sign Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given

BIRTHDAYS

Luther Blissett (soccer) - former Watford and England striker, born 1958.

Robert Lee (soccer) - former Newcastle and England midfielder, born 1966.

Christian Ziege (soccer) - former Liverpool, Tottenham and Germany defender, born 1972.

Pep Guardiola says Cole Palmer is one of the players of the season

Mauricio Pochettino not expecting a vulnerable Man City in FA Cup semi-final

Kevin Kilbane (soccer) - former Everton, Sunderland and Republic of Ireland midfielder, born 1977.

Graeme Smith (cricket) - former South Africa captain and opening batsman, born 1981.

Gavin Henson (rugby union) - Former Wales utility back, currently playing for Dragons in the Pro14, born 1982.

Shoaib Malik (cricket) - Pakistan all-rounder and former captain, born 1982.

Darren Fletcher (soccer) - Stoke City and Scotland midfielder, born 1984.

Costel Pantilimon (soccer) - Romania goalkeeper, currently on loan from Watford at Deportivo La Coruna, born 1987.

Giuseppe Rossi (soccer) - Genoa and Italy striker, formerly with Manchester United, born 1987.

Ronda Rousey (MMA) - Former UFC bantamweight champion who won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics, born 1987.

Dan Gosling (soccer) - Bournemouth's former Everton and Newcastle midfielder, born 1990.

ON THIS DAY

1915: Stanley Matthews was born. He was 50 years old when he played his final league game. Matthews, who played for England 54 times, died aged 85 in February 2000.

1930: Joe Bambrick created a British record when he scored six goals for Northern Ireland in their 7-0 win over Wales in Belfast.

1958: The 'Busby Babes' played their last game on British soil, winning 5-4 at Arsenal. Tommy Taylor (two), Bobby Charlton, Duncan Edwards and Dennis Viollet scored for Manchester United. Five days later the heart of the team was ripped out in the Munich air disaster.

1979: Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough paid Birmingham £1million for Trevor Francis, the first British player to be the subject of a seven-figure transfer fee.

1981: Australia's Trevor Chappell bowled his infamous under-arm delivery to Brian McKechnie to prevent New Zealand tying the game with a final-ball six in the third match in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup. It directly led to the banning of under-arm bowling by the International Cricket Council as not within the spirit of the game.

2007: Wales full-back Gareth Thomas was suspended for four weeks and fined £4,960 after being found guilty of misconduct by Heineken Cup organisers European Rugby Cup. The Toulouse player admitted to flicking his middle finger at Ulster supporters during a controversial Heineken Cup game the previous month and was also found guilty of attempting to jump into the crowd. The ban ruled him out of Wales' first three RBS 6 Nations games.

2009: Manchester City completed the signing of Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given from Newcastle for an undisclosed fee.

2009: The International Cricket Council decided that the 2009 Champions Trophy could not be played in Pakistan as planned for security reasons. The event was ultimately moved to South Africa.

2012: Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir was released from Portland Prison in Dorset after serving half of a six-month sentence for his part in a spot-fixing scam.

2016: Manchester City announced that Pep Guardiola would succeed Manuel Pellegrini as manager of the club at the end of the season.

2017: Peter Crouch became the 26th player to score 100 Premier League goals with the opener in Stoke's 1-1 draw against Everton. The former England striker marked the occasion with his 'robot' dance celebration.

QUICK QUIZ BLITZ

1 Poland striker Emmanuel Olisadebe played for which English side in 2006?

2 Hideki Matsuyama has won how many European Tour titles?

3 Who won Super Bowl 50 in 2016?

4 Name Australia's leading batsman in the 2013 Ashes.

5 Who did Phil Taylor beat to win the 2013 Professional Darts Championship?

TODAY’S TV

CRICKET: South Africa v India, first one-day international - Sky Sports Cricket 1055 and Sky Sports Main Event 1100; Big Bash League first semi-final, Perth Scorchers v Hobart Hurricanes - BT Sport 2 0830.

GOLF: European Tour, Maybank Championship - Sky Sports Golf 0530 and Sky Sports Main Event 0730; PGA Tour, Waste Management Phoenix Open - Sky Sports Golf 1415 and Sky Sports Main Event 2200.

TENNIS: WTA, St Petersburg Ladies' Trophy - BT Sport 1 1000.

CYCLING: Volta a la Comunitat - Eurosport 2 1400; 6 Days of Copenhagen - Eurosport 2 1930.

SNOOKER: German Masters - Eurosport 1 0900, 1345 and 1845.

DARTS: Premier League Darts - Sky Sports Action 1900.

BASKETBALL: NBA, San Antonio Spurs v Houston Rockets - BT Sport 1 0100 (Fri), Denver Nuggets v Oklahoma City Thunder - BT Sport 1 0330.

QUICK QUIZ BLITZ ANSWERS

1 Portsmouth; 2 Two; 3 The Denver Broncos; 4 Shane Watson (418 runs); 5 Michael van Gerwen.