21 January 2012 - Deuce With A Triple

On 21 January 2012, Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, lifting Fulham to a 5-2 win over Newcastle.

A striker/midfielder, Dempsey--nicknamed "Deuce"--was in his sixth year with the London club, having joined them in January 2007 in a deal worth a reported £2M. He quickly established himself as a regular in the starting eleven, making over forty appearances in each of the next five seasons.

Midway through the 2011-12 season, Fulham were struggling in the bottom half of the table while Newcastle were challenging for a European spot. Newcastle won the first meeting 2-1 at St. James' Park back in August. So the odds were stacked against Fulham in the return fixture at Craven Cottage.

The match went according to form in the first half, with the visitors going up 0-1 after a Fulham error led to a 43rd-minute goal from Newcastle midfielder Danny Guthrie. But the hosts roared back in the second half, drawing level with a penalty kick from Danny Murphy in the 52nd minute, then going ahead with a pair of Dempsey goals (59', 65'). Another Fulham penalty, scored by Bobby Zamora in the 68th minute, stretched the lead to 4-1.

Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa closed the gap to 4-2 in the 85th minute, but Dempsey completed his hat-trick four minutes later to restore the three-goal lead and end the day at 5-2.

Dempsey went on to score a career high 23 goals in all competitions that season before moving to Tottenham in August 2012 for a reported fee of around £6M.

20 January 1974 - A Match Made In Heaven

On 20 January 1974, English teams played league football on a Sunday for the first time.

The FA, along with several clubs and players, had expressed support for Sunday matches earlier in the season, hoping that the move would help improve declining attendances, but they faced a couple of substantial obstacles. The Sunday Observances Act, for one, barred the selling of tickets on Sundays. In addition, many in the public opposed Sunday football on religious grounds.

But by January 1974, attendances continued to decline, driven in part by a ban on floodlights that stemmed from the worldwide energy crisis, prompting the FA to approve the playing of four third-round FA Cup matches on Sunday, 6 January. In order to get around the Sunday Observances Act, the clubs sold programs, which were used instead of tickets to gain access to the games.

Those FA Cup matches drew large crowds, convincing the Football League to move forward as well using the same admission-by-program scheme. While some clubs--including all First Division clubs--declined to participate, citing religious reasons, that first league Sunday hosted a total of twelve matches, three each in Divisions Two and Three and six in Division Four. Nine of those games reported their biggest crowds of the season.

The first Sunday league goal was scored by Millwall's Brian Clark in their 1-0 win over Fulham.

Despite the success of Sunday games, opposition remained strong and it took several more years before Sunday football became a regular feature in the league.

15 December 2001 - Ferdinand Hits The Jackpot

On 15 December 2001, Tottenham striker Les Ferdinand scored the Premier League's 10,000th goal, helping to deliver a win for his team and £10,000 to charity.

The milestone goal came during a match against Fulham at White Hart Lane in the Premier League's tenth season. Ferdinand, who had been a prolific scorer at QPR and Newcastle, was in his fifth year with Spurs, but had failed to recapture his previous form. He scored ten goals for Tottenham across all competitions in the 2000-01 campaign, the first time he had cracked double digits for them.

Against Fulham, however, he got off to a quick start, scoring in the 20th minute to put Spurs up 1-0. Thanks to the Tottenham defense--anchored by goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, who kept a clean sheet--it was the only goal they needed, but they got a trio of insurance goals from Darren Anderton (40', from a Ferdinand assist), Simon Davies (71'), and Sergei Rebrov to set the final margin at 4-0.

To commemorate the landmark goal, the Premier League awarded Ferdinand £10,000 for donation to the charity of his choice. He selected two cancer charities, splitting the money evenly between them.

23 September 1986 - Liverpool Takes Ten

On 23 September 1986, Liverpool matched a League Cup record, beating Fulham 10-0 in the first leg of their second round meeting.

The defending league champions, Liverpool had dominated the competition over the previous years, winning it four straight times between 1981 and 1984. They were looking to return to those winning ways after suffering a third-round loss to Tottenham in the 1984-95 season and elimination by Queens Park Rangers in the 1985-86 semifinals.

They entered the 1986-87 tournament in the second round, where they hosted Fulham at Anfield for the first leg. The match was played on a Tuesday, drawing a small crowd of only 13,498. Those that turned up, however, were treated to a scoring explosion. Ian Rush provided the first in just the eight minute, followed by goals from John Wark (10', 63'), Ronnie Whelan (28'), Steve McMahon (44', 66', 71', 79'), and another from Rush (76').

Steve Nicol provided the final goal in the 83rd minute to set the final margin at 10-0, matching the record for the highest single-game margin of victory in the League Cup, set by West Ham's win over Bury by the same score in 1983.

Liverpool went on to win the second leg 203 and kept up their level of play to advance all the way to the final before falling to Arsenal 2-1.