MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MATCH – 11.11.1989

It’s crunch time for countries wanting to qualify for the 1990 World Cup, as David Platt is the cover star of Match, himself having ambitions of going to Italy in seven months time.

Scotland and Republic Of Ireland both need a point from their final group match to qualify, with Erik Thorstvedt has a warning for Scotland that Norway have come to crash the party.

Mark Wright gets a double page spread, amid calls for him to get a recall to the England squad, with testimonials from fellow First Division defenders.

Match has a feature where they review fanzines. This week’s subject is “A Load Of Bull”, dedicated to Wolverhampton Wanderers. The scored 8 out of 10 for Quality and Value For Money, but only 4 for Pictures and 5 for Campaigning.

York City were the subject of a one page team poster.

Peter Beagrie has just joined Everton from Stoke, and tells Match he is full of praise of Stoke’s managerial team of Alan Ball and Mick Mills, who he credits for turning him into a top flight footballer.

In ads, you could buy a VHS of 110 Serie A goals from the 1988-1989 season for just £9.99

Match looks at Bristol Rovers, who are challenging for promotion to Division Two despite having one of the worst away records in Division Three.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 19.8.1989

It’s the kick-off of the 1989-1990 season, and Shoot’s famous League Ladders poster, which came free with this edition, is the cover image.

The magazine opens with Bryan Robson’s column, where is confident that Manchester United can win the title, and believes his side are ready to show their credentials against reigning champions Arsenal on the opening day of the season.

He also touches on the World Cup in Italy, coming up at the end of the season, predicting that it will be won by a European team and that England aren’t far off.

Shoot itself gets a feature. The reason for the trumpet blowing? Shoot had just celebrated it’s 20th anniversary.

Real Madrid have signed a young player, but in tragic circumstances, symbolically signing one year old Sergio Cunningham, after the death of his dad, former Real Madrid player Lawrie Cunningham.

Terry Butcher showed off his drumming skills in Stirling recently for the band Tonto. Shoot describes Butcher as a self confessed head banger who lists Iron Maiden as his favourite band.

Theo Snelders tells Shoot of his determination to get back into the Holland squad after being controversially dropped after the manager said he was too scared to play against Germany.

John Fashanu has just joined Shoot and uses his debut column to put an end to rumours that he wants to leave Wimbledon.

In posters, you can get one of new Everton signing Norman Whiteside, while Gazza advertises Brooks boots.

Graham Roberts uses his column to reveal the reason why he left Rangers to join Chelsea – a dressing room falling out with manager Graeme Souness.

In news, The Football League is negotiating for the use of Wembley Stadium for the Play-Off Finals.

John Robertson tells Shoot that he is glad to have rejoined Hearts from Newcastle United, believing it will be a boost to his chances of going to the World Cup if Scotland qualify.

Shoot isn’t the only one celebrating a milestone birthday, Match of the Day turns 25 and gets a full page feature.

Jimmy Greaves predicts how he things the league table will look in 1990, predicting Liverpool to take the title back from Arsenal, with Charlton, Luton and Southampton getting relegated.

Jan Molby gets a full page interview, telling Shoot he is desperate to become a regular starter for Liverpool again, and win back his place in Denmark’s squad.

Kevin Gallacher gets a double page profile, where he reveals Deacon Blue are one of his favourite bands, and met Ricky Ross at a concert for Paul Sturrock’s testimonial, and that Ross was more nervoud of meeting Dundee united players than they were of meeting him.

There is a full page feature on Gerry Francis, who is remaining loyal to Bristol Rovers despite financial troubles at the club, but warns they won’t have any success in the future unless they get a new stadium, with the club playing at Twerton Park in Bath.

Ray Wilkins has just rejoined Rangers, and has hit back at suggestions that English players who join the Ibrox club (Wilkins was the 13th to do so under Graeme Souness) are jeopardising their international career.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 22.3.1980

It’s the first Cup Final of the 1980s, as Wolves take on Nottingham Forest in the League Cup Final, and Shoot commemorates this by having Emlyn Hughes and John Robertson on the cover.

The match gets six pages, with Emlyn Hughes and John McGovern discussing the effect of their respective managers. It is a cup final which sees Nottingham Forest aiming to win the trophy for the 3rd successive season.

In Scotland, Derek Johnstone uses his column to welcome Ian Redford to Ibrox, having signed from Dundee for a Scottish record of £210,000.

Terry Venables uses his column to express his delight at George Best’s return to football with Hibernian, and wishes Alan Ball good luck in his role as Player/Manager at Blackpool.

Talking of Hibs, there is a feature on Peter Cormack, as he returns to the club where he started his career, after leaving for Nottingham Forest in the early 1970s.

Martin Thomas of Bristol Rovers gets a profile, as he is described as Wales next goalkeeper.

Norwich City are the subject of a Club Spotlight, and readers got a free poster.

There is a feature called Soccer’s Wasted Talent, looking at the players who are sitting on the bench for their club, such as Duncan McKenzie, Peter Barnes and Tony Currie.

Chris Hughton talks to Shoot about being happy at Spurs, and Steve Coppell issues a warning to Liverpool that Manchester United will fight until the very end for the title.

2016 IN PICTURES – MARCH

March began for me at Solitude, to see Linfield take on Cliftonville in the Irish Cup, and get their first win there for four years.

The following week, Glentoran were the opponents, but the result was the same, a 3-0 win for Linfield.

After that, it was Solitude again, with Linfield only managing a 2-0 win this time.

Over the Easter Weekend, I went to see Northern Ireland take on Wales in Cardiff, and decided to make a trip of it between Bristol and Cardiff, getting some Street Art photos, and see Bristol Rovers take on Cambridge United.

Upon my return, I headed to Windsor Park to see Northern Ireland take on Slovenia.

The next day, I headed to Warrenpoint to see Linfield take on Warrenpoint, ending a busy Easter period of football watching.

Cliftonville v Linfield

Linfield v Glentoran

Cliftonville v Linfield

Bristol Street Art

Bristol Street Art Photo Album 1

Bristol Street Art Photo Album 2

Cardiff Street Art

Cardiff Street Art Photo Album

Wales v Northern Ireland

Wales v Northern Ireland Photo Album

Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United

Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United Photo Album

Northern Ireland v Slovenia

Northern Ireland v Slovenia Photo Album

Warrenpoint Town v Linfield

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 19.5.1990

Not long to go now until kick-off at Wembley. Back in 1990, Manchester United and Crystal Palace drew 3-3, meaning a replay was required to decide who won the cup.

That won’t happen today, as it has to be played to a finish

Printing deadlines meant Shoot could only cover the original game in this edition.

That match at Wembley got four pages of coverage, with a lot going to wether Ian Wright, who came off the bench to score twice, would be picked in the replay.

In Scotland, they didn’t go to a replay, as they used a penalty shoot-out to decide it. Aberdeen beat Celtic 9-8 in the first Scottish Cup Final decided by penalties, but Aberdeen manager Alex Smith criticising the use of a penalty shoot-out instead of a replay, even though his team won.

Luton Town’s great escape against relegation gets covered with an interview with Kingsley Black, who announces he wants to stay at Luton despite interest from Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.

Shoot previews the European Cup Final, which Ruud Gullit is desperate to play in after a season blighted by injuries.

He did play in a match which finished 1-0 to AC Milan, just as predicted by Shoot.

With the World Cup coming up, Scotland face Poland in a friendly, with Shoot interviewing Stuart McCall, as he reflected on the moment he almost made a substitute appearance for England in an Under 21 international.

Leeds United are promoted back to the top flight of English football after an eight year absence, but Shoot says they should be kicked out of football altogether after crowd trouble at their final game at Bournemouth.

Ian Rush uses his column to pay tribute to Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who has just retired as a player, making a final appearance in the game against Derby.

There is a double page interview with Niall Quinn, who recently left Arsenal for Manchester City in a bid to get first-team football to ensure his place in the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup squad.

In foreign news, Diego Maradona intends to stay at Napoli in an attempt to win the European Cup.

In ads, there was an advert for Esso’s World Cup coins of the England and Scotland teams.

Transfer rumours see Sampdoria want to sign Steve McMahon, Celtic want to sign Brian McClair, and Liverpool want to sign Wynton Rufer.

Previews of the forthcoming World Cup continue with United Arab Emirates, a squad who is very much disunited due to rows over money.

Dundee’s relegation from Scotland’s top flight was covered with an interview with Billy Dodds, who says he intends to stay at Dens Park.

There is another Wembley Cup Final this week, with Third Division champions Bristol Rovers taking on Tranmere Rovers in the Leyland Daf Cup Final.

Rovers were currently exiled at Twerton Park in Bath, with defender Geoff Twentyman saying the club will be the poor relations in the city until they get a new ground.

Tranmere won the match 2-1.

BRISTOL ROVERS 3-0 CAMBRIDGE UNITED 25.3.2016

As I was in Cardiff for the Wales v Northern Ireland match, I decided to make a weekend of it and stay afterwards in the South-West of England.

I was spoilt for choice when it came to matches, with Swindon Town, Cheltenham Town and Bristol Rovers all in close proximity to where I was staying. I plumped for Bristol Rovers, and it turned out to be a good choice.

The match against Cambridge United was a sell-out, with Rovers fans hopeful of a second successive promotion. As recently as February 27th, a 1-0 defeat at Wycombe left them 10th, but five successive wins had now seen them kick-off in the third automatic promotion place.

With Good Friday not being a Public Holiday in Northern Ireland, the 3pm kick-off went this was the first time i’d been to a football match during a working day.

Bristol Rovers had envisaged that by March 2016, they’d be playing at a brand new UWE Stadium. It’s not names after Uwe Rosler, it’s so named as it is in collaboration with the University of Western England.

For various reasons, that fell through, so Rovers are still at The Memorial Ground, their home since 1996, that they used to share with Bristol Rugby, until they moved out in 2014. The entrance to the ground still references it as the home of Bristol Rugby.

The ground is named as a tribute to local Rugby players who died in World War I, and there is a memorial to them as you enter the ground.

Prior to that, Rovers played at Twerton Park in nearby Bath for ten years after having to leave Eastville in 1986 due to financial difficulties.

Stadium issues were the last thing on people’s minds, it was all about three points and promotion.

I managed to get to the ground a bit later than hoped due to buses running a reduced service. I literally just got off at the same stop as people in Rovers shirts, and managed to make my way to the ground with no problem.

My ticket was behind the goal, in the North Terrace.

As I was relatively late, a lot of the good spaces were taken, I had to take what I could get, a spot beside the corner flag.

Rovers fans packed into the North Terrace were expectant of victory, but had their watch their side be on the back foot in the opening minute, with Cambridge testing their keeper with a shot. On of many nervous moments for Rovers in the opening minutes.

There was some Northern Ireland interest in this match, in the shape of Rovers defender Mark McChrystal.

Rovers fans were soon celebrating, when Billy Bodin (Son of Paul, who missed that penalty for Wales against Romania in 1993) got enough space to fire a speculative shot goalwards, which went under Cambridge’s keeper and put Rovers 1-0 up.

It was poor goalkeeping, not that Rovers fans cared.

Soon after, it was 2-0, Bodin again, after he got enough space in the penalty area to head in via the crossbar.

After scoring with their first two chances, it was fair to say that any nerves Rovers would have had were now gone.

Now playing with a swagger, they almost made it 3-0 close to half time, when a Clarke volley narrowly went over the bar.

Cambridge had some attacking possession in the second-half, but never looked like scoring. The next goal was always going to be a Rovers one, and it came on 73 minutes, when Matty Taylor created space in the box to fire home to make it 3-0.

The game won, Rovers fans went into party mood, singing “Wael Wael give us a wave” at the club’s new owner, Wael Al Qaid. He obliged.

They then sang “Wael Wael, give us a dance”. He didn’t oblige.

The next song, was “We’re Man City in disguise” – a reference to their bank account perhaps and not their recent form, as they’re doing a bit better than Man City at the moment.

The next chant aimed at the Owner was “We want Messi”, suggesting a possible transfer target, before a more modest “We want Easter”, aimed at their manager urging him to bring Jermaine Easter off the bench. They got their wish.

He couldn’t get the goal they wanted at the time of year he shares a name with. Three points was more than enough for them.

Photo Album

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MATCH – 22.12.1984

It’s Christmas 1984, and Match gets in the festive mood, with a cartoon of Bryan Robson as Santa, and Kerry Dixon, Glenn Hoddle, Ian Rush and Mark Hateley as choirboys with their uniforms in their respective club kits, while Mo Johnston is a schoolboy meeting Santa.

A double page feature asks a series of stars what their ideal Christmas would be. John O’Neill of Leicester City’s ideal Christmas is Midnight Mass, take delivery of BMW 635, take Felicity Kendall out for a spin, then head to Switzerland for a holiday. Steve McMahon also wanted to be on holiday in Switzerland.

John Barnes would like a holiday to Jamaica for Christmas, while Kevin Ratcliffe wants a Snooker table.

One person who has want they want for Christmas is Trevor Francis. Based in Italy with Sampdoria, he was planning to take advantage of Italy’s mid season break to go back to England over the holiday period, and wanting to watch a Division One game on Boxing Day.

Peter Brackley, commentator with ITV’s ‘The Big Match’ is interviewed where he reveals he supports Brighton, and that former Albion player Mark Lawrenson is “The most complete player in the country”

He also won a talent competition at Butlins when he was younger for doing impersonations.

Match gives a double page spread to a recent FA Cup 2nd Round tie between Bristol City and Bristol Rovers, which Rovers won 3-1, in front of a crowd of 20,000 – more than double any FA Cup crowd that day.

In the middle of the magazine, you could get a centre page poster of Gordon Strachan.

Clive Allen gets a Q and A. Kenny Dalglish is his favourite Football League player, while Michel Platini is his favourite foriegn player, and includes David O’Leary and Mark Lawrenson in his British XI. He also dislikes smoking and bad drivers.

Ever wondered who Clive Allen’s favourite pop star is? Christopher Cross.

In League tables, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Arsenal were seperated at the top of Division One by two points. Liverpool were 8th, 9 points off the top.

Brian McClair of Celtic got a poster, his reward for being Nike’s man of the month. Interestingly, 1984-1985 was the first season and English club wore Nike. Sunderland, since you ask.

The foreign news feature reports that Giorgio Chinaglia is planning a comeback at the age of 38, while Steve Archibald is in goalscoring for for Barcelona, and Fortuna Dusseldorf have asked their players to take a wage cut.

FOOTBALL IN 2014

So, Thursday afternoon will see me attend my last football match of 2013. Once that is over, i’ll be looking back at the year, looking at the stats, and oddities witnessed, and choosing my Top 5 games been to.

But this blog, isn’t about looking back, it’s about looking forward. So here, are my football wishes for 2014.

Obviously, I want United and Linfield to win as many trophies as possible, and Northern Ireland to make a winning start to their Euro 2016 campaign.

But what else will I wish for in 2014?

LINFIELD

Getting way too far ahead of myself, having a pre-season wishlist of Stranraer away. Would also love an away game against Dundela, haven’t been there for a while.

I’d love to visit the recently redeveloped Clandeboye Park for a Linfield game. Hopefully an Irish Cup Quarter-Final, a pre-season friendly, or Ards avoiding relegation and Linfield visiting in 2014-2015.

Bangor, unfortunately, haven’t applied for a Premiership licence. Of the clubs who can get promoted, I hope either Carrick Rangers and Institute go up, preferrably Carrick.

An early match to look forward to in 2014 is Linfield’s trip to Warrenpoint on January 4th. Always love visiting new grounds.

Talking of new(ish) grounds, i’m looking forward to seeing the results of the Windsor Park Redevelopment. I’m hoping this blog will become a photo diary for the Redevelopment process.

EDINBURGH

Every August I go to Edinburgh, primarily for the festival, but I like to catch a football match when i’m over. The last two years have taken me to Easter Road, so i’m guessing i’m due a trip to Tynecastle.

I get the feeling it’s an absolute cert that it’ll be Hearts v Rangers on the weekend i’m there, meaning trying to get a ticket will be difficult.

Even if the fixture list sends me to Easter Road, i’m hoping to visit Tynecastle to get a look at the plaque, unveiled earlier this year, dedicated to the Hearts players who died in World War I.

When i’m in Edinburgh, i’m hoping that this will be the year I go and see The Spartans, hopefully by then they’ll be in SFL3.

CARDIFF

Undecided about this one as yet, but i’m tempted to visit Cardiff in August for the European Super Cup Final, regardless of who is in it, hoping to pick up a ticket when i’m over.

As well as visiting a new ground, it would be my first visit to Cardiff since the Wales v Northern Ireland World Cup Qualifier in 2004. It was such a great trip. Wish I had a camera in order to have taken some photos of it.

While i’m there (the match is on a Friday night) i’m tempted to go to Bristol on the Saturday to do the Street Art Tour, then go and see whichever of City or Rovers is at home that day.

MANCHESTER UNITED

As far as the rest of the 2013-2014 season is concerned, i’m hoping to get over to Old Trafford for another game this season (I’ve already been to the Crystal Palace game in September)

Hoping to go the Olympiakos game in March. Haven’t confirmed anything yet, but hoping I can get sorted to go to this game in the coming weeks.

NORTHERN IRELAND

The first big event for Northern Ireland in 2014 will come off the pitch, with the Euro 2016 draw. I’m actually hoping to go to Euro 2016, regardless if Northern Ireland qualify, basing myself in Paris and hopefully visiting Lens and/or Lille.

Anyway, here’s my hopes for the draw. I’d love us to draw England, but with the game at Wembley to be in March 2015. I’ve already been to New Wembley, but i’d love to go there for a Northern Ireland match.

I’d love us to drawn in the same group as Gibraltar, and to play them at home in the first game of the group.

It would be Gibraltar’s first competitive international, and it would be nice to go to a historic game.

As a bonus, would it be too much to ask for the August international date to be used for a friendly against Scotland at Easter Road?

LONDON

Heading to London for a short break in February, and hoping to take in a game while i’m there. Of the games taking place that weekend, Leyton Orient v Peterborough on the Saturday looks the most tempting, though Brentford v Crawley Town is my back-up game.

Spurs are at home to Everton on the Sunday and tempted by that. Had a look for tickets online last night and they are 58 quid. Not sure if adding Everton to my UEFA 100 Club is worth that. Think I might stick with Leyton Orient.

When I was looking forward to 2012, I didn’t imagine i’d be watching Northern Ireland playing in Amsterdam.

When I was looking forward to 2013, I didn’t imagine i’d be going to a Scottish Cup Semi-Final.

In life, like in football, you never know what’s going to happen next. Here’s to more football watching in 2014. Hopefully, I might enjoy some of it.