1987/88: Newcastle v Liverpool

Sunday September 20, 1988. The First Division season has only been in up and running for a month, yet it is hard not to arrive at a premature conclusion. For the millions of viewers watching the BBC live coverage of Liverpool's win at Newcastle, all the evidence points to the fact that the title will once again be going to Anfield.

Hindsight shows us that all the kneejerk reactions were right. Ian Rush may have departed, but Kenny Dalglish had dipped into the transfer market to add key parts to his latest machine. John Aldridge had arrived in January 1987, and with Peter Beardsley and John Barnes joining in the summer, Liverpool were well equipped to wrestle the title back from Everton.

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.

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.

1987: Trouble in Scarborough

It should have been a day of celebration, an atmosphere befitting an historic occasion for anyone associated with the Football League debutants Scarborough. After winning the GM Vauxhall Conference in the 1986/87 season, the club managed by Neil Warnock was about to step into unchartered territory. 

"Very proud, obviously," Scarborough Chairman Terry Brown declared as the crowd filtered into the Athletic Ground on Seamer Road for Scarborough's opening Division Four match against Wolves. "At present, everyone's behaving themselves. The Wolves fans seem very happy. I just hope it finishes like this."

Golden goals: Steve Nicol (1987)

After a rare trophyless season in 1986/87, there were some voicing the opinion that the Liverpool dynasty was showing signs of cracking. The departure of Ian Rush to Juventus for £3.2 million left a sizeable hole in the team, as Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish was tasked with replacing the seemingly irreplaceable.

"The coming season is going to be Dalglish's biggest test yet as a manager," the Guardian's David Lacey wrote in his preview of the 1987/88 campaign. Others waded in too. "Dalglish has a lot to live up to this season," John Bond commented in an exclusive Express article. "Time will tell whether he really can do it."

1987/88: Arsenal win 14 in a row

When Manchester City recently defeated Swansea in the FA Cup fifth round they became record breakers into the bargain. A 15th straight win for a top flight club edged Pep Guardiola's side past the previous mark set by Preston and Arsenal. With power to add, City's new record may stand for a long time.

Inevitably the focus of this piece takes us back to Arsenal and the start of the 1987/88 season and not Preston in 1891/92; apologies, I haven't started That 1890s Sports Blog yet. Ultimately it would be a frustrating campaign for George Graham and his developing team. However, as summer turned to autumn it promised so much.

1987/88 FA Cup third round: Sheffield Wednesday v Everton

Despite being reigning champions, the summer of 1987 had been an unsettling time for Evertonians. With Howard Kendall departing for Athletic Bilbao, assistant Colin Harvey faced the unenviable task of filling the shoes of his great friend. 

Most of the squad from the two title winning teams remained. But by the turn of the year it was apparent that the title would be going across Stanley Park, as Everton and the rest struggled to keep pace with the last great Liverpool team of that era. There was satisfaction for Harvey, as Everton defeated their rivals in the Littlewoods Cup. And of course, the FA Cup provided hope for silverware.

1988: Alan Shearer's dream debut

Arsenal must have been sick of the sight of Southampton during the 1987/88 season. After a slow start to their Division One campaign, ten straight wins catapulted George Graham's team to the top of the table. But a 1-0 defeat to Southampton at Highbury triggered the start of a disastrous run of just one win in eleven matches, as any hopes of a title tilt faded.

The ship was steadied between February and April, with an undefeated eight-match run at least giving the club a chance of a second-placed finish behind runaway leaders Liverpool. That was until Southampton appeared again to throw a spanner in the works, and a 17-year-old striker introduced himself to the footballing world in dramatic fashion.

The BBC and live top flight football

As news broke that Premier League football would be returning from June 17, one bit of the announcement stood out to me. Live top flight football would be returning to BBC television after an absence of 32 years.

In fact, the relatonship between the BBC and live Division One football was a relatively brief affair. Between December 1983 and March 1988, 26 live league matches were shown - plus a Division Two match between Manchester City and Chelsea - as a revolution swept the game.

1987/88: Celtic's glorious centenary season

The relationship involving Billy McNeill and Celtic Football Club was always destined to be a marriage made in heaven. The captain of the Lisbon Lions, McNeill then went on to enjoy a successful spell as manager, winning three League titles and a Scottish Cup and League Cup between 1978-1983.

1988: Everton v Liverpool (Division One)

The 1987/88 season was never going to be easy for Everton. They may have been reigning champions, but the departure of Howard Kendall to Athletic Bilbao was always going to hit the club hard. Like many before and after him, Kendall’s assistant Colin Harvey would discover that replacing a legendary manager was a thankless task.

1987/88: Liverpool 3 Manchester United 3

Even during Liverpool's decade of dominance, their league record against Manchester United was relatively poor, with just two league wins during this period. There were also ten draws played out between the teams; one of the more memorable stalemates took place on Easter Monday 1988.

1987-89 Scottish League Cup finals: Rangers v Aberdeen

Admittedly it isn’t a sporting trilogy as celebrated as the Ali-Frazier duels, but for pure sporting theatre, the Scottish League Cup finals contested between Rangers and Aberdeen at the end of the 1980s deserve a great deal of respect.

Anything that you may want from a cup final was crammed into the three clashes between 1987-89. Late goals, agonising misses, extra-time, penalty despair, goalkeeping heroics. Perhaps the only thing missing was a red card or two, which was a little surprising given the growing animosity between the clubs.

1987: Rangers 2 Celtic 2

There are some football matches from the distant past that still leave you breathless when you watch them on YouTube. Matches played out in front of packed terraces, the atmosphere incomprehensible in relation to the sanitised experience of today, with both sets of players flying into tackles, as if their lives depended on it.

The 1985 FA Cup semi-final clashes between Manchester United and Liverpool are a prime example of this. Another is the Old Firm derby of October 17, 1987. An afternoon dripping in tension, the match alone was full of drama, passion, and controversy. Yet for four men involved, the consequences of their actions on that famous Saturday would rumble on for months to come.

1987: Manchester City 10 Huddersfield Town 1

The warning signs had been there for Huddersfield fans during the 1986-87 season. Former player Steve Smith had just about managed to keep the Terriers’ heads above water, with three consecutive wins in May preventing relegation to Division Three.

There would be no such escape during the following campaign, though. In fact, the 1987-88 season for Huddersfield would go down in history as their worst ever. The bare statistics of just six wins in 44 league matches paints the picture; but it was one of the 28 defeats that is still talked about to this day.

1987/88 play-offs: Chelsea v Middlesbrough

It hasn’t always been a case of winning titles and triumphing in Europe for Chelsea. There was a time when the club were playing in a rundown stadium, with property developers lurking, and just staying in the top flight was a challenge in its own right. The 1987/88 season was a prime example of the down side of supporting the West London club. And people say Chelsea have no history.

1987/88: Dave Bassett - A season to forget

There is a chance that Mark Hughes may be involved with two relegated clubs this season. Dave Bassett knows how that feels after his terrible 1987/88 campaign.

If 1992 was the annus horribilis for Queen Elizabeth II, then there can be no doubting the comparable period of time for Dave Bassett. Leading Wimbledon from the basement of the Football League to sixth place in Division One in six years, Bassett’s star was rising. But all that was about to change.

1988 FA Cup Fifth Round: Arsenal v Manchester United

Since being ever so slightly pushed towards supporting Arsenal by my dad in the summer of 1983, the FA Cup had not been very kind to me. Embarrassment at Middlesbrough; total humiliation at York; rolling over at Luton; and anger against Watford. Not the smoothest introduction to the greatest cup competition in the world.

For a while it looked as if 1988 would be different. Leading Manchester United 2-1 at Highbury with the minutes ticking away, Arsenal had one foot in the sixth round. But no sooner had my thoughts turned to possible opponents in the last eight, than that sinking feeling returned once more.