On this week: Nov 26-Dec 2 - Tragic death of Hill

Eurosport - Thu, 26 Nov 06:54:00 2009

We look back on sporting events that happened on this week in history, including the tragic death of racing driver Graham Hill in 1975.

FORMULA 1 Graham Hill in action in 1975 all versions - 0

2004: BALCO founder lifts lid on drug scandal December 2

Victor Conte had made a great living for 20 years after setting up the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, ostensibly supplying bespoke nutritional programmes to athletes. But what Conte was providing was a lot more than a few protein shakes and ginseng infusions: this would become the biggest doping scandal in American sporting history.

First rumours of a major drug scandal began to emerge in the summer of 2003, with subsequent investigations leading to a prompt addition of THG to the banned substance list. Positive tests and resultant bans began to crop up - including the ban for Dwain Chambers in February 2004 - but it was not until the investigation neared its conclusion that the true scale of the scandal emerged.

With the entire house of cards about to collapse, Conte went on the offensive, and agreed to be interviewed for American TV. And he named every name, detailed every action and blew to pieces in the most public way possible the careers and reputations of superstars such as Marion Jones and Barry Bonds. Conte was sentenced to four months in jail in October 2005.

1999: Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert scores a hat-trick - November 28

Sixty-two career goals for a midfielder is a decent return, for a defender excellent, but for a goalkeeper? Incredible! But that is exactly what eccentric Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert managed to do. Chilavert was known for his dead ball abilities and on this week he became the first keeper to score a hat-trick in a senior match. Ok, so they were all penalties, but don't let that get in the way of a good story. He scored the goals in an Argentine game for Velez Sarsfield against Ferro Carril Oeste.

1978: Viv Anderson becomes the first black man to play for England - November 29

It's hard to know whether to feel alarmed or comforted by the fact that just 31 years ago Nottingham Forest's Viv Anderson became the first black footballer to play for England. On the one hand it is shocking that it took that long, but on the other, it at least shows how far we have come. Anderson played right-back in a 1-0 victory over Czechoslovakia and despite having a long England career he would go on to win only 30 caps, as Phil Neal was the regular right-back during most of his era.

1975: Graham Hill killed in air crash - November 29

Graham Hill (pictured in action just months before his death) won two Formula One world championships, but it was an air crash that was to take his life. On this week 34 years ago, he was piloting a plane containing Embassy Hill manager Ray Brimble, fellow driver Tony Brise, and two mechanics from France to attend a party in London. All six people on board were killed when the plane clipped a row of trees on Arkley golf course in Hertfordshire and subsequently crashed. Hill's son Damon was 15 at the time and went on to become a Formula One champion himself in 1996.

1968: OJ Simpson wins the Heisman Trophy - November 26

Everybody over this side of the pond followed the OJ Simpson trial because the Americans told us he was famous. Few of us actually knew what he was famous for though, and no it was not for starring in the Naked Gun movies. OJ Simpson was a pretty good American football running-back in his day. On this week back in 1968 he won the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to the best college football player in the country. He then went on to have a Hall of Fame career in the pros before going on to famously not kill his wife.

1899: Spanish football club FC Barcelona founded - November 29

FC Barcelona have become a key ingredient of Catalan life, but it was a Swiss man who started the club on this week back 1899. Hans-Max Gamper, who would later take the Catalan version of his name - Joan Gamper - fell in love with Barcelona on a trip to the city and, as you do, decided to stay and form what would become one of the biggest football clubs in the world. He was only 22 at the time but he already had been club captain at FC Basel (note the red and blue colour connection?) and then helped form and played for both FC Excelsior Zurich and FC Zurich. Gamper would go on to play 48 games for Barca, scoring over 100 goals, and would later serve as the club's president.

1872: The first international football match is played - November 30

Despite there still being no SFA, the first 'official' international football match took place on this week 137 years ago, as Scotland took on England. And guess what? It was a boring 0-0 draw. It is unclear whether any of 4,000 people in attendance at the West of Scotland Cricket Club ground asked for their entry fee of a shilling back after seeing such a dull game. The match was actually delayed by 20 minutes due to fog in the area, so I guess while football has changed so much since then, the Scottish weather remains the same!

Eurosport

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