5 November 1875 - They Would Probably Be Happy With A Little Less Roving

On 5 November 1875, a meeting at the St. Leger Hotel led to the founding of Blackburn Rovers. They went on to become the only Premier League champions to drop out of the top flight.

Arthur Constantine and John Lewis organized that first meeting--with fifteen other people in attendance--for the purpose of forming a new association football club. Although they originally adopted green and white quartered shirts, they soon changed them in favor of the blue and white halves that the continue to use at present.

They played their first match in December 1875 and grew quickly into a dominant club, winning three straight FA Cups in 1884, 1885, and 1886, then two more in 1890 and 1891 (a sixth followed in 1928). They also became a force in the new Football League, winning the title in 1912 and 1914.  But they were relegated to the second division in 1936 and have spent the intervening years vacillating between the top two flights (with a handful of seasons in the third division during the 1970s).

Rovers were promoted back to the top flight in 1992, just in time for the first Premier League season which they finished in fourth place. A second-place finish followed in 1993-94, then they won the league in 1995 led by top scorer, Alan Shearer. They remain one of only five teams to lift the Premier League trophy, along with Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City.

That success proved difficult to maintain in the ensuing seasons, however, and Blackburn were relegated in 1999. They returned to the Premier League after two seasons, but were again relegated in 2012 and currently play in the Championship.

7 August 1999 - What's Black, White, And Red All Over?

On 7 August 1999, Alan Shearer marked his 100th appearance for Newcastle by receiving the first red card of his career.

The striker joined Newcastle, his hometown club, in 1996 after five seasons at Southampton and four at Blackburn Rovers (with whom he won the Premier League in 1995) and had made 99 appearances for the club prior to the start of the 1999-2000 season. He had acquired the nickname "Mary Poppins" for his squeaky-clean public image, due in large part to the fact that he had never been sent off.

That changed in 1999. Newcastle were hosting Aston Villa in the season opener and the match remained scoreless deep into the second half. In the 70th minute, Shearer, who was already on a yellow card, battled Villa's Colin Calderwood for the ball, leaving the defender on the ground. Referee Uriah Rennie ruled that Shearer was guilty of "excessive use of the elbows" and showed the striker a second yellow, ejecting him from the match. Villa went on to win 0-1 with a 75th-minute goal from Julian Joachim.

Just over two years later, Shearer received a second red in a match against Charlton, but it was later rescinded.

30 July 1996 - Shearer Comes Home

On 30 July 1996, Newcastle signed 25-year old striker Alan Shearer from Blackburn for a world record fee of £15M.

Shearer, who was born in Newcastle, started his career with Southampton, where he scored 43 goals in 158 appearances across all competitions from 1987 to 1992. But he blossomed at Blackburn, claiming the Premier League Golden Boot in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, with Rovers winning the league in 1995. He scored over thirty league goals in his last three years there, for a four-season total of 130 in 170 appearances. His scoring prowess attracted the attention of several clubs, including Manchester United. But shortly before he was set to move to Old Trafford, Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan persuaded him to join Newcastle.

He maintained his form at St. James's Park, collecting another Golden Boot for the 1996-97 season with 25 league goals. But injuries and a succession of managerial changes hampered his effectiveness, resulting in uneven production from him over the next several years (he crossed the 20-goal barrier in the league only three more times in his ten seasons at Newcastle) and he retired in 2006. Still, his Newcastle total of 206 remains the most of any player in club history.

Shearer returned to Newcastle as manager in 2009, taking over from Chris Hughton for the last eight games of the season in a bid to save the club from relegation. He was unable to prevent the drop, however, and left at the end of the season.