| 22/3/2023 | Former Arsenal, Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil announces his retirement from football at the age of 34. Ozil won nine trophies during his club career including four FA Cups and the Spanish La Liga title in 2012 and 92 caps for Germany being part of the team that lifted the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. |
| 22/3/2021 | Former England striker Frank Worthington dies aged 72 following a long illness. Worthington, who won eight England caps and scored twice for the national team, began his career at Huddersfield Town. He went on to make more than 200 appearances for Leicester City and played for clubs including Bolton, Birmingham City, Southampton, Leeds United and Sunderland. He played in 22 consecutive Football League seasons from 1966 to 1987, scoring 266 goals in 882 appearances in all competitions. In 14 of those campaigns he played in the top division, notching 150 goals in 466 matches, and won the Golden Boot award playing for Bolton in 1978-79 as the leading scorer ahead of Liverpool's Kenny Dalglish and Arsenal's Frank Stapleton. |
| 22/3/2020 | Joseph Dagan, the inventor of the penalty shoot-out, dies at the age of 93. Dagan was a member of the Israeli Football Association for years and along with Israel FA Chairman Michael Almong invented the process of the penalty kick in a tie. He had been incensed when, during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, Israel drew 1-1 in the quarter final with Bulgaria but was eliminated after Israel’s captain Mordechai Spiegler pulled a piece of paper saying “no” out of a huge sombrero, while the Bulgarian captain got the “yes”. The first-ever such penalty shootout took place in August 1970 when Manchester United won at Hull in the League Cup, with George Best scoring the first penalty and Denis Law becoming the first player to miss in a shoot-out |
| 22/3/2000 | Italian footballer and coach, Carlo Parola dies aged 79. He is most famous for his time with Juventus with whom he played 334 games and scored 10 goals, while he also had brief spells with Lazio and Midland in Argentina before going into management. He is also famous for being the author of one of the most spectacular Bicycle kicks of the Italian football, during the Fiorentina - Juventus 0-0 match on 15/1/1950, a kick which became the official logo of the Panini football sticker collection“Calciatori”. |
| 22/3/2000 | Former Juventus international footballer Carlo Parola dies in Turin aged 79 |
| 22/3/1997 | Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest ice skating world champion (14 years and 10 months old) in Lausanne |
| 22/3/1997 | Led by coach Giannis Giannouris, Vouliagmeni win the European Cup after defeating Roma 7-6 (Afroudakis 3, Psichos 2, Lorantos and Koutsogilanis) in Athens |
| 22/3/1996 | Jose Luis Chilavert of Paraguay, the best goalkeeper of the century, scores with a 60-meter shot at the Velez-River Plate match (3-2) |
| 22/3/1986 | Debi Thomas becomes the first black woman to win the world figure skating title |
| 22/3/1976 | Athens hosts the games of the 5th qualifying group of the 6th European Nations Cup in Chess, which started on 20/3, and will last for 9 days. Germany defeats Greece with 6-2 and takes the first place leaving Israel, Spain and Greece behind |
| 22/3/1975 | Themos Asderis dies aged 75. He was one of the players who signed with AEK, immediately after the team’s formation, coming from Pera Club of Istanbul. Later on, he became a coach (and a national) and a referee |
| 22/3/1894 | First hockey game for Stanley Cup. Montreal Amateur Athletic Association defeat Ottawa Capitals 3-1 |
| 22/3/1893 | At Smith College's gymnasium in Northampton, Massachusetts professor Berenson throws the ball high to start the first women's basketball game |
| 22/3/1888 | The English football league is established at the instigation of Aston Villa's president William McGregor |
