ON THIS DAY
1923: The first modern-style speedway race around a short track was held at West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. The races were organised by New Zealander John Hoskins.
1990: Shrewsbury's Gary Shaw scored a hat-trick in four minutes and 32 seconds against Bradford.
2000: Aston Villa signed Colombia international Juan Pablo Angel from River Plate for a then club record 9.5million.
2005: Rangers signed striker Kris Boyd from Kilmarnock in a deal worth around 500,000.
2007: England drew the rain-affected final Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, handing the hosts a 1-0 series win.
2010: Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein was appointed as the new chairman of the Football Association.
2011: Cyclist Mark Cavendish won the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award. Golfer Darren Clarke was second, with athlete Mo Farah in third place.
2012: Jim McGuinness picked up the Manager of the Year accolade at the RTE Sports Awards after guiding Donegal to the All-Ireland title.
2013: Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman said manager Malky Mackay would remain in charge for the "foreseeable future" in a statement on the club's official website. The news came after club owner Vincent Tan had sent Mackay an email in which he heavily criticised the Scot before demanding he resign, or face the sack. Mackay was sacked five days later.
2014: Chairman Karl Oyston apologised for branding a Blackpool fan "a retard".
2015: Nick Davies announced he would step aside from his role as the director of the IAAF's president's office while an ethics board investigated allegations of unethical behaviour against him. In an email sent by Davies, the IAAF's former director of communications, he appeared to seek to delay the identification of Russian drug cheats in the run-up to the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
BIRTHDAYS
Chris Old (cricket) - former England bowler, born 1948.
Bernd Schuster (soccer) - former Barcelona, Real Madrid and West Germany midfielder, born 1959.
Brian McMillan (cricket) - former South Africa all-rounder, born 1963.
Dan Petrescu (soccer) - former Chelsea, Southampton and Romania defender, now coach of Cluj, born 1967.
Alan Thompson (soccer) - former Bolton, Aston Villa and Celtic midfielder, born 1973.
Jody Morris (soccer) - former Chelsea and St Johnstone midfielder, born 1978.
Jamie Langfield (soccer) - St Mirren player-coach, born 1979.
Eder (soccer) - Lokomotiv Moscow striker and scorer of Portugal's winning goal in the Euro 2016 final, born 1987.
Leigh Halfpenny (rugby union) - Scarlets and Wales full-back, born 1988.
Jason Forde (Gaelic games) Tipperary hurler, born 1993.
Steven OBrien (Gaelic games) Tipperary dual star who will play with the Premier footballers in 2018, born 1994.
QUICK QUIZ
1. Who is the captain of the Down football team?
2. Who is Italy's most capped footballer, having made 175 appearances for the Azzurri?
3. Which AFL team did Anthony Tohill play with?
4. In which sport would you find the terms 'travelling', 'guard' and 'screen'?
5. Which ex-Premier League player, now plying his trade in the MLS, has won the FA Cup seven times?
(See quiz answers at bottom)
SPORT ON TV
Today (Friday December 22)
SOCCER: Premier League, Arsenal v Liverpool - Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League 1900; Serie A, Cagliari v Fiorentina - BT Sport 2 1930, eir Sport 1 1940; A-League, Newcastle Jets v Western Sydney Wanderers - BT Sport 1 0845.
RUGBY UNION: Premiership, Worcester Warriors v London Irish - BT Sport 1 1900; Championship, Bristol v Cornish Pirates - Sky Sports Action 1930.
CRICKET: India v Sri Lanka, Twenty20 international - Sky Sports Cricket 1320; New
Zealand v West Indies, one-day international - Sky Sports Cricket 2155, Sky Sports Main Event 2300.
DARTS: World Darts Championship - Sky Sports Main Event 1230.
BASKETBALL: NBA, Houston Rockets v Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors v Los Angeles Lakers - BT Sport 1 0100 (Sat) and 0330 (Sat).
ICE HOCKEY: NHL, Buffalo Sabres v Philadelphia Flyers - eir Sport 1 0000 (Sat).
Tomorrow (Saturday, December 23)
SOCCER: Premier League, Everton v Chelsea - Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League 1130, Burnley v Tottenham - BT Sport 1 1700, Leicester v Manchester United - Sky Sports Premier League 1900, Sky Sports Main Event 1930; Championship, Aston Villa v Sheffield United - Sky Sports Main Event 1715; Scottish Premiership, Kilmarnock v Rangers - BT Sport 1 1200; Serie A, Lazio v Crotone and Napoli v Sampdoria - eir Sport 1 1125 and 1355, AC Milan v Atalanta and Juventus v Roma - eir Sport 1 1655 and 1940, BT Sport 2 1715 and 1930; A-League, Wellington Phoenix v Sydney FC and Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory - BT Sport 1 0630 and 0845.
RUGBY UNION: Premiership, Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs - BT Sport 2 1430; PRO14, Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors - Sky Sports Action 1700, Connacht v Ulster - BBC Two Northern Ireland 1930; Top 14, Agen v Brive and Bordeaux Begles v
La Rochelle - Sky Sports Action 1255 and 1455.
DARTS: World Darts Championship - Sky Sports Main Event 1430 and 2200.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL: NFL, Baltimore Ravens v Indianapolis Colts - Sky Sports Action 2100, Sky Sports Main Event 2300, Green Bay Packers v Minnesota Vikings - Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action 0100 (Sun).
BASKETBALL: NBA, Utah Jazz v Oklahoma City Thunder - BT Sport 1 0100 (Sun).
ICE HOCKEY: NHL, New York Rangers v Toronto Maple Leafs - eir Sport 1 0000 (Sun).
RACING: ITV Racing from Ascot - ITV4 1330.
QUICK QUIZ answers: 1. Darren O'Hagan; 2. Gianluigi Buffon; 3. Melbourne Demons; 4. Basketball; 5. Ashley Cole (three with Arsenal, four with Chelsea)
