1980: Wimbledon and the magic eye

There was never a dull moment with Ilie Năstase. Walking across centre court in his first round match at Wimbledon in June 1980, the Romanian had his eyes firmly set on a box positioned at the side of the court. He bent down to examine the device, the crowd tittering as Năstase continued to entertain.

This was no ordinary box. In fact, it was a £2,000 machine installed in an attempt to improve officiating in tennis, an early example of technology in a sport, tasked with eliminating any controversial decisions. But as we have found out with the 2025 move away from line judges, initially not everyone was impressed.

1980/81: Exeter's FA Cup run

Exeter City take on Nottingham Forest in the final match of the 2025 FA Cup fourth round, hoping to pull off a shock against the Premier League high flyers. With victories over Barnet, Chesterfield and Oxford United, Gary Caldwell's team have exceeded expectations in reaching the fourth round. But the current team has a lot more work to do if they want to match the achievements of the 1980/81 squad.

Promoted to Division Three in the 1976/77 season under Johnny Newman and then Bobby Saxton, Exeter consolidated their position over the next two campaigns. When Saxton made the move to Plymouth during in January 1979, new manager Brian Godfrey arrived with a solid platform to build on.

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."

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.

1980/81: Leeds United v Arsenal

This is an edited version of my original article that appeared in issue 291 of The Gooner.

As election news was dominating the front pages in November 1980 – Reagan defeating Carter in the US, with Foot and Healy battling to become Labour leader – another 'e' word was constantly being referenced in relation to football on the back pages. With attendances dropping, many journalists and pundits were questioning whether the sport was providing the remaining fans with enough entertainment.

Stoke manager Alan Durban certainly made his opinion clear on the matter, after his team attempted unsuccessfully to park the bus in a 2-0 defeat at Highbury in September 1980: "If you want entertainment go and watch a bunch of clowns," Durban retorted. However, Arsenal were not exempt from these critical opinions.

1980: Clive Allen's disallowed goal

There have been a few recent examples in football of poor decisions costing teams dearly. West Ham had every right to feel aggrieved after a late equaliser was chalked off against Chelsea, and although the mayhem at the end of the Juventus-Salernitana game was very entertaining, you can understand why the home team felt they were robbed of a dramatic victory.

These are cases of football officials, despite the video technology at their disposal, getting things so wrong that it makes you wonder if they are in the appropriate profession. But sometimes even the technology can fail, as Huddersfield found to their cost with the recent Hawk-Eye glitch. Maybe we just have to accept that both humans and machines are fallible.

1980 European Cup quarter final: Celtic v Real Madrid

Celtic's previous European Cup match against Real Madrid in Glasgow was a glorious occasion. But for one of the goal scorers that evening there would be a tragic tale to follow.

For two great clubs trying to restore glory days in European club football, the 1979/80 European Cup had been a struggle for both Celtic and Real Madrid. The Scottish champions, managed by Billy McNeill, trailed Partizan Tirana 2-0 on aggregate in the first round before rallying to win 4-2. And they were far from convincing in a 3-2 aggregate win over Irish champions Dundalk.

Reaching their first European Cup quarter final since 1974, Celtic would take on the might of Real Madrid, yet the Spanish giants were far from the intimidating prospect of the 1960s. In fact, coach Vujadin Boskov was the latest to try and win a seventh European Cup for the club, their last success coming in 1966.

1982 World Cup qualification: Wales

It can almost be viewed as the forgotten campaign, the chapter of heartbreak held between the hands of Joe Jordan and David Phillips. The story of Wales and their attempts to qualify for the 1982 World Cup is not one that is often told when recalling the history of Welsh agony since their only appearance at a finals tournament in 1958.

Maybe it is the 1977 and 1985 agonies that are the real reason for this. Anything compared to those two nights of Scottish-induced suffering will forever live in the shadows. But the 1982 campaign was just as deflating. A qualification programme of two halves that at first brought hope before the reality of despair arrived.

1980/81 League Cup: Watford v Southampton

Watford face Southampton this weekend in the Premier League. The meeting will have to be something special to match the drama of the 1980/81 League Cup second round between the two clubs.

We often hear how a two-goal advantage is a dangerous lead in football. Atalanta and Spartak Moscow may agree with this particular theory, their recent reversals against English opposition in Europe adding credence to this. So what leads are safe?

As an Arsenal fan I have sadly seen that a four-goal lead can be no guarantee of victory. The 4-4 draw against Newcastle in 2011 was an embarrassing episode, something that should be brushed under the carpet, never to be mentioned again. 

Arsenal's capitulation was a remarkable achievement. Admittedly they had been reduced to ten men, yet with 22 minutes remaining, their four-goal lead was still intact. History has shown us that this example is the exception rather than the norm, but in September 1980 there was another club putting their supporters through this painful experience.

1980 US Masters: Tom Weiskopf's 13

It is reassuring to occasionally catch a glimpse of the human side of sporting superstars. When Tiger Woods carded a septuple-bogey 10 on the par 3 12th hole at Augusta in the final round of the rescheduled 2020 US Masters, thousands of golfers throughout the world could immediately relate to the 15-time major winner.

"This sport is awfully lonely sometimes," Woods revealed after his abberation. "You have to fight through it. That’s what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally. We’ve all been there, unfortunately. Unfortunately I’ve been there and you just have to turn around and figure out the next shot and I was able to do that coming home."

1980: Altrincham suffer voting pain

With leagues across England and Scotland being curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many clubs who will feel aggrieved at the outcome of the points per game system. The likes of Peterborough, Tranmere and Hearts have justifiable reasons to count themselves unfortunate, yet in these unprecedented times there were always going to be losers in which ever way the season had to be concluded.

The footballing authorities can be excused slightly for the position they have been put in due to the new normal that we are all becoming accustomed to. But in the dim and distant past there were no such get out clauses for surely one of the most barmy methods of footballing administration ever: the re-election system.

Euro 80: England v Belgium

The 1970s had not been kind to the English national team. That 1970 World Cup quarter final defeat; failure to qualify for Euro 1972 and the 1974 World Cup, as Alf Ramsey vacated the managerial hotseat; the debacle of the Don Revie years, as again England missed out on qualification for the next two major championships.

Clearing up the mess of what had gone before would eventually fall on the shoulders of Ron Greenwood, despite many justifiably pointing to the fact that Brian Clough should have been the man to replace Revie, hopefully with better results than he experienced at Leeds United in 1974.

1980 European Cup final: Nottingham Forest v Hamburg

“You win something once and people say it is all down to luck,” Brian Clough said after Nottingham Forest had successfully defended the European Cup on May 28, 1980. “You win it twice and it shuts the buggers up.”

Winning the 1979 European Cup was hardly a fluke. Defeating Liverpool and Cologne on their way to the final in Munich, Nottingham Forest could not be accused of having things easy. Admittedly, Malmo were not the most testing of opponents in the final. But a year on, Forest’s opponents in the final at the Bernabeu could not be dismissed so lightly.

1980 European Cup semi-final: Nottingham Forest v Ajax

With the comeback win over Dynamo Berlin complete, Nottingham Forest joined Real Madrid, Hamburg and Ajax in the draw for the European Cup semi-finals. When Brian Clough’s team were drawn to face the Dutch champions, assistant manager Peter Taylor did little to hide his delight.

“Frankly, we could not have had a better draw,” Taylor admitted. “It suits us fine, especially as we know more about Ajax than the other two clubs. I’ve been over to Holland watching players recently and consequently already know a good deal about them.”

1980 European Cup Winners' Cup final: Arsenal v Valencia

As Arsenal’s players trudged from the Wembley pitch after losing the FA Cup final to Second Division West Ham, an inescapable fact hung in the air like a bad smell; despite all their efforts during their gruelling 67-match season, there was now a strong possibility that Arsenal would end the season potless.

1980 European Cup quarter final: Nottingham Forest v Dynamo Berlin

Brian Clough memorably led Nottingham Forest to European Cup glory in 1979. During a turbulent March 1980, it looked as if their defence of the trophy was over.

The first half of March 1980 was a testing time for Nottingham Forest. Defeat to a Bolton team that had previously won just one league match was Forest’s 11th loss in Division One, but it would be two defeats in cup competitions that the club had won during the previous campaign that caused the press vultures to circle.

Marathon seasons: Arsenal 1979/80

Looking back at Arsenal's marathon 1979/80 season; 70 matches, triumph and despair, fixture congestion, fatigue, and desolation.

May 12, 1979: as Graham Rix prepares to strike the ball, Arsenal’s season hangs in the balance. Playing their 59th match in nine months, the team are in danger of falling at the last, with nothing to show for all their efforts. Rix pulls his left foot back.

Fast forward 368 days. May 14, 1980: as Graham Rix prepares to strike the ball, he finds himself in an even more precarious situation. Playing their 68th match in nine months, the team are in danger of heaping more pain upon despair, a heavy sprinkling of salt into their gaping wound. Rix pulls his left foot back.

1980 FA Cup final: Willie Young

We’ve all seen that tackle. As Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata raced through on goal with five minutes of extra-time remaining in the Spanish Super Cup final, Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde knew what he had to do. Football constantly changes. But there is always room for classic shithousery.

1980: England v Wales (Rugby Union)

Looking back this week at a violent England-Wales Five Nations match in 1980, as Paul Ringer is sent off, and England only just manage to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive.

Generally, Anglo-Welsh rugby union clashes do not require much promotion. But the hype surrounding the 1980 Five Nations contest between England and Wales at Twickenham was suffocating. Billed as the match that would decide the championship, Triple Crown and Grand Slam, you could almost taste the tension as the February date neared.

1980: Clive Allen and Arsenal

This article first appeared in issue 260 of The Gooner

It was a transfer that appeared to make sense at the time. After the gruelling and heart breaking 70-match season in 1979/80, it was clear that Arsenal needed reinforcements if they wanted to progress to the next level, and it was essential that the money earned from their cup runs should be invested in the squad. With the impending departure of Liam Brady, Arsenal fans were in need of some positives, so the signing of Clive Allen at least provided a glimmer of hope.