1986: Ron Atkinson leaves Manchester United

If a week is a long time in politics, then a year must have seemed like an eternity to Ron Atkinson as he contemplated his lot in November 1986. Just twelve months before Atkinson had looked destined to become the first Manchester United manager to win the Division One title since 1967. By November 1986 he was out of the door.

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April 25, 1984: Britain's night of misery

After the night of April 11, 1984, there remained a strong possibility that all three European club finals would be the exclusive property of Great Britain; an exciting prospect, especially for anyone who had taken the 50/1 odds at offer for all six British teams to progress from their semi-finals. It wasn�t meant to be, though.

The story of how six became two involves a complex web of intimidation, corruption, disgraceful behaviour, violence, bribery, and heartbreak, an evening that the Daily Express described as Britain's night of misery. Yet this mini drama series was not only restricted to 1984; years later there would be anger, disgust, and tragedy added to the plot line.

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1980s: Opening day League matches

A look back this week at some memorable opening day League matches of the 1980s. Including a dream start for a newly promoted team, a couple of false dawns for Manchester United, and Liverpool starting as they intended to go on.

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1982/83: Brighton and Hove Albion

After gaining promotion under Alan Mullery in 1978/79, Brighton and Hove Albion had managed to keep their heads above water for the first two years of their life in Division One. After a difficult start to their first season, the club eventually finished in 16th. A great escape in 1980/81 saw the team win their last four games to stay up, although this was followed by the shock resignation of Mullery, after a row with chairman Mike Bamber regarding the transfer of Mark Lawrenson and proposed adjustments to his coaching staff.
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1985 FA Cup Fifth round: Blackburn v Manchester United

As Manchester United prepare to visit Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup fifth round, I'm taking a look back at the same fixture from the 1985 competition. Many thanks to Mick Rathbone for his time in helping me write this piece.

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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.

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Goal nets, posts, and stanchions of the 1980s

Is it just me, or do all goal nets pretty much look the same in every stadium nowadays? You know, the bog standard square shaped net that you see at Wembley, the Emirates, Old Trafford, Anfield et al. Yet it hasn't always been like this. Way back in the 1980s, the small band of football lovers who actually care about this sort of thing were spoilt for choice when it came to the variety of goal nets available for us to enjoy, and you can call me a geek if you like, but I kind of miss this.

So this week I have decided to take a look back at some of my favourite football goals and nets of the 1980s. You may think this is a bit sad - in truth, it probably is - and you might not enjoy a supposedly grown man describing net tension, stanchions, and the shape of goal posts, but just let me get this out of my system. Forget porn on the net; this is goal net porn.

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1980s: League Cup Fourth Round shocks

Three years ago I wrote about some League Cup Third Round memories from the 1980s. So it is probably about time that I moved on to the Fourth Round of the competition.

This time I am taking a look at some shocks from this stage of the League Cup, including a double dose of despair for Arsenal, the rise of Watford and Oxford, and a rare defeat for Everton in an otherwise fantastic season.

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Sending offs in the 1980s

Whilst watching Per Mertesacker being dismissed against Chelsea recently, I realised that a red card is hardly a surprise occurrence in a match during the modern era. But rewind back to the 1980s and it was a different experience.

A red card - or a finger pointing the way to the dressing room - was often a genuine wow moment, partly due to the relative rarity of the event. This week I am looking back on ten dismissals during the 1980s, involving confusion, accusations, frustration, agony, and refereeing incompetence. Perhaps things don't change after all.

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1980s League Cup finals

This week I am taking a look back on the League Cup finals of the 1980s. A decade which saw the final shown live for the first time, the competition sponsored by two different companies, Liverpool end their league Cup drought (and some), as heroes and villains aplenty were made during a time when the competition thrived.

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