Football Revisited 1979/80

Pre-match, referee and Ernie Wise impersonator Kevin McNally promises us a sparkling game, but it appears he has laced the pudding with far too many eggs. Played out on a surface under three feet of mud, sparkling it isn’t, but it is truly glorious in so many other ways, including an acrobatic save from the St. John’s Ambulance man. Alan Stevenson turns saving shots with his back into an art form,...

Wrapping up the weekend, the BBC gives us a trip to The Dell where Mick Channon returns to the Southampton colours, and rightly so. If Mick then watches our second game, he will be only too delighted that he escaped the clutches of Maine Road, Malcolm Allison and Romark. Liverpool play well, Manchester City’s defence don’t - they really don’t - and hilarity ensues. This is a public episode. If you...

The technicians’ strike is over and football returns to ITV, with the regional shows back in full swing. The Tottenham Hotspur commercial department pull out all the stops to welcome back Brian Moore and The Big Match. We are treated to a glorious bit of route one football from Glenn Hoddle, there’s a new entry into Kenny Burns corner, a remarkable miss from Garry Birtles and Ricky Villa goes into...

A struggling Burnley side visit free scoring Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. You don’t need to be Nostradamus - or Romark - to see what’s coming. 17-year-old Billy O’Rourke mans the Burnley goal and finds himself elevated to the YBTAHOAB Hall of Fame by the end of the game, which you can watch here . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acce...

A Tottenham Hotspur struggling to find some early season form and stuck in the relegation zone, take themselves south of the river to confront newly promoted Crystal Palace, sitting top of the First Division and the side that some observers believe will go on to dominate the 1980s. Live from Selhurst Park, viewed from the comfort of the B&Q Memorial dugouts, Steven Scragg and Dave Bowler swoon at...

John Motson informs us here that ‘Match of the Day’ is taking its first look of the season at the European champions - and he means Nottingham Forest, not Liverpool. It’s a trip to the City Ground to see Brian Clough’s men still basking in the glow of that win over Malmo just four months earlier, though the goalscorer that night, Trevor Francis, is still busy playing in the NASL and hasn’t returne...

With Liverpool having endured a slow start to the season after the electrifying display at Wembley in the Charity Shield, Coventry boss Gordon Milne returns to his old stomping ground full of invention and a 3-4-3 system, ready to confound the Reds. Steven Scragg and Dave Bowler see how he gets on, and round up the rest of the day’s action in the First Division. You can watch the game here . Thank...

With ITV reeling under a technicians’ strike, BBC’s ‘Match of the Day’ had the opening day of the 1979/80 season all to itself. Starting out at The Dell for Southampton against Manchester United, the key feature of the game was set to be Ray Wilkins’ debut for United after his summer move from Chelsea. But for Saints supporters, there was to be a first look at Charlie George, nine months after he...

The Charity Shield is behind us, the season stretches out ahead, so join Steven Scragg, Dave Bowler and some very old newspaper previews as we look ahead to what 1979/80 might have in store for us. Suspend your disbelief, forget all that you know, and join us on football’s Christmas Eve as we speculate on just what Santa might have in his sack for us all in the season ahead. This is a public episo...

Embarking on a weekly examination of the 1979/80 campaign - ITV’s technicians’ strike permitting - we have trawled YouTube and beyond to find surviving coverage from Match of the Day and the ITV regions, building into the most comprehensive picture possible of the season. Think of it as a Marshall Cavendish part work that you don’t have to pay for. In our opening paragraph to these supplementary t...