1983: Thames Valley Royals

The current nightmare faced by Reading supporters should leave any true lover of the sport feeling cold. Putting any club allegiances to one side, you can only have sympathy for the plight of the club under the ownership of Dai Yongge. The recent on-pitch demonstration that caused the abandonment of their match against Port Vale shows just how desperate these fans are to highlight their predicament.

Enough is enough. Struggling at the bottom of League One, Reading fans would most probably accept relegation if it paved the way for a new owner at the club. It would be the first time since 1983 that the club suffered the fate of falling into the bottom tier of the Football League. Coincidentally, back then the future of Reading was hanging in the balance.

When the news broke on Saturday April 16, 1983, of a possible merger between Oxford United and Reading, it was met with a mixed reaction. The brainchild of Oxford United chairman Robert Maxwell, the proposal would see the two form a new super club called the Thames Valley Royals, with a new stadium to be built situated between Oxford and Reading.

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.

1986/87 League Cup: Liverpool v Fulham

Fulham travel to Anfield for the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday with the enticing prospect of reaching a first Wembley cup final since 1975. Making sure that they are still in the tie for the return leg at Craven Cottage will be crucial. Even a repeat of the recent league meeting at Anfield would be a decent result.

A defeat by two goals or more would surely leave the west London club with too much to do in the second leg. But it is hard to imagine Marco Silva's current team suffering a thrashing that completely destroys their hopes of keeping the dream alive.

This certainly was not the case when the two clubs met at Anfield in the first leg of the 1986/87 Littlewoods Cup second round. Currently Fulham are a stable club looking to establish themselves as a Premier League outfit. Back in 1986, the club managed by Ray Lewington was spinning out of control.

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.

1984: Viv Richards' 189

"I think that's the greatest ODI innings," Australian skipper Pat Cummins said, regarding Glenn Maxwell's stunning unbeaten 201 against Afghanistan in the 2023 World Cup. "It's the best I've ever seen, probably the greatest ODI innings ever." Former New Zealand wicketkeeper and commentator Ian Smith seemed to agree. "I've never seen anything like it."

Sport naturally sets itself up for debates about the greatest or worst, be it competitor, match, series, tournament, goal, try, shot, insert as appropriate. As soon as anything happens in the sporting arena, you can be fairly confident that within minutes or hours pundits and social media experts will be discussing the merits of what we have just seen.

1983: Spain v Malta

There are some football matches in the distant past that will forever be shrouded in suspicion. Those results that give growth to conspiracy theories, accusations, and general doubt over sporting integrity. Often first impressions are proved right - not much consolation to Nottingham Forest fans in 1984 - but there are others that may never be confirmed one way or the other.

Fans of the Dutch national team could be forgiven if they cast their minds back to one particular match in December 1983. On the brink of qualification for Euro 84, there was only one possible result that could prevent an orange invasion of France as Spain prepared to play Malta in the final Group Seven match in Seville.

A Question of Sport: Princess Anne

Not all appearances involving the royal family on the BBC have been cringeworthy. Long before Prince Andrew, Pizza Express, and his revelations of being sweat free, and just prior to the toe-curlingly terrible It's a Royal Knockout, there was a television programme that managed to paint the royal family in a positive light.

Princess Anne appearing on the 200th edition of A Question of Sport was a memorable moment in so many ways. With just four channels to choose from there were many shared television experiences like this throughout the decade, as the likes of JR, Charles and Diana, Den and Angie, and Taylor and Davis attracted millions of viewers.