MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MATCH – 21.5.1994

Steve Bruce, holding aloft the FA Cup, is the cover star of Match as Manchester United have just won the double for the first time in their history.

England are playing two friendlies this week, and Match interviews captain David Platt to get the lowdown on the England team.

Steve Chettle of Nottingham Forest is subject to a Q and A, where he reveals he loves Chinese and Italian food.

There is a pull-out of Group B as the countdown to the 1994 World Cup is in full swing. That group contained Brazil, Cameroon, Russia and Sweden.

Ryan Giggs is the subject of a double page spread, as Match goes on location with him at Selhurst Park as he films an advert for Reebok.

Giggs also appears (sort of) in an advert later in the magazine to flog his own video game.

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 : MATCH – 9.12.1989

Match action from Scotland v England is the cover image of this week’s edition, as the two countries could be paired together in the forthcoming draw for the 1990 World Cup.

Bobby Davison of Leeds United shows Match around his house, sharing his matchday routine and his CD collection.

It’s the 2nd Round of the FA Cup, and Aylesbury are hoping to shock Northampton Town. Their manager Trevor Gould knows someone with FA Cup pedigree, his brother Bobby won the competition 18 months earlier.

Hans Gilhaus of Aberdeen gets a profile, stating that his best form is yet to come, despite a goalscoring start to his career in Scotland, saying that Aberdeen have a lot of similarities to his former club PSV Eindhoven.

In news, South African born Roy Wegerle is hoping to play for USA in the 1994 World Cup, as he’ll have to wait until 1991 to get US citizenship.

David Platt tells Match he has no plans to leave Aston Villa, having turned down Watford and Hibs to join them from Crewe.

In foreign news, Chris Waddle could have increased competition at Marseille, with the club strengthening their squad.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 8.5.1993

Paul Ince, accompanied by the headline “JUST CHAMPION!” is the cover star of Shoot, as Manchester United have just won their first league title in 26 years.

The title success must have come too late for Shoot’s printing deadlines, as there was no features about it in the magazine.

On the inside cover, there is a poster of three of Juventus stars – Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Baggio. Curiously, Baggio was pictured in action for Italy.

In news, Brian Clough has announced his retirement, and Shoot prints various tributes from players and managers.

Crystal Palace returned a lot of their allocation of tickets for the FA Cup Final, with Chairman Ron Noades requesting that the FA redistribute them equally to fans of the two finalists, Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday.

Marco Van Basten has said that Manchester United are equipped to dominate European football for years to come, adding that the prospect of them playing in the following season’s European Cup is “An exciting prospect, but also a frightening one”

Coca-Cola’s official statistics pack for the Coca-Cola Cup (League Cup) Final listed Sheffield Wednesday’s Chris Bart-Williams as Chris Bart-Simpson.

Cyrille Regis could be heading back to West Brom after being free transferred by Aston Villa.

There are rumours of departures at Manchester City, with Niall Quinn (Porto), David White (Aston Villa) and Keith Curle (Sheffield Wednesday) all attracting interest from other clubs.

Manager Peter Reid could also be on the move, as his friendship with Liverpool Chairman David Moores could make him a candidate for the manager’s job at Anfield if Graeme Souness is sacked. Reid was sacked by City in August after a poor start to the following season.

Aston Villa Chairman Doug Ellis has refused to allow Villa Park to be used to host a testimonial game for the club’s European Cup winning manager Tony Barton. Barton died in August that year.

Liverpool and Leeds began the season at Wembley in the Charity Shield, and endured miserable seasons. Shoot gives two pages looking at where it went wrong for them both.

Colin Cooper has told Milwall he doesn’t want to be sold. He was that summer, to Nottingham Forest.

Ally McCoist, already scored 50 goals this season, gets a double page tribute.

Stoke City, promoted from the Second Division (Third Tier) get a feature, where they already have ambitions of reaching the Premier League. They wouldn’t achieve it until 2008.

Grantley Dicks of Bath City gets a feature, mostly about his disciplinary record which matches that of his brother Julian.

Jimmy Greaves letters sees him admit he was wrong that Eric Cantona would be a bad signing for Manchester United, and announce he will be co-hosting (with Ian St John, of course) a show called Sporting Questions, a sporting version of Question Time.

In foreign news, Andy Herzog has a curious goalscoring motivation – his uncle sends his Austrian cakes when he scores, and dog food when he doesn’t. Marco Van Basten has given AC Milan a boost by returning in time for the title run-in, while in Spain, Sevilla’s two Diegos – Simeone and Maradona are in trouble for not attending a Spanish FA disciplinary hearing after a brawl against Cadiz. Both players were believed to be on holiday.

The was also a competition to win a VHS of 501 German Goals.

Peter Ndlovu gets a two page feature, focusing on his travels to play for Zimbabwe in World Cup and African Nations Cup Qualifiers.

Mark Hughes gets a double page feature, with tributes from team-mates and opponents, having become the 10th player to score 100 goals for Manchester United. He would have another milestone coming up, having just won his 49th cap for Wales.

Scotland have suffered their biggest defeat in 18 years and are certain to miss their first World Cup since 1970. Staying in Scotland, Jimmy Nicholl has announced his retirement from playing to concentrate on managing Raith Rovers. Nicholl had been linked with the Northern Ireland manager’s job, as Billy Bingham was expected to retirement in the summer of 1993.

Bingham did retire in November 1993, and Nicholl was interviewed for the post but was unsuccessful. He tried again in 2004, and was again unsuccessful.

Shoot announces the result of a recent Teletext poll to reveal Britain’s Most Fervent Derby. The winner was Rangers v Celtic with 18%, beating Newcastle v Sunderland (12%)

Linfield v Glentoran polled 2%.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 19.10.1991

Bryan Robson, in action against Notts County, is the cover star, with the headline “Robbo’s Back”, as he is interviewed in this edition.

As you open the magazine, there is a double page feature on Wales European Championship Qualifier in Germany, where Wales need a draw to virtually qualify for the finals in Sweden.

Jimmy Greaves assesses the two teams and predicts a win for Germany, and so it proved, with Germany winning 4-1.

Bryan Robson’s interview is part of Shoot’s preview of England’s European Championship Qualifier against Turkey. Turkey had been good opponents for Robson, with 5 goals in his 3 previous appearances against them.

England’s previous game against Turkey saw Robson left out of the squad, and he thought his international career was over at the age of 34, but his recent form for Manchester United saw him earn a recall.

As it turned out, the game against Turkey was Robson’s last cap for England.

Another player making an England comeback was Stuart Pearce, who explains that he was left out of the squad for the recent friendly against Germany as he was serving a domestic suspension.

Elsewhere in the group, Republic Of Ireland face a crunch game in Poland, and Shoot interviews Mick McCarthy in preparation of this.

In news, Charlie Nicholas had all his medals stolen after a burglary at his house, while Celtic have had a bid rejected for Terry Phelan, while Chelsea are planning a move to sign Matt Le Tissier.

Also in Scotland, John Robertson of Hearts gets a double page interview where he says that Hearts are determined to bounce back after defeat against Celtic, their first of the season. Robertson also gives Shoot the lowdown on his Hearts team-mates.

Peter Ndlovu of Coventry City gets interviewed s he adjusts to life in England, telling Shoot that he mostly listens to the radio and watched TV.

Also adjusting to life in a new country is David Platt, who tells Shoot he is enjoying life in Italy, despite Bari not winning a game and their manager resigning.

Talking of English players in Italy, former AC Milan striker Mark Hately rubbishes former Bari striker Paul Rideout’s claim that no English striker has come back from Italy a better player.

I wonder did they discuss the matter a few months later in the dressing room when Rideout signed for Rangers?

Talking of Rangers, a reader writes to Jimmy Greaves to say that Rangers will continue to be minnows on a European stage due to a lack of competition in Scotland, while another reader asks about the possibility of Leeds winning the league, and Greaves says they need Lee Chapman to start scoring in order for that to happen.

In competitions, you could win a pair of Quaser boots, and get to meet Gary Lineker, Matt Le Tisser or Charlie Nicholas at one of their respective team’s home games.

Tony Cottee gets a profile, revealing that if he wasn’t a footballer, he would be a Fireman, or work for his dad as an Insurance Broker.

In ads, there was an advert for a teen mag called Look-In (possibly an IPC publication, I can’t verify) which had Rik Mayall as it’s cover star, talking about his role in Drop Dead Fred.

Alongside that, is an advert for the following week’s edition of Shoot, which comes with free Pro Set cards.

The magazine ends with a double page feature on Scotland’s European Championship Qualifier in Bucharest where a win would virtually guarantee qualification to the finals.

They lost, but other results went their way which meant they made it to Sweden.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : NI FOOTBALL – WINTER 2008

David Healy is the cover star as he gives an interview to NI Football during the Winter of 2008.

In news, Martin Donnelly of Crusaders wins Player Of The Month, Roy Coyle celebrated his retirement at a dinner attended by Howard Kendall, and Brendan Rodgers has just been appointed manager of Watford.

Elsewhere in news, David Healy has just launched his own DVD.

Keith Gillespie gets interviewed having just joined Charlton Athletic on loan from Sheffield United.

Also getting a profile is Jonny Evans, having just broken into the Manchester Untied team in the early months of 2008-2009.

Glentoran had just reached the final of the Setanta Cup, losing narrowly to Cork City, 2-1, and this match gets a full page review.

David Healy gets a double page interview, revealing that Jonny Evans could be Norther Ireland’s key player during World Cup Qualification.

Healy’s strike partner at international Kyle Lafferty gets profiled, after enduring a difficult opening months to his career at Rangers.

Another player getting profiled at a new club is George McCartney, although he is in his second spell at Sunderland.

Steven Robinson has just announced his retirement aged 33, and is profile after taking a job with the IFA coaching underage teams.

There is a profile of another 33 year old making his mark in coaching, recently appointed Coleraine manager David Platt.

There is a full page profile of Linfield player Paul Munster, who has returned to Northern Ireland after spending time playing in Sweden, Czech Republic and Canada.

There is a double page profile on the comparisons between set-ups in the Irish League and League Of Ireland.

At Junior Level, there are club profiles of Killymoon Rangers, Lurgan Celtic and Newington.

Staying in North Belfast, there is a feature on Cliftonville, who have just won the County Antrim Shield.

 

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : FOOTBALL ITALIA – APRIL/MAY 1995

It’s the mid 90s, and Italian football can be found on Channel 4 on a Sunday afternoon. Such is the popularity, that it now has it’s own magazine. Gianfranco Zola of Parma is the main cover star, as Football Italia visits him at home.

Fabrizio Ravanelli and Alessandro Del Piero get a three page feature, described as “Juve’s Twins”, having formed a striking partnership as Juventus aim for a treble of Coppa Italia, Serie A and UEFA Cup.

Such as been Ravanelli’s form, he became the first Italian player to score five goals in a European club game, having done so against CSKA Moscow earlier that season.

“He’s a real star” says Ravanelli of his strike partner, adding “He’ll be leading Juve into the next century”

He was right, Del Piero was at Juventus, staying at the club until twelve years into the next century.

Such was the norm in the 90s was AC Milan picking up a trophy. Their latest one was the European Super Cup, won after a 2-0 aggregate win over Arsenal. This gets a double page spread.

There is a double page spread looking at the run-in to the season, and it’s all about two clubs, Juventus and Parma, aiming to win a treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup.

It would end 2-1 to Juventus with Juve claiming both domestic trophies (beating Parma in the Coppa Italia final) while Parma won the UEFA Cup (beating Juventus in the final)

As Football Italia was published every three months, there was a four page look back at what had happened since the last edition was published.

Japanese clubs were rumoured to be trying to tempt Roberto Baggio away from Juventus, while Faustino Asprill was in trouble in his native Colombia after firing off a gun in public to celebrate the festivities. Another player in trouble was Walter Zenga, who has been given a driving ban for speeding.

Inter Milan are lining up a £20m double bid for Eric Cantona and Paul Ince, despite Cantona being in trouble in England for kung-fu kicking a Crystal Palace fan.

Milan’s match against Genoa is abandoned when news emerged of a Genoa fan being stabbed to death by a Milan fan. The following weekend’s games were postponed as a mark of respect.

Sampdoria manager Sven Goran Eriksson’s future is in doubt, with former Samp player Trevor Francis, in charge at Sheffield Wednesday, being linked with a return to the club as manager.

Anglo-Italian relations that month saw a Endsleigh League XI take on a Serie B select in Bari, with the English side winning 3-2.

Juventus want to sign Mario Basler while Parma have cooled their interest in Luis Figo of Sporting Lisbon.

Paul Gascoigne hopes to return from injury in April, sporting a new slim look after giving up beer.

And in more English-Italian relations, Bobby Robson sees his European Cup Winners Cup hopes dashed after FC Porto’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Sampdoria, managed by future England manager Sven Goran Eriksson. To keep up the theme, David Platt was sent-off in extra-time.

All three European competitions get a round-up, with Italian clubs in the semi-final stage of all three.

Guiseppe Bergomi gets a five page spread profiling him, now the only player from Italy’s 1982 World Cup winning squad still playing.

Alen Boksic and Julio Dely Valdes also get profiles.

In big transfer news, Paul Elliott signs for Channel 4 as a pundit, having played for Pisa in the 1980s.

Channel 4’s pundits are asked for their predictions, with Liam Brady and Joe Jordan tipping Parma, whith Graeme Souness, Ray Wilkins and Done Howe predicting Juventus.

When asked who the next British player to go to Italy will be, Brady goes with Matt Le Tissier, How suggests Alan Shearer or Stan Collymore. Souness also goes for Alan Shearer while Joe Jordan suggests Ryan Giggs. Ray Wilkins says none, that the gravy train was over.

None of those players suggested played in Serie A.

There are three pages looking at foreign players in Serie A, looking at the lack of German players.

Talking of foreigners in Serie A, the two English players playing in the league, David Platt and Paul Gascoigne get a full page profile.

Daniele Massaro gets a treble page profile, as he is now a key player in Milan’s team as his 34th birthday approaches.

In further Anglo-Italian news, the Anglo-Italian Cup gets a three page review of this season’s competition, won by Notts County, beating Ascoli in the final at Wembley.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 5.5.1990

Celebration time for Nottingham Forest and Rangers, as they are featured on the cover celebration recently won trophies, Forest winning the League Cup (pictured with a sponsors trophy, rather than the League Cup trophy we know) and Rangers celebrating a Scottish League title.

For both teams, it was a 2nd successive win in their respective competitions. For Forest, it was their last major trophy (If you don’t include winning what is now The Championship title in 1998) and for Rangers, it was the 2nd of a record equalling 9 in a row.

Incidentally, Forest’s win in 1990 was the last time a team won the trophy in successive years before Manchester United achieved the feat in 2009 and 2010.

The game at Wembley gets a double page report on pages 2 and 3. Forest won 1-0 with a goal from Nigel Jemson. Little did Jemson know, that 14 years in the future, he would be playing for Ballymena United.

Rangers title success gets a double page spread on pages 4-5.

In news, Hibs star John Collins is rumored to be heading for the continent, with Bordeaux, Real Sociedad and Nice believed to be interested in signing him.

Collins would leave Hibs, and play on the continent, but these two events would be separated by six years – Collins left Hibs for Celtic that summer, then left Celtic for Monaco in 1996.

In Shoot’s diary for the week, it notes that both Gary Crosby (26) and Andy Dibble (25) celebrate their birthday on May 8th 1990.

The reason why that is quite funny, is that both players were involved in one of the most bizarre football incidents in 1990, when Crosby headed the ball out of Dibble’s hand, to score a goal.

Lenny Lawrence, manager of relegated Charlton warns his side are in serious danger of being relegated again in 1991, such is the lack of quality they possess. They stayed in the Second tier until they gained promotion to the Premier League in 1998.

In ads, PFA Player Of The Year David Platt is advertising Arrow boots.

There is a competition to win a complete set of Sportstars figurines, alongside an advert for World Cup preview books for England, Scotland and Republic of Ireland.

In foreign news, Roberto Baggio, then of Fiorentina, says he won’t sign for Juventus. In the summer of 1990, Roberto Baggio signed for Juventus.

Meanwhile, new Liverpool signing Ronnie Rosenthal gets a double page feature. In 1990, he was a bachelor, and intended spending the summer of 1990 on the beach in Israel, drove a VW Jetta, and can speak five languages.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 10.4.1993

Chris Waddle and Mark Bright are the cover stars as Shoot reviews the 1993 FA Cup Semi-Finals, both Derby games (Sheffield and North London) with the Sheffield game getting the most coverage on the cover.

Pages 4-5 are a double page spread on the Sheffield Derby at Wembley, won 2-1 by Wednesday after extra-time.

Page 6 is a curious competition where you could win a Sega Game Gear, and a shaving kit.

In news, Sergei Baltacha, top scorer with Oakbank under 13s in Perth, is having a trial with Ipswich Town, who is dad played for a few years previously.

He eventually converted to a left-back and played for St Mirren and Milwall. If the name sounds familiar, his sister is the Tennis player Elena Baltacha.

Meanwhile, Southend’s Stan Collymore had an unusual pre-match routine, trying to spot managers in the crowd, saying he’d spotted Trevor Francis (Sheffield Wednesday) and George Graham (Arsenal)

One man who had hoped to see was Ron Atkinson

“That would be the dream move, to Aston Villa, They were the first team I went to see”

Stan Collymore did sign for Aston Villa four years late, but under Brian Little.

Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Spurs got a double page spread, with a photo collage of Tony Adams, whos scored the winning goal, greatest moments.

Jimmy Greaves Letters Page sees Neil Sinclair from London write in about Australia and Ghana’s performances at the recent World Youth Championship, asking if the power in world football is changing.

Greavsie wasn’t sure about Australia, but that African football was on the march and there could be an African World Cup winner in 20 years time.

20 years on, we are still waiting for an African country to win the World Cup.

He adds that “By 2000, Africa will take over from South America as the leading exponent of free-style football”

Australia and Ghana took until 2006 to qualify for the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Philip Heaver from Norfolk complains about Mark Robins and Ruel Fox not being selected for England.

Still in this season’s competition, Marseille were already planning their attempts to win the 1994 European Cup with summer moves for David Platt and Julio Cesar.

Marseille were banned from the 93-94 European Cup due to a match fixing scandal. David Platt signed for Sampdoria that summer.

Sampdoria, coincidentally, had a centrepage poster in that edition.

With the title race in the final stages, Shoot attempts predicting the Easter Saturday games.

They predicted a 2-1 win for Manchester United over Sheffield Wednesday, though i’m not sure they predicted it to be as dramatic as it turned out.

Aston Villa, top of the league, were predicted by Shoot to beat Coventry City 3-1. It finished 0-0, and they were overtaken by Manchester United, who weren’t dislodged for the rest of the season.

The recent PFA Awards got a page, focusing on Paul McGrath and Ryan Giggs success.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 8.8.1992

It’s the summer of 1992, and English football is a week away from a brand new era.

On the inside cover is a poster of young Nottingham Forest star Roy Keane, as the new ‘Super League’ is formed, as Shoot states “Disregard for the paying public has reached an all time low with the formation of a Super League, introduction of all seater stadiums, and the Sky TV deal” as Shoot declares it will become a voice for the fans over the coming years.

Shoot dedicates a double page spread to Ian Wright and Paul Merson, the strike partnership of recently dethroned champions Arsenal.

In their European round-up, Ajax striker Ron Willems says he wants to play in England. Shoot claims that both Manchester United and Everton are interested in him.

In 1996, he eventually made it to English football, with Derby County.

The European round-up has a section called ‘Brits Abroad’, focusing on Bobby Robson (Sporting Lisbon), Paul Gascoigne (Lazio), Des Walker (Sampdoria) and David Platt (Juventus) as they were settling in to new clubs on the continent.

Alan Shearer’s British record transfer from Southampton to Blackburn Rovers is brought up on Jimmy Greaves Letters Page, as a reader suggested the move was motivated by money.

Greaves acknowledges that Blackburn have a better team than Southampton, but “He ain’t going to be winning the title at Blackburn”

John Fashanu is the subject of a Q and A, where he modestly states that he is good enough to play for Liverpool or Manchester United, but adds that he might not be able to persue other interests outside the game.

One of those interests was listed simply as ‘filming’ which we now know as Gladiators.

There’s an advert for the following week’s edition ……… possibly the favourite and best selling edition of Shoot each year …….. the one with the Team Tabs, for a historic season, the first of English football’s breakaway Premier League.