Sport

On This Day - July 20 1987: Northern Ireland and Aberdeen winger Niall McGinn was born

NIALL McGinn in action for Aberdeen
NIALL McGinn in action for Aberdeen NIALL McGinn in action for Aberdeen

ON THIS DAY

1871: Football Association secretary Charles Alcock first suggested the idea of the FA Challenge Cup.

1885: The FA legalised professionalism in football.

1986: Britain's Frank Bruno challenged Tim Witherspoon for the world heavyweight title. He was knocked out in the 11th round.

2003: Ben Curtis of the United States was a surprise winner of the Open at Royal St George's, Sandwich.

2005: Peter Crouch joined Liverpool from Southampton for £7million.

2006: Zinedine Zidane, who had already retired from football, was suspended for three matches and fined £3,260 for his headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final. Materazzi was banned for two matches and fined £2,170.

2009: England won the second Ashes Test, beating Australia by 115 runs at Lord's to take a 1-0 series lead. They went on to win the series 2-1 to reclaim the urn.

2012: Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Manchester United had made a bid for Arsenal captain Robin van Persie. The Red Devils eventually signed the Dutchman, whose goals played a key role in United winning the 2012-13 Premier League title.

2014: Rory McIlroy won the Open at Royal Liverpool by two strokes.

2015: Zach Johnson defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a play-off for the Open Championship after Jordan Spieth failed to keep his grand slam dream alive at St Andrews.

BIRTHDAYS

Aidan Fogarty (GAA) - Former Kilkenny hurler and winner of five All-Ireland titles, born 1982.

Chris Amon (motor racing) - ex-Formula One grand prix racer regarded as one of the best drivers never to win a championship, born 1943.

Charlie Magri (boxing) - former world flyweight champion, born 1956.

Paula Ivan (athletics) - Olympic 3,000 metres gold medallist for Romania in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, born 1963.

Claudio Reyna (soccer) - former Rangers, Sunderland, Manchester City and United States midfielder, now director of football operations for New York City FC, born 1973.

Debashish Mohanty (cricketer) - former India batsman, born 1976.

Alex Yoong (motor racing) - ex-Formula One grand prix racer for Minardi, born 1976.

Damien Delaney (soccer) - Irish midfielder, currently with Crystal Palace, born 1981.

Niall McGinn (soccer) - Northern Irish wingeer, currently with Aberdeen, born 1987


QUICK QUIZ BLITZ

1. What nationality is Tour de France green jersey holder Peter Sagan?

2. What is the nickname of the Leitrim footballers?

3. Which English Football League club play their home games at Sixfields?

4. In what year were the first modern Olympic Games held?

5. Who captained Down when they won their first All-Ireland title in 1960?

(See answers at bottom)


SPORT ON TV 

Today 

GAA: GAA Championship review - highlights of the week's action from the GAA competitions - Sky Sports 3 1800.

SOCCER: Champions League, FH v Dundalk - eir Sport 1 2000.

CRICKET: NatWest T20 Blast, Yorkshire Vikings v Durham Jets - Sky Sports 2 1800.

CYCLING: Tour de France stage 17 - Eurosport 1 1315, ITV4 1400.

TENNIS: ATP Tour, Citi Open - Sky Sports 4 2100.

ATHLETICS: World Junior Championships, Bydgoszcz - Eurosport 2 1645.

DARTS: World Matchplay - Sky Sports 3 1900.

BASEBALL: MLB, Kansas City Royals v Cleveland Indians BT Sport 1 1900, Chicago Cubs v New York Mets - BT Sport/ESPN 1915, Boston Red Sox v San Francisco Gaints - BT Sport/ESPN 0000 (Thu).

Tomorrow 

SOCCER: Euro Under-19s, semi-finals - Eurosport 2 1045 and Eurosport 1 1745.

CRICKET: First Test, West Indies v India - Sky Sports 5 1455; NatWest T20 Blast, Middlesex v Surrey - Sky Sports 2 1800.

GOLF: PGA Tour, Canadian Open - Sky Sports 4 2100; Senior Open, Carnoustie - Sky Sports 4 1200 and 1500.

CYCLING: Tour de France stage 18 - Eurosport 1 1315, ITV4 1400.

RUGBY LEAGUE: Super League, Hull KR v Leeds Rhinos - Sky Sports 3 1930.

TENNIS: ATP Tour, Citi Open - Sky Sports 2 2200.

ATHLETICS: World Junior Championships, Bydgoszcz - Eurosport 2 1800.

DARTS: World Matchplay - Sky Sports 1 1900.

BOXING: Sergiy Derevyanchenko v Sam Soliman - BT Sport 1 0100 (Fri).

BASEBALL: MLB, Washington Nationals v Los Angeles Dodgers - BT Sport/espn 1700, New York Yankees v Baltimore Orioles - BT Sport 1 1800.

QUICK QUIZ BLITZ answers: 1. Slovakian. 2. The Ridge County 3. Northampton 4. 1896 5. Kevin Mussen.