The boxer who became known as ‘The Ragamuffin Man’ or, more correctly, ‘The Raggamuffin Man’, was former undisputed world welterweight champion Lloyd Honeyghan. Born in Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica on April 22, 1960, Honeyghan earned himself a world title fight when beating leading World Boxing Association (WBA) challenger Horace Shufforf by technical knockout in the eighth round of a final eliminator at Wembley Arena, London on May 20, 1986.
His opponent, at Caesars Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, on September 27, 1986, was another American, unbeaten and undisputed world welterweight champion Donald Curry. At the pre-fight press conference, Curry, who was overwhelming favourite to retain his titles, asked distainfully, ‘Who is this ragamuffin?’ Curry was referring to the casual clothing that Honeyghan chose to wear and used the word ‘ragamuffin’ in the Modern English sense, simply to describe a ragged, disreputable person.
However, in Jamaican Patwa, or Patois – which was, of course, well known to the British-based fighter – the deliberately misspelt word ‘raggamuffin’ is used to describe a ruffian, or street-smart hard case. So, instead of being insulted, Lloyd ‘Honey’ Honeyghan adopted the nickname and became, henceforth, ‘Raggamuffin’ or ‘The Raggamuffin Man’.
Indeed, Curry may have inadvertently inspired his rival because, despite being largely written off by the media, Honeyghan started confidently, throwing, and landing, more punches than his emaciated opponent, who reportedly had problems making the 147lb weight limit. In the fifth round, Honeyghan landed a stinging overhand right, followed by a series of left and right hooks and, in the sixth, contined to press forward. Late on, he laid into the champion, who returned to his corner shaking his head, with blood streaming from a cut, caused by a clash of heads, over his left eye. That was that; Curry retired on his stool and ‘The Raggamuffin Man’ was the new undisputed welterweight champion of the world.
Captain Martin Becher was a commissioned officer in the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry in the first half of the nineteenth century, but is best known for his exploits as a National Hunt jockey. Indeed, on February 29, 1836, Becher won the inaugural running of the Liverpool Grand Steeplechase at Aintree on The Duke, following a protracted dual with the eventual runner-up, Polyanthus, from the Anchor Bridge Crossing, despite a slipping saddle.
Although subsequently excluded from the catalogue, the Liverpool Grand Steeplechase was run over more or less the same course and distance as the race that become known, unofficially, as the Grand National in 1839 and officially so in 1847. Thus, it can be argued, with some justification, that the 1836 renewal was, in fact, the first running of the celebrated steeplechase.
In any event, Becher also rode in the first ‘official’ Grand National in 1839 and, although he failed to complete the course, nonetheless wrote his name into Aintree folklore. His mount, Conrad – the 20/1 outsider of the 13 of the 17 runners quoted in the betting – fell at the sixth fence and both horse and rider rolled into the natural brook on the landing side. Becher remounted, as was permitted in those days, and set off in pursuit, but his race came to an end three fences later at the obstacle that would soon become, but was not yet, known as Valentine’s Brook. Conrad fell, again, but this time was not for catching, leaving Becher to make his own way home.
Becher later quipped that his first departure had taught him how ‘dreadful water tastes without whisky in it’. The following year, the sixth fence, previously known simply as the First Brook, became known as Becher’s Brook in his honour.
The 2,000 Guineas Stakes, run annually over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, traditionally in early May, is the first British Classic of the season. The race was established by the Jockey Club in 1809 and has been run, without interruption, ever since, albeit that the 1999 renewal was transferred to the July Course at Newmarket during the redevelopment of the Rowley Mile.
The leading trainer in the history of the 2,000 Guineas is Aidan O’Brien, who has saddled a total of 10 winners. Formerly Irish Champion Amateur Jockey, O’Brien was Champion National Hunt Trainer in his native land five seasons running between 1993/94 and 1997/98 but, in 1996, was recruited by Irish billionaire John Magnier to succeed his unrelated namesake Vincent O’Brien at Ballydoyle Stables in County Tipperary. For three years, O’Brien divided his time between Ballydoyle and his original yard in Owning Hill, County Kilkenny, but has been Perennial Irish Champion Flat Trainer since 1999; he has also been British Champion Flat Trainer on six occasions, most recently in 2017.
Unlike other distinguished National Hunt trainers, notably Michael Dickinson, O’Brien made a seamless transition to Flat racing. He saddled his first 2,000 Guineas winner – in fact, his first British Classic winner of any description – on May 2, 1998, when King Of Kings, ridden by Mick Kinane, won, as O’Brien later recalled, ‘very easily’. On May 4, 2002, Rock \of Gibraltar, owned by Sir Alex Ferguson and ridden by Johnny Murtagh, edged out stable companion, and favourite, Hawk Wing to give O’Brien his second win in the Newmarket Classic. Since then, the lion’s share of the prize money, which nowadays totals £500,000, has headed to Ballydoyle eight more times, courtesy of Footstepsinthesand (2005), George Washington (2006), Henrythenavigator (2008), Camelot (2012), Gleneagles (2015), Churchill (2017), Saxon Warrior (2018) and Magna Grecia (2019).
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, was proposed by Charles Alcock, the Honorary Secretary of the Football Association, in July, 1871. The first ever final was contested by Wanderers and Royal Engineers, not at the original Wembley Stadium, which wasn’t completed until 1923, but at Kennington Oval in Lambeth, South London, on March 16, 1872. On that occasion, just 2,000 spectators, each paying what ‘Bell’s Life’ described as an ‘exorbitant’ 1/- for the privilege, watched Wanderers win 1-0, courtesy of a goal by full-back Morton Betts.
Fast forward 52 years and the first FA Cup Final to be played at Wembley Stadium, the so-called ‘White Horse Final’, on April 28, 1923, was an altogether more congested affair. The official attendance figure for the match was 126,047, but various estimates suggest the actual figure was more like 200,000, or even 300,000. The gates opened at 11.30am, fully three and a half hours before the scheduled 3.00pm kick-off, but closed again at 1.45pm. Nevertheless, thousands of disappointed fans jumped over, or broke through, the turnstiles, overwhelmed police and stewards and spilled onto the pitch.
Kick-off was delayed by 45 minutes and, with postponement looking increasing likely, ten mounted policeman, assisted by others on foot, managed to manoeuvre spectators back beyond the touchlines. Constable George Scorey and his ‘white’ horse, Billie – who was actually grey, but nonetheless stood out on black-and-white photographs and newsreel footage of the day – were singled out for special praise, hence the ‘White Horse Final’.
Once underway, the match, between First Division Bolton Wanderers and Second Division West Ham, was largely unsatisfactory, due to the state of the pitch and the proximity of the crowd. After two minutes, West Ham left-back was temporarily trapped in the crowd, allowing Bolton inside forward David Jack to score the opening goal. Further controversy followed earlier in the second half, when Bolton centre forward Jack Smith scored a disputed goal, which West Ham claimed had rebounded off a goalpost, rather than a spectator behind the goal, which was the view of the referee. In any event, Bolton Wanderers won 2-0 to become the inaugural winners of the FA Cup.
According to Guiness World Records, the oldest professional footballer to play in an official match was Egyptian Ezzeldin Mohamed Ali Bahader. Born on November 3, 1945, Bahader made his debut for 6 October Club, Cairo agaist Genius Football Club in the Egyptian Third Division on March 6, 2020, at the age of 74 years and 125 days. Despite carrying hamstring and knee injuries, the grandfather-of-six completed the full 90 minutes and, in a truly fairytale ending, scored a late goal from the penalty spot to tie the scores at 1-1.
Bahader said afterwards, ‘I’ve always longed to play for a big club, but it remained just a dream.’ However, inspired by the exploits of Japanese striker Kazuyoshi ‘King Kazu’ Miura – who was just 50 years and 14 days old when he became the oldest professional player to score in an official match, in 2017 – he set himself a new target and starting applying to join clubs.
Of course, the ambitious septuagenarian hit the target, figuratively and literally, at the first time of asking, but he also became, officially, the oldest active professional footballer, beating the previous record set by Israeli goalkeeper Isaak Hiyak. Hiyak was 73 years and 357 days old when he turned out for his club, Maccabi Ironi Or Yehuda, in the Israeli Fourth Division, on April 5, 2019. Reflecting on his achievenments, Bahader said, philosophically, ‘Nothing is easy, but nothing is impossible.’