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Football in the 80s
As the decade turned, we witnessed 'The Empire' striking back. Margaret Thatcher took control of the country and the USA reciprocated with Ronald Reagan. The British public saw an overbearing and oppressive matriarch, bully and cajole an idiot, and ultimately getting her own way, in the BBC comedy "Sorry". In 1982, Britain goes to war with Argentina, in a battle over The Falkland Islands, a small archipelago 300 miles from Argentina, we become intimately familiar with Goose Green, Mount Tumbledown and Bluff Cove.
Not to be outdone, Ronald Reagan gets a taste for war by funding Nicaraguan rebels against the Sandinista government and invading Grenada. Later, he would sell arms to the Iraqis and the Afghanis to fight perceived oppressors, empowering Saddam Hussein and the Taliban regimes. Finally, taking it upon himself to flatten Tripoli and Libya in 1986, ultimately leading to the town of Lockerbie being flattened in 1988.
We were introduced to new words like Solidarnosc, Perestroika, Glasnost and mullet. There was talk of Star Wars, Space Invaders and even Megadeth. It was a decade of latch-key kids and pan-global Live Aid concerts, we attempted to right the world's wrongs, as our own country sank to record unemployment and riots tore our inner cities apart. Toxteth, Handsworth, Brixton, Moss Side and St Paul's were seen burning nightly on the news, as the British underclass expressed their discontent at the austerity of Thatcherite politics.
Dallas and Dynasty dictated that our shoulders rose, under an irresistible tidal wave of shoulder pads, "Fame" dictated that our ankles should be warm, Duran Duran decreed our hair should be highlighted, George Michael, our chins unshaven. Football too, was not impervious to trends and fashion, gone were the long cotton shorts of the 50s and 60s and we now were subjected to polyester short shorts and potentially the worst hairstyles known to man!
A Bad Hair Decade
Momentum in European football was snowballing, English sides were becoming dominant. Nottingham Forest secured back to back European Cup victories in 79/80. Liverpool regained the cup in 80/81, by defeating Laurie Cunningham's mighty Real Madrid side. Tony Barton continued the English onslaught by guiding Aston Villa to their first European Cup success in 81/82, with victory over the powerful Bayern Munich, making it '6 of the best'. Kevin Keegan's Hamburg SV snatched the trophy briefly in 82/83, before Liverpool regained it in a penalty shoot out versus AS Roma in 83/84.
Forest, Villa, Ipswich and Spurs Taste European Glory
On other European fronts English sides were excelling, Bobby Robson's Ipswich, complete with 'Dutch masters' Frans Thijssen and Arnold Muhren conquered AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup in 1980/81. Tottenham Hotspur following suit in 83/84 by beating Anderlecht on penalties, inspired by Tony Parks saving Arnur Gudjohnsen's penalty (yes that is Eidur's dad!). Everton got in on the act as an extremely powerful side, cruised to a Cup Winners Cup win in 84/85, crushing Rapid Vienna and narrowly missing out on an historic Treble, as Manchester United defeated the Division 1 Winners in the FA Cup Final.
Then, a nation growing sadly more accustomed to images of death and carnage, war and devastation, were again subjected to terrifying scenes. 29th May 1985, is a day that would resonate throughout football for years to come. Brussels was the scene, in a small, rundown 1930s stadium, football saw one of it's blackest days.
UEFA in their wisdom, had designated a neutral section in the X, Y and Z block. This area was sectioned by flimsy wire fencing. This wide open terrace was all that separated the hardcore fans of Juventus and Liverpool. Brussels had a large Italian community and many of the tickets for this section fell into the hands of casual, Juventus supporting, middle class expatriates, travelling families, women and children. The wire fencing could not hold back the hooligan elements as they charged through the section, rampaging and clashing with each other... terrified and panicking, the innocent Juventus fans tried to flee and as the crumbling ground collapsed around them, 39 innocent people died that day (32 Italians, 4 Belgians, 2 Frenchmen and an Irishman). The policing and organisation of the game was shambolic, the behaviour disgraceful. No-one cared there was a game..
Heysel Stadium Disaster
English teams were banned from all European competition, for an undetermined time, later, it transpired to be 5 years (6 for Liverpool). English domination of Europe was over, a Golden Era came to an end, Everton never got the opportunity to discover whether they were, what many suspected, the best team in Europe. UEFA turned its back on English football and left it to it's own devices.
On the domestic front, the 80s saw Liverpool carry on where they left off, winning 6 Championships, a resurgent Everton and towards the end of the decade, Arsenal began to stake a claim, as a shift of power slowly began.
Football in the 70s was a real dichotomy, players were either immensely skilful or immensely talented at stopping the immensely skilful. The 80s began a movement away from that simple formula. Brian Clough once said that "football is a simple game, it's the players that make it complicated". Players and positions began to evolve, as the game became more sophisticated.
The clubs began to open their arms to new 'foreigners', overseas players who brought a new 'continental' philosophy, World Cup winners and Latin Americans arrived, with new ideas, new styles and a new perspective.
Midfield enforcers became a dying breed, rule changes and a change of philosophy, saw players like Bryan Robson, Peter Reid, Jimmy Case and Terry Yorath slowly disappear, as they were replaced by technically good, sophisticated passers or dribblers of the ball. Players like Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Arnold Muhren, Jan Molby, Ray Wilkins, Trevor Brooking stroked the ball around the park. Pitches improved, coaching became more refined, money began to be attracted to the game and players responded accordingly.
Peter Reid, Ossie Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna and Des Walker
Liverpool initially started the trend of footballing centrebacks, with Emlyn Hughes, others were quick to follow, players like Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Martin Buchan, David O'Leary, Des Walker, Kevin Ratcliffe, Gary Mabbutt replaced rock solid dinosaurs like Big Sam Allardyce, Big Jim Holton, Big Larry Lloyd and errrr Terry Butcher.
Wingers became technically more adept, skilful, less about sheer pace and more about trickery, if anything harking back to the days of Matthews, Finney and Peters. The 80s saw the emergence of Chris Waddle, John Barnes, Peter Barnes, John Robertson and Trevor Steven.
Chris Waddle, John Barnes, Mick Mills and Viv Anderson
Fullbacks too were required to adapt, become more versatile, contribute going forwards. Players like Phil Neal, Mick Mills, Kenny Sansom, Gary Stevens, Viv Anderson and Steve Perryman came to the fore.
Goalkeepers too got in on the act, they were improving technically, but it was the same old faces making their mark, the eternally young Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence, but adding to their number were new rising stars, Neville Southall, South African Bruce Grobbelaar, Les Sealey and Nigel Spink.
Neville Southall, Bruce Grobbelaar, Gary Lineker and Clive Allen
Up against them, were a new breed of strikers, quicker, more like a stiletto knife, than the bludgeons of the 70s, sharp, with an eye for goal. Strikers in the 80s were exceptional scorers, less about team work, work ethic, contribution, more about scoring goals, some were brilliant, great thinkers of the game, others were devastating out and out goalscorers, this was the era of the international world class goal getters. Names like Ian Rush, Gary Lineker, Clive Allen, John Aldridge, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Tony Woodcock and Trevor Francis lit up our back pages, cosmopolitan, international, plying their trade in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, bolstered by learning new and exciting skills from 'abroad', these players brought Europe to us, when we couldn't go into Europe.
Managers too, embraced new philosophies, Brian Clough and Bob Paisley carried on where they had left off in the 70s. Paisley quit while he was ahead and was replaced by "the bootroom's" Joe Fagin who remarkably won a Treble in 1983/84, securing the league, the League Cup and the European Cup, the Heysel Stadium disaster devastating him so much, that he gave up football all together, after a brief and glittering managerial career, only to be replaced by Anfield Legend, Kenny Dalglish, who instantly led them to their first Double as 'player coach'. Dalglish too witnessed his own disaster, being manager at the time of the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989, he left soon after. Howard Kendall masterminded Everton's return to the pinnacle of English football, winning the League Cup, The FA Cup, 2 Championships, adding European glory with a memorable Cup Winners Cup triumph in 1985, in all likelihood it would have been more but for the European ban forcing him to Spain in 1987. Towards the end of the decade, there was a 'new kid on the block', from Scotland, George Graham, would help to usher in a new era and waiting in the wings, another Scot was building in Manchester.
Joe Fagin, Kenny Dalglish, Howard Kendall and George Graham
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