On this day 13 years ago, Rio Ferdinand was omitted from the England squad to face Turkey in their crucial Euro 2004 qualifier after failing to attend a drugs test.
Ferdinand was due to take the test at Manchester United’s Carrington training facilities but forgot the date and went shopping instead.
He returned to Carrington when he remembered, only to be told he was too late to take the test.
The Manchester United defender passed a subsequent test the following day but had irked the England FA.
An inquest was opened and Ferdinand was handed an eight-month ban.
He eventually returned to the England setup and went on to make 81 appearances for his country before retiring.
2000: Kevin Keegan resigned as England coach after the 1-0 defeat by Germany in the final match to be played at the old Wembley stadium.
2006: England suffered humiliation at the hands of Macedonia for the second time in four years as they were held to a goalless draw in their European Championship qualifier at Old Trafford.
2009: Avram Grant was appointed as the new director of football at Portsmouth. He went on to become manager but could not save the club from relegation.
2010: England’s Rebecca Adlington won a swimming gold medal in the women’s 800m freestyle final at the Commonwealth Games.
2012: West Indies won the ICC World Twenty20 title, beating Sri Lanka by 36 runs in the final in Colombo.
2015: Bryan Habana equalled Jonah Lomu’s World Cup try-scoring record as he led South Africa into the quarter-finals with a crushing 64-0 victory over the United States.
