This Day in History: 29th May

The empty terraces after the Heysel Stadium disaster

Football

1968: Manchester United beat Benfica 4-1 (after extra time) in the 13th European Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London.1970: Birth of Roberto Di Matteo, an Italian former footballer and manager. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chelsea of England.

1985: The Heysel Stadium disaster took place on this day in 1985 when escaping fans were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between Juventus of Italy and Liverpool of England. Thirty-nine Juventus fans died and 600 were injured.

1991: Red Star Belgrade won their first major European trophy, beating Marseille on penalties in the European Cup final.

1998: After finishing fourth in the Barclays Premier League the previous season, Chelsea bolstered their strike force in preparation for a title tilt by signing Pierluigi Casiraghi from Lazio.

Cricket

1950: Birth of Talat Ali, who played ten Tests for Pakistan in the 1970s, but he is better known as a match referee.

1999: Having already qualified for the Super Six stage by demolishing all comers, South Africa were probably not overly concerned when they lost their final group game against Zimbabwe in Chelmsford.

Basketball

1973: Birth of Etdrick Bohannon, who was an American former professional basketball player. He played in the NBA, among other leagues.

1980: Larry Bird beats Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year award.1984: Birth of Carmelo Kyam Anthony, nicknamed “Melo”, an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association.

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