On This Day: Luis Suarez was born; Ajax won their first Super Cup champions

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (January 24th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On This Day in 1987 - HBD to Barca Star Luis Suarez

Barcelona star Luis Suarez, who absolutely is one of the best strikers in the world, was born in Salto (Uruguay) on January 24 1987

Luis Suarez moved to Holland to join Groningen at the tender age of 19. A season later he switched to Ajax, where he was soon one of the biggest stars in Dutch football. He was top scorer in the 2009/10 Eredivisie and led Ajax into the Champions League. Shortly after, in 2011, he headed for Liverpool.

His goals soon won him a starting place on Merseyside, where he continued his record of always scoring at least 10 goals a season in his professional career, be that in Uruguay, the Netherlands or the UK. At Anfield, his stats improved along with his team’s performances, which almost resulted in Liverpool winning the championship for the first time in 24 years. In a wonderful last season, he scored 31 goals in 33 games to share the Golden Boot award with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Suárez made his official debut for Barcelona at October 2014 against Real Madrid. The match ended with a Barça defeat (3-1). While it was not the most warming welcome to official competition with his new team, the Uruguay striker would go on to prove his worth throughout the rest of the season.

In his first season at Barcelona, Suárez starred in an attacking trio alongside Messi and Neymar, helping the club win a historic second continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. Messi, Suárez, Neymar (dubbed MSN), scored a total of 122 goals that season, the most for an attacking front three in Spanish football history. In his second season at the club, Suárez won his first Pichichi Trophy as well as his second European Golden Shoe, for which he became the first player since 2009 to win both awards other than Messi or Ronaldo. He ended the season with a total of 40 league goals, 14 of which came in his last five matches, and 16 assists, becoming the first player in history to top La Liga in both goals and assists.

Luis Suárez is synonymous with goals, scoring them and creating them. The Barça number 9 has a fighting quality that makes him a winner through and through.

On This Day in 1973 - Ajax Won Their First UEFA Super Cup

On 24 January, Cruyff led Ajax to win the European Super Cup by beating Rangers 3–1 away and 3–2 in Amsterdam.

On This Day in 1996 - HBD to Roma Forward Patrik Schick

On 24 January 1996. Patrik Schick was born.

Schick is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Roma and the Czech Republic national team.

Happy Birthday! You can have a look at his perfect performance in the Serie A giants above.

24 January 2011 - Sky Sports Does All Of Us A Favor

On 24 January 2011, Sky Sports suspended commentators Andy Gray and Richard Keys for making sexist remarks. Although the suspension was originally announced as indefinite, it proved to be permanent, as their contracts were terminated soon afterward.

The pair had provided commentary for Sky Sports since the start of the first Premier League season in 1992. On 22 January 2011, they were covering a match between Wolves and Liverpool that included a female assistant referee, Sian Massey. When they believed their microphones were turned off, they discussed their belief that women "don't know the offside rule." Keys went further, anticipating a mistake by Massey (she did not make one, as her only offside call was correct). Keys then criticized a recent column written by West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady, saying "The game's gone mad. See charming Karren Brady this morning complaining about sexism? Yeah. Do me a favour, love."

After the recording leaked, their comments drew widespread condemnation. The pair were scheduled for the Chelsea-Bolton match on 24 January, but before kick-off Sky Sports announced their suspension, saying the comments were "totally inappropriate" and "inexcusable from anyone at Sky Sports." One day later, the network ended their relationship with Gray, citing a separate incident from the previous December. Keys, meanwhile, resigned on 26 January after the release of previous comments of his own.

The two have since moved on and now provide commentary and analysis for TalkSport and Al Jazeera.

On This Day in 2018 - What Were They Thinking?

On 24 January 2018, Leeds United released this badge! 

BUT over 77,000 fans signed a petition to stop the club from using it. 

Leeds United had to drop the design hours a few hours later. 

Well, I think it was not so bad? It looks pretty cool... What's your opinion?

24 January 1976 - Give It Time, It'll Catch On

On 24 January 1976, Kettering Town introduced shirt sponsorship to British football, with a mixed reception.

Shirt sponsorship originated with Uruguayan side Peñarol in the mid-1950s, expanding to France in the 1960s and Germany in the early 1970s. But no senior team in the UK tried it until Kettering's Southern Premier League match against Bath City. The idea came from Kettering Town player-manager (and chief executive) Derek Dougan, who had joined the club the previous year. He arranged a deal for local firm Kettering Tyres to sponsor their shirts in return for a four-figure deal, with their name in large letters across the front.

When the FA learned of the deal, they ordered the club to remove the sponsor. Dougan attempted to work around the order by shortening the sponsor to "Kettering T" and claiming that it stood for Kettering Town. The FA were unconvinced and issued another removal order, this time with the threat of a £1,000 fine for non-compliance.

By the following year, however, the FA capitulated and allowed shirt sponsorship across the board, with Hibernian becoming the first top-flight team in the UK to adopt the practice.