1986/87: Dundee United

Not every story has a happy ending. Sometimes the boy doesn't get the girl and not everyone lives happily ever after. Sport is no different, the very nature of the beast meaning that more often or not there will be a tale of woe to be told, with plenty of visits to the hotel named Heartbreak. When the disappointment arrives after months of hope and expectation, it makes it an even more bitter pill to swallow.

Take Dundee United's gruelling 1986/87 season. A nine month campaign comprising of 67 matches in four different competitions (70 in five if you include the Forfarshire Cup), the season saw the Tayside club bring joy to their supporters and provide Scottish football with a boost when it was needed. Yet during five days in May the dream turned into a nightmare, two final defeats leaving Jim McLean's side without a pot to show for their efforts. Sport hurts.

1980: Argentina Grand Prix

The first Grand Prix of the 1980 World Championship was anything but dull. Taking place at the Municipal Autodrome in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the number 15 version of the Oscar Galvez circuit, the track surface may have been far from ideal, yet it helped to create an entertaining spectacle, that just 13 days into the new year, gave a reasonable indication of what was to follow in an exciting decade for the sport.

1983/84 FA Cup: Sixth round

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the first, second, third, fourth and fifth rounds of the 1983/84 FA Cup, which you can view here, here, here, here and here.

"The FA Cup that has overflowed with surprises is almost empty of quality. Among the unlikely sixth round survivors are a third division club that was 10 minutes away from extinction two years ago, a second division club facing a winding-up petition on Monday, and the poorest supported first division club that is expected to be relegated in May". The Times' preview of the 1984 FA Cup quarter finals was hardly endorsing. But if you looked closely enough you could make a defence for the competition and the surviving clubs.

Everton were at the start of a run that would take them to a League title just over a year later; Southampton were enjoying a season to remember, many of their players hovering around in Bobby Robson's England thoughts; Watford were continuing their rise under Graham Taylor, with a prolific strike partnership and one of the most exciting talents in the domestic game; and who could fail to be warmed by the tale of John Hore's Plymouth as their FA Cup adventure showed no signs of abating? Maybe the 1984 FA Cup was not quite as mediocre as some would have us believe.

1980s League Cup finals

This week I am taking a look back on the League Cup finals of the 1980s. A decade which saw the final shown live for the first time, the competition sponsored by two different companies, Liverpool end their league Cup drought (and some), as heroes and villains aplenty were made during a time when the competition thrived.

1987 Cricket World Cup: Best performances

Following on from my recent piece on the top performances at the 1983 World Cup, this week I am looking back at the 1987 tournament. Featuring a typical one day innings from Allan Lamb, a superb knock in a losing cause by Dave Houghton, some explosive hitting from Viv Richards, top semi-final displays from Craig McDermott and Graham Gooch, and a contribution in the final that perhaps should get a bit more credit than it deserves.

1983/84 FA Cup: Fifth round

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the first, second, third and fourth rounds of the 1983/84 FA Cup, which you can view here, here, here and here.

With most of the main leads out of the 1984 FA Cup already, it was time for the supporting cast to take centre stage as Fifth Round weekend approached. Two First Division clubs would fluff their lines, bundled out by lower league opponents during a round that was blighted by the continuing issue of hooliganism, as clubs and the police struggled to control the angry young men gathered in and around the grounds (as Andy Townsend might say).

Some may have been sneering at the apparent lack of quality left in the FA Cup (a slightly snobby attitude), but the competition somehow managed to limp on regardless.

1983 Cricket World Cup: Best performances

There were a number of memorable displays at the 1983 World Cup, during a tournament in England and Wales that saw the West Indian champions finally toppled. This week I am looking back at some of the key performances during the tournament, covering the story of an inspired Zimbabwean, an unlikely West Indian hero, struggles for Sri Lanka, an inspired Indian skipper breathing life into his team, and the subsequent successes of India's seamers who took their team all the way to the ultimate prize.