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It goes without saying that a 5-5 draw is a rare but spectacular beast. The recent thriller at the Villa saw two past European champions share ten goals, a reminder of many a game contested on the playground in my distant past. I’m sure Forest were glad that the “next goal’s the winner” rule was not invoked. Talking to my son, I was trying to recall other 5-5 draws, until a bell chimed in the dusty vault of my memory banks. A match played on the skin-shredding plastic pitch at Loftus Road on September 22, 1984. QPR 5 Newcastle United 5. Read more »

It seems that hosting football matches in N17 is not solely a modern problem for Tottenham Hotspur. Back in August 1988 the club failed to fulfil a home fixture on the opening day of the season; it would be an appropriately messy start to Terry Venables' first full campaign in charge. Read more »

If David Coleman was right, and indeed goals do pay the rent , then there would have been plenty of happy landlords on Saturday October 29, 1983. Up and down the country, defences dozed, forwards frolicked, and nets bulged, as 135 goals were scored in the 44 league matches played in the top four divisions. Read more »

Liverpool appeared unusually vulnerable as they made the visit to White Hart Lane on Sunday March 3, 1986. After losing 2-0 to Everton at Anfield the week before, Kenny Dalglish’s team were grimly trying to stay in the title race, trailing their Merseyside rivals by eight points with twelve matches remaining. Read more »

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. Read more »

It hasn’t always been a case of winning titles and triumphing in Europe for Chelsea. There was a time when the club were playing in a rundown stadium, with property developers lurking, and just staying in the top flight was a challenge in its own right. The 1987/88 season was a prime example of the down side of supporting the West London club. And people say Chelsea have no history. Read more »

There is a chance that Mark Hughes may be involved with two relegated clubs this season. Dave Bassett knows how that feels after his terrible 1987/88 campaign. If 1992 was the annus horribilis for Queen Elizabeth II, then there can be no doubting the comparable period of time for Dave Bassett. Leading Wimbledon from the basement of the Football League to sixth place in Division One in six years, Bassett’s star was rising. But all that was about to change. Read more »

On the whole, the 1985/86 football season was a pretty sorry affair for clubs in the Midlands. Aston Villa, Coventry, and Leicester hovered dangerously close to the Division One drop zone throughout the campaign, but nothing could prevent Birmingham City from the fate of relegation. The demise of Wolves continued, as they fell into the league basement. Although fans of rivals West Bromwich Albion may have found this amusing, they had enough of their own problems to consider. Read more »

There is a possibility that Swansea City will be relegated from the top flight this season. But surely the situation will not be as dire as the last time they suffered this fate. Swansea City Football Club lived the dream at the end of the 70s and the early part of the 80s. Their rise from the Football League basement to the top table between 1978 and 1981 was rapid, and their debut season in Division One was a thing of joy to their supporters. But the fall from grace was just as quick. The demise of Swansea City after their party with the A-listers was the stuff of nightmares. Read more »