1985: The greatest sporting year

I've been putting this off for years. But the recent Live Aid nostalgia has pushed me over the edge. We've all had the debate in the pub about the greatest sporting year - no, just me then? - so I'm here to argue the case for 1985. After forty years, it is time to tell 1985 that I'm crazy for you.

There are of course many factors involved in your chosen favourite sporting year. Allegiance matters. Therefore, Manchester United winning a treble, Europe collapsing in the Ryder Cup, and Australia winning two World Cups means I don't want to party like it's 1999. Yet pushing all this irrational stuff to one side, there can be no doubting the credentials of 1985.

1984 Masters: Kirk Stevens' 147

Is it possible for one video on YouTube to sum up a sport at that particular point in time? Something highlighting the key components of a sporting era in one neat package, demonstrating to the uneducated just what it was like to have lived through that time. Yes seems to be the obvious answer. 

Just take football in the 1980s as a case study. Sadly there are numerous clips illustrating the impact of crowd violence on the sport and the lack of safety inside stadiums at the time. Any sporting documentary covering football in this period will inevitably include footage of hooligans, generally accompanied by the Two Tribes soundtrack.

If you wanted a similar experience with snooker then look no further than the Masters semi-final between Jimmy White and Kirk Stevens in 1984. Played at Wembley Conference Centre, here was the sport in a nutshell. A tournament sponsored by a tobacco company; a memorable match covered on BBC television during the glory days of the sport; Stevens in his white suit; two stars who would fill column inches for years to come.

1989 UK Championship: Stephen Hendry

The evening of Sunday December 3, 1989 seemed significant in the world of snooker. As a 20-year-old Stephen Hendry won the UK Championship at Preston there was an overwhelming sense that the baton of power was being passed from one great champion to the next. The end of the decade painted a worrying picture for the dominant figure of the sport in the 1980s.

Steve Davis had lost finals before. Yet this felt different. Since turning professional in 1985 Hendry had been seen as the future of snooker, the boy who could knock Davis off his perch. Winning the 1987 Grand Prix and 1989 Masters, Hendry was flying up the world rankings and justifying the hype surrounding him.

1980s: All I Want For Christmas Is....

Is it just me, or does it become harder as the years go by to come up with ideas for Christmas gifts for yourself? Every year my wife mentions that I need to produce a Christmas list for the family, and my mind goes blank, as I struggle to think of anything that I need (bar socks).

It's not like that during your childhood, especially if you were lucky enough to grow up in the 80s. There were plenty of videos, records/tapes/CDs, and computer games to choose from, as the Woolworths and WH Smiths catalogues were scanned in great detail.

And then there was the magic of the Argos catalogue. Picking up one of those bad boys and compiling a Christmas list from the many products displayed was a joy. Thanks to the legends at Retromash, I've been able to visit old Argos catalogues and party like it's 1985 again. 

Below are some of the gifts my parents were kind enough to buy me for Christmas, and a couple that got away. Maybe I should add the presents I didn't receive to my current list? 

1986: Snooker Loopy

Looking back to 1986 and the time snooker made an attack on the pop charts.

"A record called 'Snooker Loopy' is released today. It is an unexceptional example of public bar sing-along, but Barry Hearn is confident that events in Sheffield's Crucible Theatre over the next 17 days will ensure that it gets into the hit parade." It was clear that the Telegraph's Michael Calvin was not a big fan of the forthcoming collaboration between Chas and Dave and Barry Hearns' Matchroom Mob. But one man's meat is another man's poison.

Everything Hearn touched in snooker back in the 1980s seemed to turn to gold. "Snooker is the most successful modern sport and no one has exploited its commercial potential more successfully than Hearn," Calvin continued. "Hearn's Matchroom Company stars - Davis, Taylor, Terry Griffiths, Willie Thorne, Tony Meo and Neal Foulds - will gross £2 million this year." But could Hearn and the sport of snooker really break into the pop charts back in April/May 1986?

1981 World Snooker Championship

Although Steve Davis was priced as the 7/2 favourite for the 1981 World Snooker Championship, his path to title glory would be littered with obstacles. After facing a future star of the sport in the first round, three world champions then lay in wait. Securing a first world title was going to be earned the hard way.

With seedings at the Crucible based on the last three World Championships, Davis was seeded 13th for the event that started on Tuesday April 7. Yet the 23-year-old was clearly the man to beat after winning the Coral UK Championship, the Wilson's Classic, the Yamaha Organs Trophy, and the John Courage English Professional Championship in the 1980/81 season.

1988/89: Doug Mountjoy and his Indian Summer

How a former fishmonger rejuvenated the career of 46-year-old Doug Mountjoy at the start of the 1988/89 snooker season.

April 1988: As Doug Mountjoy shook hands with Neal Foulds at the Crucible, reality struck. The 13-1 defeat in the second round of the World Championship in Sheffield was bad enough, yet it was an appropriate end to a disastrous season that would see the Welshman slip outside of the top 16 for the first time in 11 years.

"I didn't have a game," Mountjoy revealed after the 1988 UK Championship. "It's difficult to find out what you're doing wrong." For a man about to turn 46, it appeared that he was past the point of no return. "I understood there was nowhere else to go unless it was surviving down the bottom end of the ladder."

1985 Mercantile Credit Classic: Willie Thorne

Willie Thorne had a lot of doubters to prove wrong as the 1984/85 snooker season commenced. In truth, he probably had to crush his own demons too. After turning professional in 1975, the lack of a ranking tournament trophy during his career was an unwanted monkey on his back, especially for such a talented player.

1985: Steve Davis and the black ball final

So much has been written about that 1985 World Snooker Championship that it is tricky to find a different angle (pardon the pun). Dennis Taylor, the popular player from Northern Ireland winning the title for the first time, on the final black in the final frame, 18.5 million people watching on BBC2 as the clock ticked over to 12.23am. An iconic moment in the sport.

World Snooker Championships musical montages

It seems a bit of a cliché to say that we were blessed with characters in snooker during the 1980s, but this is an inescapable fact. The heyday of the sport certainly provided ample material for a few memorable musical montages when it came to the World Championships.

Book review: Tony Knowles - Heart Breaks

“He broke a million hearts on and off the table.” The words of Phoenix Club owner Brian Potter, as he opened his new Tony Knowles suite, were funny because they were true. So accurate in fact, that the title of Gareth McGinley’s new book on the snooker star of the 1980s is spot on.

1989 Masters snooker: Terry Griffiths v Silvino Francisco

Come the end of the 1989 Benson and Hedges Masters, newspapers were heralding the rise and rise of Stephen Hendry. His growing reputation in snooker was enhanced after winning the tournament at his first attempt. As the 20-year-old held the trophy aloft at Wembley, the sport looked like it was in safe hands for years to come.

1983 UK Championship: Alex Higgins

Turbulent could be one way to describe the start of Alex Higgins’ 1983/84 snooker season. First round defeats in both the International Open and Professional Players Championship illustrated his struggles on the green baize, with the situation in his domestic life hardly helping matters.

1988 World Snooker Championship

Snooker seemingly stood at a crossroads as the 1988 World Championship tournament neared. With less coverage of the sport on our television screens, and viewing figures declining, the glory days of the sport appeared to be fading into the distance.

It probably didn’t help that a major crisis was hovering over snooker. During the 1987 World Championships, a number of stories had broken in relation to drug usage, both recreational and performance enabling/enhancing. The next year would be dominated with front page news involving snooker players, rehab, drugs tests, and beta-blockers.

Sporting celebrations of the 1980s: Part 2

When I wrote a blog in October 2013 about sporting celebrations of the 1980s, I thought there may well be room for a volume two at some point. So without further ado, here it is. Including two world champions, an ecstatic manager, a jig around a corner flag in Yorkshire, and a golfer making a splash. I wonder if there is a volume three in this?

1987 World Snooker Championship

Looking back at the 1987 World Snooker Championship, as Steve Davis gains some revenge over Joe Johnson, and the sport is dragged into a debate involving the usage of performance enhancing drugs.

There were a number of players with a few points to prove as the 1987 World Snooker Championship commenced on Saturday April 18. None more so than the reigning champion, and the man he had beaten in the 1986 final. For Joe Johnson and Steve Davis, the next few weeks would go a long way to answering any doubts regarding their current standing in the game.

1985 UK Championship: Willie Thorne

The calendar year of 1985 was going so well for Willie Thorne. A breakthrough win at the Mercantile Credit Classic in January provided the perfect start, and although Thorne's performances towards the end of the 84/85 season and the beginning of 85/86 were not particularly encouraging, it looked as if the December would see the twelve months bookended with another ranking tournament win.

1980s: Sporting objects

This week I am taking a look back at some of the objects that featured in sporting events of the 1980s, including a certain confectionery stall that has gone down in Ashes folklore, an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, a lucky mascot, an unwanted golfing obstacle, and a much maligned football trophy.

1980s commentary moments: Part 2

Following on from my original blog describing my favourite commentary moments of the 1980s, I've finally got around to writing volume two (it's only taken me nearly three years). Including moments of jeopardy, drama, misses, success, and outright condemnation, these pieces of commentary have lived long in my fading memory. I have still missed a few out; maybe I should start planning volume three for 2018?

1989 World Snooker Championships

Steve Davis had not enjoyed the greatest season in 1988/89, yet at the Crucible he showed his true class, winning his sixth and last World Championship.