A European team wins the Ryder Cup on American soil? Yes, well done, Jose-Maria and the boys, but it actually happened first in 1987, when Tony Jacklin's men beat Jack Nicklaus's team in Dublin, Ohio.
The first Englishman wins the Tour de France? OK, that was Bradley Wiggins, but back in 1987, Stephen Roche became the first Irishman to achieve the feat. It was something of an annus mirabilis for Roche that year, as he also won the Giro d'Italia and the World Road Race Championship to clinch cycling's Triple Crown.
At Wimbledon Australia's Pat Cash celebrated his victory in the men's singles final by climbing up to the players' box to embrace his family, girlfriend and coach — thus starting a Centre Court tradition.
It was a Merseyside one and two in football's top league as Everton pipped Liverpool to the First Division Championship. In his first full season as manager of Manchester United, Alex Ferguson came 11th.
In a pulsating FA Cup final, a Spurs team featuring Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle was beaten in extra time by an unfancied Coventry side. Of the 22 starting players, only one, Ossie Ardiles, had been born outside the UK and Ireland. In contrast, the 2012 final between Chelsea and Liverpool featured 13 overseas players at the start.
The BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Award went to Fatima Whitbread, who had clinched javelin gold at the World Athletics Championships. Runner-up was Steve Davis, who in 1987 had become the first snooker player to win the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship in the same year.
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