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."

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.

The rise and fall of Swansea City

There is a possibility that Swansea City will be relegated from the top flight this season. But surely the situation will not be as dire as the last time they suffered this fate.

Swansea City Football Club lived the dream at the end of the 70s and the early part of the 80s. Their rise from the Football League basement to the top table between 1978 and 1981 was rapid, and their debut season in Division One was a thing of joy to their supporters. But the fall from grace was just as quick. The demise of Swansea City after their party with the A-listers was the stuff of nightmares.