1989 UK Championship: Stephen Hendry

The evening of Sunday December 3, 1989 seemed significant in the world of snooker. As a 20-year-old Stephen Hendry won the UK Championship at Preston there was an overwhelming sense that the baton of power was being passed from one great champion to the next. The end of the decade painted a worrying picture for the dominant figure of the sport in the 1980s.

Steve Davis had lost finals before. Yet this felt different. Since turning professional in 1985 Hendry had been seen as the future of snooker, the boy who could knock Davis off his perch. Winning the 1987 Grand Prix and 1989 Masters, Hendry was flying up the world rankings and justifying the hype surrounding him.

1984: Viv Richards' 189

"I think that's the greatest ODI innings," Australian skipper Pat Cummins said, regarding Glenn Maxwell's stunning unbeaten 201 against Afghanistan in the 2023 World Cup. "It's the best I've ever seen, probably the greatest ODI innings ever." Former New Zealand wicketkeeper and commentator Ian Smith seemed to agree. "I've never seen anything like it."

Sport naturally sets itself up for debates about the greatest or worst, be it competitor, match, series, tournament, goal, try, shot, insert as appropriate. As soon as anything happens in the sporting arena, you can be fairly confident that within minutes or hours pundits and social media experts will be discussing the merits of what we have just seen.

1983: Spain v Malta

There are some football matches in the distant past that will forever be shrouded in suspicion. Those results that give growth to conspiracy theories, accusations, and general doubt over sporting integrity. Often first impressions are proved right - not much consolation to Nottingham Forest fans in 1984 - but there are others that may never be confirmed one way or the other.

Fans of the Dutch national team could be forgiven if they cast their minds back to one particular match in December 1983. On the brink of qualification for Euro 84, there was only one possible result that could prevent an orange invasion of France as Spain prepared to play Malta in the final Group Seven match in Seville.

A Question of Sport: Princess Anne

Not all appearances involving the royal family on the BBC have been cringeworthy. Long before Prince Andrew, Pizza Express, and his revelations of being sweat free, and just prior to the toe-curlingly terrible It's a Royal Knockout, there was a television programme that managed to paint the royal family in a positive light.

Princess Anne appearing on the 200th edition of A Question of Sport was a memorable moment in so many ways. With just four channels to choose from there were many shared television experiences like this throughout the decade, as the likes of JR, Charles and Diana, Den and Angie, and Taylor and Davis attracted millions of viewers.

1987/88: Liverpool v Nottingham Forest

There are always debates relating to greatness in sport. Constant comparisons between individuals and teams from various eras spark conversations in pubs, on phone-ins and social media, as those involved dig their heels in and present evidence supporting their case. 

Arguing about the greatest football team to ever play the sport could prove tiring. Judgement is often clouded by club allegiances, recency bias, or the more mature among us refusing to believe that a team from the distant past will ever be surpassed.

Take the Liverpool team in the 1987/88 season. Surely there can be no argument that Kenny Dalglish's side were great, as they swept aside the rest of the First Division with football that seemed to be from a different planet. The last great Liverpool team of that era has to enter a competitive field as the best to hail from Anfield during the glory years.

Cricket World Cup quiz

Ryder Cup quiz

A bit of a change this week, as have a crack at writing my first quiz on this site...

1983 Ryder Cup: Seve's miracle shot

It had all been going so well for Seve Ballesteros and Europe. Going into the final day of the 1983 Ryder Cup at Palm Beach Gardens in an alien position of parity, two hours into the singles Europe were ahead in six matches and level in four, with Ballesteros three up after 11 holes in the opening contest against Fuzzy Zoeller. The unthinkable was becoming a real possibility.

But some Ryder Cup Sundays are never that easy. The quest for those magical 14½ points becomes a real test of nerve, stamina, and mental toughness, both for players and spectators. The ebb and flow between red and blue, the cheers ringing around the course, and the magnitude of every single shot becomes suffocating.

1980 Challenge Cup final: Hull KR v Hull

Roger 'The Dodger' Millward had enjoyed a stellar rugby league career. Winning with Great Britain in Australia in 1970; captaining his country in two World Cups; skipper of Hull Kingston Rovers as the club won their first Championship for 54 years. But there was one thing missing off the CV of the 32-year-old.

Millward had never appeared in a Challenge Cup final. "It was the match that I'd waited sixteen years to play in," Millward revealed in his autobiography, in one of the three chapters dedicated to the 1980 Challenge Cup final. "It didn't arrive until my very last season - and my last ever game as a first team player."

1981 Fifth Ashes Test: Tavball

Forget Bazball. In August 1981, England needed a dash of Tavball to clinch the Ashes.

As glorious and euphoric as they were, there could be no disputing that England's wins over Australia at Headingley and Edgbaston had papered over some widening cracks. Batting frailties had been constantly exposed in the face of some excellent bowling from Dennis Lillee, Terry Alderman and Geoff Lawson. The Botham/Dilley "let's give it some humpty" approach had been a rare bright spot in a gloomy series.

Nothing emphasised England's struggles more than the number three position in their batting line-up. Bob Woolmer, Mike Brearley and David Gower had all been tried at first drop during the Ashes, with consistent results. Sadly for England, the returns were consistently poor. Just 77 runs from eight innings at an average of 9.625 highlighted that a different approach was needed. Prior to the Old Trafford Test, England turned to Tavaré.

Headingley 1981: Day Five review

A review of day five of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Preview
Day one
Day two
Day three
Day four

Wednesday July 22

Australia 401/9d (Dyson 102, Hughes 89, Botham 6/95)
England 174 (Botham 50, Lillee 4/49)
England f/o 356 (Botham 149*, Dilley 56, Alderman 6/135)
Australia 111 (Dyson 34, Willis 8/43)

ENGLAND WIN BY 18 RUNS

Wow! Simply wow. Forget everything I said about this team. Delete those posts I wrote when in the depths of despair. Of course I never doubted Robert George Dylan Willis. England won the third Ashes Test at Headingley to level the Ashes series. What a way for Peter Willey to win his first Test in his 19th appearance. What a boost for the country. Never in doubt. 

We only needed five more runs in the morning to set Australia an insurmountable target of 130. And although Beefy took the first wicket - obviously, naturally, inevitably - when Australia neared lunch on 56/1 it looked like normal service was about to be resumed.

Headingley 1981: Day Four review

A review of day four of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Tuesday July 21

Australia 401/9d (Dyson 102, Hughes 89, Botham 6/95)
England 174 (Botham 50, Lillee 4/49)
England f/o 351/9 (Botham 145*, Dilley 56, Alderman 5/131)

I'll be honest; I was expecting this blog to be my last covering this Test match. But I reckoned without taking the Beefy factor into the mix. It may be delaying the inevitable, but you never know. What is certain though is that a bit of pride has been restored to English cricket.

None of this looked possible early on. With Brearley, Gower, and LBW Gatting back in the pavilion, England were 41/4 and making 100 looked a distant dream. Boycott (46) and Willey (33) battled hard, but when Bob Taylor departed we had slumped to 135/7.

Headingley 1981: Day Three review

A review of day three of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Sunday July 19

Australia 401/9d (Dyson 102, Hughes 89, Botham 6/95)
England 174 (Botham 50, Lillee 4/49)
England f/o 6/1 (Lillee 1/4)

Pathetic. Pitiful. Spineless. Feeble. Woeful. Deplorable. Lamentable. Wretched. Contemptible. Despicable. Mournful. Harrowing. Mortifying. These are some of the polite words I found in my thesaurus to describe that England batting display yesterday.

You can probably handle losing to Australia if the team showed a tiny bit of fight. Yet what we witnessed yesterday was a staggering display of ineptitude in both technique and heart. Only Ian Botham came out of the episode with any credit on a day of despair.

Headingley 1981: Day Two review

A review of day two of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Saturday July 18

Australia 401/9d (Dyson 102, Hughes 89, Botham 6/95)
England 7/0

Pain pain go away. Despite heroics from Ian Botham, the next few days feel like they could drag on and on. Australia declared their innings just over 400 and look well set to put the Ashes to bed. The scary thing is that without Beefy it would have been a lot worse.

At one point Kim Hughes' men had reached 332/4. Naturally England shot themselves in the foot along the way, Graham Gooch dropping Australia's skipper when he was on 66. At this point you wondered if the Hughes-Yallop partnership would ever end. Botham decided to take matters into his own hands.

Headingley 1981: Day One review

A review of day one of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Friday July 17

Australia 203/3 (Dyson 102)

Oh well. I'm not sure I care that much about the Ashes anyway. Australia, aided once again by some inconsistent bowling and yet more charitable fielding, have strengthened their hold on this series. Quite where England go from here I don't know.

The decision to leave out spinner Emburey is looking questionable. The seam attack appeared toothless on what looks a tricky surface to bat on, and when they did create chances then the butterfingers boys returned. Seeing Peter Willey turn a few deliveries on day one must have raised the eyebrows of Emburey too.

Headingley 1981: Preview

A preview of the Ashes Test at Headingley in 1981, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Day one
Day two
Day three
Day four
Day five 

Thursday July 16

Say what you want about English cricket, but it is never dull. After losing at Trent Bridge, England arrived at Lord's 1-0 down in the series. They left HQ with a draw and without a captain. Understandably, Ian Terrence Botham decided enough was enough.

As Botham said on the Lord's balcony, the match-by-match captaincy tenure was not helping him or the team. Undoubtedly the key player in our XI, his loss of form has been hugely damaging. Botham the captain needed Botham the player to perform. That never seemed likely.

1981: Second Ashes Test

The end was near, the final curtain closing on Ian Botham's spell as England captain. As the second Ashes Test at Lord's approached it was becoming clear that the clock was ticking. Appointed skipper on a match-by-match basis, the situation for Botham and England was far from stable. 

"By appointing Botham from Test to Test the England selectors are giving the inescapable impression that they would dearly love to get rid of Botham but cannot find a satisfactory method of completing the dreadful deed," Paul Fitzpatrick wrote in the Guardian. Even for English cricket, the whole environment seemed a joke.

Golden goals: Steve MacKenzie (1981)

There are moments in sporting history that are often forgotten. For all Kevin Pietersen's heroics, the contribution of Andrew Strauss on the first day of the final Ashes Test in 2005 should not be underestimated. Ian Poulter may have stolen the headlines late on Saturday during the 2012 Ryder Cup, but please remember the role played by Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald in the previous match. And then there is Gordon Smith.

Smith deserves a lot more than being the man remembered for spurning a golden opportunity to win the 1983 FA Cup for Brighton. Scoring a goal in an FA Cup final - the opener at Wembley against Manchester United - should have been the standout moment in Smith's career. Yet subsequent events will always overshadow this.

Book review: Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Some of you that may have read this blog in the past will possibly have come to the conclusion that I have a slight obsession about sport in the 1980s. So when an opportunity came to review a book on the subject then I jumped at the chance, in true Carl Lewis style.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Roger Domeneghetti looks back at Britain, Sport and the 1980s, providing a fascinating review of a turbulent decade from numerous angles. Split into four distinct sections - Culture, Identity, Conflict, Politics - the book dives deep into a number of key topics.

1983 European Cup Winners' Cup final: Aberdeen v Real Madrid

Forty years is a long time in football. Cast your mind back to 1983 and there are events that happened that simply could not be repeated. Unless the oil wells dry up then it is hard to see Manchester City being relegated. If they cannot find a nation to fund them then Hamburg winning the Champions League seems unlikely.

Just look at the landscape of Scottish football four decades ago. Dundee United held off the challenge of Celtic and Aberdeen to land their one and only Premier League title, with Rangers languishing in fourth. But the story of Dundee United's triumph was not the only feelgood chapter the New Firm penned during the 1982/83 campaign.

1989: The David Elleray experiment

When Amazon Prime footage emerged recently on Twitter of a referee officiating a French Ligue 1 fixture, the brief clip gave us all a fascinating insight into the role of match day officials. Communicating with colleagues, players and managers, while trying to make crucial decisions that could impact the course of a match and/or season, you wonder why people put themselves through this.

This is what referees really say to footballers during a game... 🗣️

A fascinating insight from Ligue 1! 👀🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/jfBcyhSe0g

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) April 18, 2023

Undoubtedly there is a gap in the market for a documentary of this nature. A series following officials around at various levels of the game would be interesting and might make a few of us a feel a bit more sympathy towards these pilloried individuals. The job of a referee and assistant seems a thankless task.

There is a previous example of a referee walking out to the centre circle with a hidden microphone attached. A famous experiment carried out in February 1989 that certainly made an impression and opened a few eyes as to what it takes to try officiate a football match. David Elleray was about to take centre stage.

1983 US Masters: Seve Ballesteros

If the modern day Michael Fishes - or their American equivalents - are to be believed, then there seems a strong possibility that the 2023 US Masters may be hugely impacted by a depressing weather forecast. With thunderstorms and rain predicted to hit Augusta, Georgia, there have even been rumours circulating that the tournament may have to conclude on the Monday.

Hardly ideal for those of us who love settling down in front of the television for the traditional conclusion to the Masters on the Sunday evening in the UK. Whether first fears will be realised remain to be seen. But if play is extended to a fifth day then it will be the first time this has happened since 1983.

Golden goals: John Hewitt (1983)

It seems some footballers are not content with just one golden goal in their career. Some get a little greedy, gorging on the glory, delighting at making their mark in history. In 1983, Aberdeen's John Hewitt achieved this and some, inflicting pain on two European giants and cementing his place in the Dons' Hall of Fame.

This piece could just as easily be about that winner on that rainy night in Gothenburg. But before Hewitt's header against Real Madrid came a goal on a memorable evening in the north east of Scotland that surely must rank as the most remarkable in the history of Aberdeen's Pittodrie stadium. You can't have one without the other.

1983 FA Cup final: Manchester United v Brighton

Manchester United and Brighton will soon meet at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final. Forty years ago, the clubs contested a final that would live long in the memory.

It is possible that Gordon Smith has been contacted quite a few times recently by journalists willing to rake up his infamous last minute chance in the 1983 FA Cup final. But it would be unfair to remember Smith and the 1983 final for that moment alone. 

As with many finals during the glory days of the competition, that day in May was about so much more than the match itself. The cast of characters involved, the fairy tale of relegated Brighton reaching Wembley, the pain of Steve Foster, the team songs, banners, awful pitch, a helicopter. 'And Smith Must Score' is naturally the point where all roads lead to with this tale, yet dig deeper and there is so much more to enjoy.

1983/84: Tottenham v Nottingham Forest

It was a move that divided opinion. When news broke in the summer of 1983 that Division One matches would be shown live on BBC and ITV, there was more anxiety than expectation. From this point in time, the relationship between the national game and television would change the sport forever.

The £5.2 million deal struck would see both channels allocated five league matches each, although the BBC only covered four due to a technicians' strike leading to the Watford-West Ham fixture being scrapped. There was certainly no chance of over exposure during the first full season of live coverage.

Golden goals: Peter Beardsley (1987)

It seems a bit strange to consider that Peter Beardsley was under pressure at the start of his Liverpool career in 1987. Admittedly the forward had only scored three league goals in his opening nine league matches for the club. But Beardsley had always been more a scorer of great goals rather than a great goal scorer.

Obviously the £1.9 million Liverpool paid Newcastle had a lot to do with the added scrutiny. The record deal between British clubs was part of a summer spending spree by manager Kenny Dalglish, with John Barnes and Ray Houghton also arriving. John Aldridge had joined in January 1987, as Liverpool aimed to prepare for life without Ian Rush.

1988/89: Everton v Arsenal

Maybe the Propellerheads and Shirley Bassey knew their ball, as the kids may or may not say now, in respect to Arsenal's 2022/23 season. "The word is about, there's something evolving. But to me it seems quite clear, that it's all just a little bit of history repeating."

You may be wondering if the introduction above is one of those legendary unfathomable clues on 321, yet it really is just my ham-fisted way of drawing comparisons with Arsenal's forthcoming match at Goodison Park and their Division One fixture at the same ground in January 1989. Because, in certain regards, what is evolving at Arsenal in 2023 does have elements of history repeating itself.

1984 FA Cup Fourth Round: Brighton v Liverpool

Could lightning strike twice? In February 1983, Brighton under the management of Jimmy Melia visited Anfield and pulled off the shock of the FA Cup by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the fifth round. A little under a year later the teams were paired together again in the competition that Liverpool had not won since 1974.

There were noticeable differences for the sequel. This time Brighton would play the part of hosts, but many of the component parts behind their 1983 FA Cup run were no longer at the club. The biggest change had seen Melia resign in October 1983.

1979/80: Tottenham v Arsenal

Squad rotation is now sadly a pivotal part of the FA Cup third round experience. Each year most Premier League clubs and those in the Championship striving for a slice of the cash cow make sweeping changes to their starting XIs, with the famous old competition suffering as a consequence.

Of course it wasn't always this way. There are a number of tales from the distant past of marathon seasons, cup replay sagas, and players out on their feet as managers without the luxury of vast squads attempted to drain every drop of energy from their reserves.

1986 FA Cup Third Round: Birmingham v Altrincham

It was a fitting chapter in the shambolic story of Birmingham City's 1985/86 season. When Gola League Altrincham visited St Andrew's in the 1986 FA Cup Third Round and left victorious, it says a lot about the state of the First Division side that it was not a huge shock. On and off the pitch, Birmingham City were spiralling out of control.

Manager Ron Saunders had predicted the trouble ahead. After leading the club to promotion in the previous campaign, the former Aston Villa boss urged chairman Keith Coombs to spend some money, otherwise the club faced an instant return to the Second Division.