What Was Football Like in the 1980s?

Richard Crooks

Description

What Was Football Like in the 1980s? provides a fascinating and insightful perspective on the game in a decade when football faced major challenges on and off the field. The author's own memories and experiences are augmented by a wealth of research to bring you a compelling account of the clubs, players, managers, referees, grounds, crowds and competitions that defined '80s football. The book highlights the Hillsborough, Heysel and Bradford tragedies, along with the increasingly commercialised aspects of the game and the evolution of televised football. The scourge of hooliganism - which reached its height in the 1980s - is brought to the fore. What Was Football Like in the 1980s? is an enthralling and illuminating account of a truly remarkable decade for the beautiful game, penned by a respected football author. How different was the sport 30 to 40 years ago? Richard Crooks gives you the answer, leaving no stone unturned.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 03 août 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785317132
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2020
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Richard Crooks, 2020
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781785315534
eBook ISBN 9781785317132
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Foreword
1. Four Decades Later - The Wasps, The Jags, The Gers
2. On the Rise and Then
3. Shrimpers and Shots
4. Mascots
5. Grounds
6. Crowds
7. Hooliganism - The Spectre Fully Formed
8. Racism
9. The Bradford Fire
10. Heysel
11. Hillsborough
12. Players
13. Managers
14. Referees
15. Control of the Game and Economics
16. Clubs and The League Competition
17. FA Cup
18. The League Cup
19. Other Competitions
20. Sponsorship
21. Commercially
22. Football in Scotland
23. European Club Competitions
24. European Championships
25. Frankfurt
26. World Cup
27. Television
28. Radio and Newspapers
29. Programmes and Fanzines
30. It Happened in the 1980s
Afterword
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6
Bibliography
For my grandsons Charlie, Edward, Cameron and William
Acknowledgements
MY GRATEFUL appreciation to Jennifer Ann Wiles for her support and encouragement in the writing of this book - her thoughts, comments and suggestions have been unerringly helpful.
I would like to thank Michael Griffiths and Ian Carter for their comments and observations, which have undoubtedly improved the narrative. Additionally, Mike Firth provided very useful input and my thanks to him.
Thank you to Duncan Olner for the design of the cover, and to Richard Fletcher for editing the book. And thank you particularly to Jane Camillin at Pitch Publishing for her continued support and advice in producing this book.
Quotations used in this book are referenced by their source - the book, author and publisher. Permission for quotations used in this book has been sought from the publisher.
From Motty by John Motson published by Ebury. Reproduced by permission of The Random House Group Ltd copyright 2008.
Preface
WHY WRITE a book about football in the 1980s?
I ve written books about football in the previous two decades - Grandad - What was Football like in the 1960s? and Grandad What was Football like in the 1970s? And having taken time to write a third book, Wednesday v United: The Sheffield Derby , it feels right to continue a narrative about football, this time in the 1980s.
Unlike the previous book titles, you ll see there s no reference to Grandad in this one. That s not because of my grandsons lack of interest in the historical perspective of football, quite the reverse as far as Charlie is concerned. He will ask what was football like in the old days, Grandad? And whilst for him, at the age of 12, the 1980s are quite definitely the old days , for me they are certainly not - they are the third decade of my continuing passion for football, keen interest in the game and all that surrounds it.
The omission of Grandad from the title is simply because there are many people who will recall football in the decade - through fond memories or otherwise - who are of a younger generation and reference to Grandad in the title could potentially narrow interest in the book.
I have assured my ten-year-old grandson Edward that he should not be concerned about this omission from the book s title - his name is in the book!
Aside from the title, the narrative follows a similar structure to the first two books - using personal experiences to supplement the perspective of football and the wider context of the 1980s.
Foreword
THE 1980s are at least 30 years ago, 40 from the beginning of that decade.
For some, memories start to fade with time. For others, memories of events years ago remain as vivid today as if they took place yesterday.
For football the 1980s were a momentous time - on and off the pitch. For me, it was unquestionably the darkest decade for the game. Whilst there were many highs on the pitch, and great achievements by clubs, they were overshadowed by events off it - hooliganism, the Bradford fire, Heysel, Hillsborough at times, the football seemed incidental at best.
The decades since have seen major changes - some for the better, some maybe not so.
Aside from the first chapter, which presents a perspective on current football, the book is focused on how things were in the 1980s.
Chapter 1
Four Decades Later - The Wasps, The Jags, The Gers
IT SEEMED a good idea at the time. And POMO - Position of Maximum Opportunity - came to mind. I d first heard the term used as the football mantra of Charles Hughes, the FA s director of coaching, in the 1960s. His approach on the football field was to get the ball into the opposition s six-yard box as quickly as possible - statistically the area where most goals are scored. In the 1980s, there were managers of clubs who applied this mantra.
My POMO was a little different. My partner, Jennifer, was away for six weeks visiting her daughter and granddaughter in New Zealand, giving me every opportunity to indulge my passion and interest in going to watch live football. Scottish football appealed. I d been to a few grounds in Scotland but here was the chance to go to town and spend a weekend there.
Fixtures researched on the internet, the best weekend promised to be Friday, 4 October, Saturday, 5 October and Sunday, 6 October (2019) - respectively Alloa Athletic v Dundee United, 7.05pm kick-off, Partick Thistle v Queen of the South, 3pm kick-off, Glasgow Rangers v Hamilton Academical, 3pm kick-off.
I toyed with the idea of a double-header on the Sunday - Livingston v Glasgow Celtic at 12 noon before the game at Ibrox. Logistics in the way - it was almost impossible to see a way of watching the Hoops play the full game at Livingston and travel to the Gers for a 3pm kick-off using public transport. Foolhardy to attempt the task.
The Scottish weekend would mean missing (Sheffield) Wednesday s game at home to Wigan Athletic on the Saturday afternoon, but sacrifices had to be made.
Internet again - check the train times, connections and costs, and then the hotels. The thought of travelling from home in Hertfordshire to Scotland and back by car was a non-starter. Travel by rail looked remarkably straightforward - Home to Alloa - train at 08.28 on Friday into London St Pancras International, London Kings Cross to Edinburgh, change for the train to Croy (where?), change at Croy for Alloa, arrive Alloa at 15.34.
Game kicks off at 7.05pm - televised live on BBC Scotland.
Cost of travel by train with railcard discount, 55.10 - plus 1.30 admin fee. Seemed good value. Booked two weeks in advance.
Tickets for the games - register online with Glasgow Rangers and Partick Thistle and tickets then purchased. Website only for Alloa Athletic, no tickets for purchase online.
Single tickets only available at Ibrox - purchased one in the Sandy Jardine Stand Lower for the game - 29 plus the admin charge; many tickets available at Partick Thistle s Firhill - purchased one in the Jackie Husband Stand, 20 plus the admin charge.
For Alloa, the website stated a ticket price of 18 - no further information. The capacity at the oddly named Indodrill Stadium was 3,100 - that looked low. This could be a problem - the club website had an e-mail address for supporters to contact if they had any questions. Can I purchase in advance or is it pay at the turnstile on the night? and How long to walk from the hotel to the ground? The response was quick and very helpful - pay on the turnstile, the presumption must be they re not expecting a capacity crowd, I d get there early in any event to beat any rush and guarantee a place in the ground.
All booked and done, the first leg of three at Alloa. But I had no idea of the location of Alloa. I d booked everything without knowing that basic fact. I hadn t needed to. Indeed, for a while I felt a little ashamed that my education had not provided me with an understanding of the geography of Scotland. I checked. Alloa is in Clackmannanshire, five miles from the more well-known Stirling.
And the football club? I knew next to nothing about Alloa Athletic. They played in the Scottish Championship, wore yellow and black and were nicknamed The Wasps . Beyond that, nothing. Disappointed with my ignorance, I set out to learn more. The club website was my primary source - the Wasps formed in 1883, were champions of Scottish League Division Two in 1921/22. And that was it - no other football honours. The capacity of their home ground, the Recreation Ground, was recorded in 1980 as 9,000.
Most individual league goals in a season - 49 - scored by Wee Crilley in 1931/32, and their most capped player, Jock Hepburn, made one international appearance for Scotland in 1890/91.
The Indodrill Stadium (sponsor s name) was referred to by many locals as the Rec - they had been the second-to-last Scottish League club to install floodlights at their ground in 1979, Stranraer s Stair Park the only ground floodlightless for longer.
Having arrived in good time in Alloa, I made for the ground and there it was, oddly shaped floodlights leaning over, almost apologetically, from the Clackmannan Road side of the ground. A quick walk around the three sides of the ground that were accessible -