1984/85: Aberdeen

There are places I'll remember, all my life though some have changed. Some forever, not for better, some have gone and some remain. Sometimes it is difficult to start a new blog, but for some reason the lyrics of Lennon and McCartney sprung to mind when choosing to look back at Aberdeen winning the 1984/85 Scottish Premier Division.

At the time, Aberdeen's fourth top flight title seemed to be the continuation of a new chapter in Scottish football. Never before had the championship remained out of the clutches of the Old Firm for three consecutive seasons. Between 1983 and 1985, the New Firm of Dundee United and Aberdeen had changed the footballing landscape.

1986/87: The Souness Revolution begins

As Steven Gerrard was unveiled as Rangers manager in May 2018, he would have been fully aware of the challenges ahead of him. Without a Premiership title in seven years - including four seasons spent outside the top flight in that period - toppling Celtic from their perch was the daunting task facing Gerrard in his first managerial post.

In April 1986 another ex-Liverpool captain arrived in Glasgow to dip his toe into the murky waters of football management, charged with turning around the fortunes of the club. Three League Cups and a Scottish Cup in the 1980s were all well and good. But Rangers had not finished above 3rd in the Scottish Premiership in a decade that had seen them eclipsed by a number of clubs.

1982/83: Dundee United

The Dundee United club statement released after the sad death of Jim McLean on Boxing Day 2020 said it all. "An integral part of our history and rise to the forefront of European football, Jim was simply a titan of Dundee United folklore, cherished by the United family the world over."

The term legend is thrown about freely, but in the case of Jim McLean there is every justification in applying the term to the manager who transformed the fortunes of Dundee United. When McLean took over at Tannadice in December 1971, the club were in the shadow of their city rivals. Within 13 years, he would win two Scottish League Cups, a Premier League title, and get the club within a whisker of making the European Cup final.

1989: Arsenal - Zenith Data Systems Challenge

This article first appeared in issue 280 of The Gooner. The campaign to Save the Gooner continues.

Until George Graham arrived at the club, Arsenal had spent a large part of the 1980s avoiding trophies. But like London buses, one brought many. Some, like the 1987 Littlewoods Cup and the unforgettable League title in 1989, will forever be etched into the history books of the club. Others less so.

Previously I have written about Arsenal claiming the Mercantile Credit Centenary Trophy, a tournament involving the top eight Division One clubs from the 1987/88 Division One season that saw Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1 in the final at Villa Park. After the miracle at Anfield in 1989 further trophy opportunities awaited.

1988/89: Aberdeen v Rangers - Ian Durrant

Life was pretty good for anyone associated with Glasgow Rangers at the start of the 1988/89 season. Seven wins out of eight in the Premier Division, including a 5-1 destruction of Celtic, had catapulted Graeme Souness’ team to the top of the league, and the club also progressed to the final of the League Cup.

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.

1980-81: Anglo-Scottish Cup

By 1980 it was clear to all concerned that the Anglo-Scottish Cup was on its last legs. A distinct lack of concern south of the border had reduced interest in the competition, with the Scottish League understandably unimpressed with the lack of quality teams entered by the English Football League, and as early as September 1980 the rumours began to circulate that this would be the last Anglo-Scottish Cup.

Indeed the 1980/81 edition did prove to be the last knockings of the tournament, yet along the way it did provide a few talking points, including a rare moment of glory for a Derbyshire club, a debut for a 14-year-old, and an embarrassing episode for a Scottish giant.