Hopes that the 2005 Ashes series would be closely fought proved well-founded, as the series was more competitive than anyone had predicted and was still undecided as the closing session of the final Test began.

Hurst had played well enough to keep his place and, with substitutes still disallowed in competitive football, Greaves ' hopes of taking part in the final were dashed.

He played his final competitive game in 1985, at the age of 70.

He played twice more for England the following month against Slovenia in another friendly and made his competitive debut four days later in a World Cup qualifier against Croatia, where he played the final nine minutes.

In the 1980s, the engine saw its final incarnations, the BDR, used in the road-going version of the Caterham, and the 1. 8-litre BDT, which powered the never-raced Escort RS1700T, and the more competitive Ford RS200, which was created for Group B rallying.

Four of the five candidate cities were prominent national capitals, which lent an increased competitive interest to the final bidding phase.

His final competitive game came against West Ham on 11 May 1997, and his final appearance before retiring was five days later on 16 May in a testimonial for David Busst ( the player whose career had been ended by an injury suffered against United the previous year ) against Coventry City at Old Trafford.

In its way, this first final marks the beginning of major competitive football.

Despite a period of three years in the wilderness, he always believed that he would return to the national team and, in September 2009 he was called-up to the squad for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Slovakia by interim manager Stefan Majewski: after being on the bench for the first match in Prague, which saw Poland's slim World Cup hopes shattered, Dudek won his 59th cap against the latter on 14 October, in Poland's final competitive game before Euro 2012: in a match which was played in heavy snow and in front of a near-empty Stadion Slaski in Chorzów, he was denied a clean sheet by a Seweryn Gancarczyk own goal, as Poland lost 0 – 1.

In one of his final initiatives as Prime Minister, he launched a program of radical transformation of the island ’ s education system aimed at development of quality human capital equipped to succeed in the competitive global economy.

His final competitive game at home for Celtic came in a league match against Dundee United, and he scored both goals as Celtic won 2 – 1.

By using the internet as the middle-man, the purveyor of information to the final consumer, businesses can gain a competitive advantage through creation of an effective website, which in the past required extensive effort finding the right middle-man and cultivating the relationship.

Aldershot's final eight competitive games all ended in defeat and they had not won any of their final 16 games ; their last competitive win was on 28 December 1991 away to Maidstone United in the Fourth Division.

Leadership contests to determine the successor to a prime minister are usually held during the final days of the incumbent's term, and are traditionally a lengthy and competitive process.

Brazil beat Mexico with a final score 4-0, with Ademir becoming the first scorer of a competitive goal at the stadium with his 30th minute strike.

In the 1994 – 95 season, Fowler was an ever-present for Liverpool, playing in all of their 57 competitive matches, including the victory in the 1995 League Cup final, and a match against Arsenal in which he scored the Premier league's fastest ever hat-trick, in four minutes and 33 seconds, a record that still stands.

He scored the last goal in the final competitive match played at The Dell on 19 May 2001, against Arsenal.

Coe had one final good season in 1989, when, at age 33, he won the 1500 m AAA title, was ranked British Number 1 over both 800 m and 1500 m, ran the second fastest 800 m of the year ( 1: 43. 38 ) and won the silver medal at the World Cup over 1500 m. He retired from competitive athletics in early 1990, after having to bow out at the Auckland Commonwealth Games with yet another chest infection.

He only won twice that season at Pocono and Charlotte but led more laps than he had the previous year and was highly competitive in the final races of the year.

Using just 15 players for 80 competitive matches Barnet reached Wembley in the FA Trophy, losing 3 – 0 to Stafford Rangers and reached the final of the Southern League Cup, drawing 2 – 2 with Hereford on aggregate.

During the year that followed, Dick co-operated whole-heartedly with the dentist and was delighted with the final result achieved -- an upper row of strong straight teeth that completely changed his facial appearance.

It then toured to other states, with the final appearance at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery on 21 January 2007.

Buster Keaton made his final film appearance in the role of Erronius.

In the graphics pipeline, it is the last major step, giving the final appearance to the models and animation.

In 1999, 88 years after his final major league appearance and 44 years after his death, editors at The Sporting News ranked Cy Young 14th on their list of " Baseball's 100 Greatest Players ".

Plato actually returned for several appearances during the show's final 1986 season, which appeared on ABC, including an episode ( Plato's final appearance in the series ) in which Kimberly suffers the effects of bulimia.

From 1995 to 1997 they played all their games there, from 1998 to 2000 they split their home matches between Murrayfield and Glasgow's Hampden Park, then moved to Glasgow full-time, with one final Murrayfield appearance in 2002.

Their best performance since was a semi final appearance in 1990.

England have never won the UEFA European Football Championship – their best performance being a semi final appearance at the 1968 and 1996 Championships.

Jackie Mason was banned from the series in October 1964 ( the ban was removed a year and a half later, and Mason made his final appearance on the show ).

This was Bruce Lee's final film appearance before his death on July 20, 1973.

1941 brought Essendon's first grand final appearance since 1923, but the side again lowered its colours to Melbourne.

Her final public appearance was at an after-party at the Sardi's restaurant in New York City, following the premiere of the documentary film Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There.

After his final on-screen appearance, introducing That's Entertainment!

His final appearance was a 2 – 3 defeat away to local rivals Tampa Bay Rowdies on 17 June 1978, in which Rodney Marsh scored all three for the home team.

Jack Lemmon presented Groucho with an honorary Academy Award in 1974, his final major public appearance, in which he received a standing ovation.

Groucho's final appearance was a brief sketch with George Burns in the Bob Hope television Special Joys in 1976.

On his final league appearance, he scored twice in a 3 – 1 home win over a West Ham side whose title hopes had just disappeared.

A dramatic season end included wins in 10 of their last 12 games, but the Astros missed a playoff appearance when they lost the final game of the season to the Atlanta Braves.

Booth made the final appearance of his acting career at Ford's on March 18, 1865, when he again played Duke Pescara in The Apostate.

His final appearance, for England was on 10 June 1962, as England were defeated 3-1 by Brazil in the World Cup quarter-final at Estadio Sausalito in Viña del Mar, Chile.

He made his final public appearance on October 15, 1972, throwing the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2 of the World Series.

In 1976, he appeared for the last time in a motion picture, playing a movie crewman who is fired by a movie mogul, played by Art Carney, in Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and he also made his final public appearance in that year when he was inducted into the Body Building Guild Hall of Fame.

Dalglish did not play in Liverpool's 1988 – 89 campaign, and he made his final league appearance on 5 May 1990 as a substitute against Derby.