24 April 1954 - Wolves Hunger No More

On 24 April 1954, Wolverhampton won their first league title, beating Tottenham 2-0 in their final match of the season.

One of England's strongest teams at the mid-point of the twentieth century, Wolves had finished as runners-up three times before, in 1938, 1939, and 1950. They topped the table for most of the 1952-53 season, included as late as mid-April, but faltered at the end and finished third.

For most of the 1953-54 season, they were involved in a two-team battle for the title with West Bromwich Albion. On 24 April, Wolves were ahead of West Brom by two points, with each team having only one game left to play--West Brom at Porstmouth and Wolves hosting Tottenham at Molineux.

Playing before a crowd of 44,000, Wolves took the lead with a goal from center forward Roy Swinbourne (pictured) in the 18th minute. He then added a second in the 68th minute to seal the victory. As it turned out, they would have claimed the title even with a loss, as West Brom lost 3-0 (West Brom did not go empty-handed, however--they won the FA Cup a week later over Preston North End).

Wolves went on to win two more titles in 1958 and 1959, and finished as runners-up again in 1955 and 1960.

17 January 1920 - A Good Day To Stay At Home

On 17 January 1920, the home teams went undefeated in all 20 matches in England's Football League, as well as the day's two FA Cup games.

At the time, the Football League consisted of only two divisions (though a separate Southern League existed, with two divisions of of its own). While each division consisted of 22 teams, two games were not played, so there were only 20 games total across both divisions.

The results in Division One consisted of eight wins and two draws, including 21st-place Oldham Athletic's 1-0 upset victory of second-place Newcastle. The largest margins were Manchester City's 4-1 win over Arsenal and league-leader West Brom's 5-2 win over Blackburn.

In Division Two, there were nine wins and only one draw, a 1-1 result between Bury and Nottingham Forest, while Lincoln City's 4-0 win over Wolves set the day's largest margin of victory.

There were also two first-round FA Cup matches played that day, with Bradford City beating Portsmouth 2-0 and West Stanley beating Gillingham 3-1.

26 November 1977 - Run For The Forest

On 26 November 1977, Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 with West Brom to start a club-record streak of 42 unbeaten league matches.

Forest were in the third full season under the managerial duo of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who took charge of the club in January 1975. They were in Division Two at the time, but won promotion to the top flight for the 1977-78 season.

They started off well in the First Division, winning ten and drawing two of their first thirteen matches and claiming the table's top spot in week nine. They remained there for the duration of the season, even after losing two of their first three games in November. Those two losses, to Chelsea and Leeds, joined an earlier one to Arsenal as their only losses on the season.

Their next match was the home draw against West Brom, followed by another 25 undefeated matches in the league to lift them seven points clear of runners-up Liverpool in the final table (Forest had also beaten Liverpool in that season's League Cup final).

The next season started with another 16 straight undefeated matches to take the total to 42 before Forest finally lost to Liverpool on 9 December 1978. They finished the season as runners-up to Liverpool in the league, but took some consolation by winning the first of two consecutive European Cups that year.

17 September 2011 - Better Late Than Never For Swansea

On 17 September 2011, Premier League debutants Swansea City became the final team across the top four divisions of English football to score a goal that season.

Playing in their first-ever Premier League season (and their first one in the top flight since 1983), the Swans had gone scoreless in their first four matches, getting draws with Wigan and Sunderland in between losses to Manchester City and Arsenal.

By the time they hosted West Brom at Liberty Stadium for their fifth match, Swansea were the only team across the Premier League, the Championship, League One, and League Two--a combined 92 teams in all--without a goal to their name.

That changed quickly against West Brom, with Swansea forward Scott Sinclair (pictured) delivering from the penalty spot in the 14th minute. It was the first goal scored by a Welsh team in the English top flight since Swansea's Bob Latchford netted at Old Trafford in May 1983. But they didn't stop there, as Leroy Lita extended Swansea's lead in the 24th minute, then Nathan Dyer added a third in the 49th to cap the 3-0 victory.

Swansea went on to pull a double over West Brom that season en route to an impressive 11th-place finish the final table.

11 September 1895 - The Theft Of The FA Cup

On 11 September 1895, the FA Cup, which had been won by Aston Villa the previous season, was stolen from a Birmingham shop window. It has never been recovered.

Established in 1871, the FA Cup is the world's oldest association football competition. Since its beginning, the winner has taken possession of the cup itself, nicknamed "the Little Tin Idol," holding onto it until another team wins the tournament. In 1895, the winners were Aston Villa, who beat West Bromwich Albion in the final, 1-0. To share the accomplishment with their supporters, Villa (pictured with the cup) displayed the cup in the shop window of a local football equipment seller named William Shillcock.

But when Mr. Shillcock arrived at work on the morning of 11 September, he discovered that his shop had been robbed. Not only did the thieves steal a small amount of money, they also took the cup.

Although a £10 reward was offered for information leading to the cup's recovery, it was never located. The FA eventually fined Villa £25 to replace it. (The new trophy was used until 1910 and is currently located in the National Football Museum in Preston.)

In 1958, an 83-year old former criminal named Harry Burge confessed to the theft, saying he melted the cup down to make counterfeit coins. Despite his admission, however, he could provide no evidence linking him to the crime and went unpunished.