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.

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.

1985/86: West Ham v Newcastle United

Normally if a football team concedes eight goals or more the inquests begin immediately. The players are a disgrace, the manager needs to go, sack the board; these are a few of the responses we would usually expect to hear from disgruntled supporters. But sometimes things can escalate that are beyond the control of players or a manager. Newcastle's eight goal hammering at West Ham in April 1986 was one such example of this.

1984/85: Newcastle United v Everton

Comparing football in the 1980s to the shiny product we witness today is a fairly pointless exercise. When Eddie Howe was appointed Newcastle manager in November 2021, he arrived in the knowledge that the Saudi Arabian owners would provide an open cheque book to help the club stay in the top flight. It was a little different for Jack Charlton in the summer of 1984.

Despite being promoted to Division One at the end of the 1983/84 season, nothing was ever straight forward at Newcastle. Kevin Keegan retired, but worse was to follow when manager Arthur Cox departed after a dispute with the board. The club was also reportedly in debt to the tune of £700,000, something that surprised Charlton when he was appointed Cox's successor.

1989 FA Cup Third round: Newcastle v Watford

It was a good day to bury bad news. As all and sundry debated the reign of Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, the FA announced that there will be no FA Cup fifth round replays from this season onwards. I’m not sure there is any more space for the organising body to hammer another nail into the coffin of the famous old competition.

Perhaps it is time for dinosaurs like myself to let it go. Let’s face it, the magic of the FA Cup vanished years ago, suffocated by greed, with most clubs now viewing it as a bit of an inconvenience. Bit by bit, all the elements that made the FA Cup what is was have been chipped away.

1984/85: QPR 5 Newcastle 5

It goes without saying that a 5-5 draw is a rare but spectacular beast. The recent thriller at the Villa saw two past European champions share ten goals, a reminder of many a game contested on the playground in my distant past. I’m sure Forest were glad that the “next goal’s the winner” rule was not invoked.

Talking to my son, I was trying to recall other 5-5 draws, until a bell chimed in the dusty vault of my memory banks. A match played on the skin-shredding plastic pitch at Loftus Road on September 22, 1984. QPR 5 Newcastle United 5.

1989: Mick Quinn's Newcastle debut

It was hardly the welcome that Mick Quinn would have dreamed of when he signed for Newcastle in the summer of 1989. Walking through the city after agreeing terms with the club, Quinn stumbled upon a protest group called the Boardbusters, who, as their name would suggest, were not best pleased with the members of the Newcastle United boardroom. Relegated from Division One in the previous campaign, many were prepared to boycott matches at St. James' Park in order to get their views across to the directors.

1988: Mercantile Credit Centenary Trophy

This article first appeared in issue 262 of The Gooner

There have been a number of awful football competitions organised throughout the history of the sport, from the Anglo-Scottish Cup to the Zenith Data Systems, taking in such delights as the Texaco Cup, ScreenSport Super Cup, and Watney Cup along the way. Fortunately my club, Arsenal, have managed to steer clear of most of these, but in 1988 the club qualified for a cup competition that was organised by the Football League 100 years of the governing body.