On This Day: Man City 3-0 Liverpool as Milner made his Sky Blues debut

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (January 3rd) 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 2010 - City Swept Reds aside, Milner Debut... for Man City!

James Milner, who now is the Reds midfielder, enjoyed an influential debut for Manchester City by creating two goals in a convincing 3-0 home victory over Liverpool.

Manchester City celebrated owner Sheikh Mansour's first visit to Eastlands by delivering an impressive performance to cruise to victory against Liverpool.

James Milner marked his debut by setting up Gareth Barry for an early goal, and Carlos Tevez gave City breathing space from close range just after half-time, although Micah Richards may claim his colleague did not actually apply the crucial touch from his header.

And City wrapped up a convincing win when Tevez scored from the penalty spot after Martin Skrtel hauled down the outstanding Adam Johnson.

On This Day in 2004 - Goodnight, Sweet Prince

On 3 January 2004, Everton star defender Thomas "T.G." Jones, known as "the prince of centre-halves," passed away at the age of 86.

Regarded as a calm and composed player with excellent footwork and vision, Jones spent the first two years of his professional career with Wrexham before signing with Everton in 1936 for a fee of £3,000. He became a regular starter in his second season and, in his third, helped the Toffees win the league title--the last one before the league went on hiatus for the duration of World War.

Having established himself as a Welsh international in 1938, he continued to make wartime appearances for Wales during the break. When league play resumed in 1946, he rejoined Everton and remained there until 1950, making a total of 178 appearances and serving as team captain in his last season.

After leaving Everton, he joined non-league Welsh side Pwllheli as player-manager from 1950 to 1956. Additional managerial stops at Bangor City and Rhyl followed before his retirement in 1968.

On This Day in 2004 - Plymouth Rocks Chesterfield

On 3 January 2004, Plymouth Argyle got off to a brilliant start against Chesterfield, scoring 5 goals in the first 18 minutes. They added 2 more to complete the 7-0 rout and match their biggest-ever margin of victory.

Playing before a crowd of 13,109 at Plymouth's Home Park, the hosts were celebrating their centennial year by sitting at the top of the Division Two table, while Chesterfield were third from bottom in the relegation zone. Plymouth quickly ended any thoughts of an upset, with Lee Hodges providing the opening goal in the 4th minute. But things soon turned much, much worse for Chesterfield and their keeper, Carl Muggleton.

Tony Capaldi doubled Plymouth's lead in the 11th minute, while Nathan Lowndes added a third one minute later. David Friio (pictured) then scored his first of the day in the 16th minute, with Lowndes netting another in the 17th.

Chesterfield, meanwhile, found it difficult to mount any effective attack because they could not hold on to the ball--they finished the match with a possession rate of only 22% . Friio, however, had no such difficulty and completed a hat-trick with goals in the 36th and 89th minutes. The 7-0 scoreline matched Plymouth's record margin of victory set in 1932 (and matched once before in 1994).

On This Day in 1995 - In A League Of His Own

On 3 January 1995, reigning CONCACAF Player of the Year Tab Ramos became the first player to sign with Major League Soccer.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1966, Ramos moved to the United States when he was 11. In 1983, he led his high school team to the New Jersey state championship and was named the Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. He was drafted by the New York Cosmos in the following year, but chose instead to attend North Carolina State University where he was a four-time All ACC selection and a three-time All American.

After brief spells with the American Soccer League's New Jersey Eagles (1988) and Miami Sharks (1989), Ramos was one of several players to sign contracts with the United States Soccer Federation to play exclusively for the national team in preparation for the 1990 World Cup. After the World Cup, the USSF loaned him to Spanish second division club Figueres.

Ramos played well for Figueres in 1990-91, leading to club to purchase his contract from the USSF. At the end of the following season, however, Figueres transferred him to fellow Second Division side Real Betis. Ramos made 59 apperances for Betis over the next two seasons which ended in promotion to Spain's top flight for the 1994-95 season. Ramos' play for Betis, along with his work for the US national team, won him recognition as the 1994 CONCACAF Player of the Year. Although Ramos remained with Betis through 1994-95, he suffered a skull fracture that kept him sidelined for the entire season.