MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 14.9.1985

England’s new star striker Gary Lineker shares cover space with Ian Rush, ahead of a vital week of World Cup Qualifiers, with Rush stating that Wales will destroy Scotland.

Rush gets a double page spread, saying that Wales will win and set up a Play-Off against a team from Oceania, due to Scotland missing the suspended Graeme Souness.

Unsurprisingly, Scotland think they will get the win, according to Shoot columnist Willie Miller.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, a result which sent Scotland into a Play-Off against Australia, which they won 2-0 on aggregate to reach the World Cup in Mexico.

The game will be remembered for the death of Scotland manager Jock Stein, who collapsed on the touchline moments before the final whistle.

Sammy McIlroy gets interviewed about Northern Ireland’s game in Turkey, expecting Turkey to provide difficult opponents despite losing 8-0 to England earlier in the group.

Kevin Sheedy gets interviewed about Republic Of Ireland’s chances of reaching the World Cup, stating that they can do it. Sheedy had yet to win an away game in his international career, and would need to start doing so, with trips to Switzerland and Soviet Union coming up.

England’s game against Romania is previewed, with manager Bobby Robson singing the praises of Gary Lineker, who had only made his international debut earlier that year.

Bryan Robson uses his column to focus on players who are aiming to head to Mexico next summer, such as Adrian Heath, Paul Walsh, Peter Davenport, Steve Williams and Remi Moses.

Celtic’s new star Alan McInally gets a double page spread, while Rangers also get a double page spread. Well, Queens Park Rangers.

Justin Fashanu also gets a profile as he hopes to get Brighton promoted from the Second Division.

Charlie Nicholas uses his column to express his fears after Scotland manager Jock Stein considers picking only domestic based players after having problems getting access to English based players.

One Scottish striker not worried about not getting picked is Kenny Dalglish, also player-manager at Liverpool, telling Shoot he’ll have no hesitation in dropping himself.

Meanwhile, there is disharmony with the West Germany squad, due to a row breaking out between Berndt Schuster and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Schuster was currently in international exile due to a disagreement with manager Franz Beckenbauer.

A dispute with broadcasters means that no club games in England are televised, so Shoot does double page photos of some of the best action.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MATCH – 19.10.1985

Running away with the league title, Mark Hughes is the cover star as Match asks if this is Untied’s best ever team.

Also making a good start was Reading, who secured the record for most successive wins at the start of the season with a win at Newport, and they get three pages.

Frank McAvennie gets a full page profile, with opposing players who have faced West Ham giving their opinions of him, after 10 goals in his first 11 games for West Ham.

Former Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty gets asked to compare the current United team with their European Cup winning side of the 1960s, giving each player a mark out of 10, with the 1985 team winning 98 to 89.

In Scotland, the East Terracing at Hampden Park will be renamed the Jock Stein Stand in memory of the former Scotland manager, who died recently.

Aberdeen, Dundee United and St Mirren are all flying the flag for Scottish football in Europe this week.

Also in European competition, Bangor City of Wales have hit the jackpot after being drawn against Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.

Glenn Roeder of Newcastle United gets asks about his favourites, and his favourite cartoon character is The Pink Panther.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT MEXICO 86 SPECIAL

At this moment 30 years ago, Italy and Bulgaria players were walking onto the pitch at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City for the opening game of Mexico 86.

The game was broadcast live on the BBC. As people sat in front of their TVs awaiting the month of football to come, it’s possible they may have been reading Shoot’s 1986 World Cup Preview guide, costing 75p.

With three UK teams in the finals (something that wouldn’t happen again until Euro 2016), Shoot capitalised on this by having a player from Scotland (Gordon Strachan), England (Bryan Robson) and Northern Ireland (Norman Whiteside) all holding the World Cup trophy.

All three were playing for the same club in 1986, so it was obviously convenient for them to arrange the photoshoot.

As you open the magazine, there is a double page editorial saying “Go get em lads”, wishing the three UK teams good luck.

There is then a double page TV guide, but it only covers the opening match, and the home nations group games. For the record, Northern Ireland and Scotland had two live games on ITV and one on the BBC, while England had two games on the BBC and one on ITV.

Trevor Francis gets four pages to write about who he thinks will be the stars in Mexico, predicting big things from Hugo Sanchez, Rudi Voeller, Preben Elkjaer, Diego Maradona, Michel Platini, Rinat Dasaev, Zico and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Enzo Scifo, Daniel Passarella, Antonio Cabrini, Zibi Boniek and Michael Laudrup.

Quite a lot of those players were based in Serie A, where Francis was playing his club football.

Mick Channon gets two pages to assess the three home nations, predicting Bryan Robson to lead England to the Quarter-Finals (They would reach that stage, but Robson would be at home injured), Scotland to reach the Second Round (Group stage exit) and Northern Ireland to reach the knockout stages (group stage exit)

Channon also commented that he was recently in Belfast to play in a testimonial game for George Dunlop.

Mal Donaghy gets a lot of praise from Channon, stating he would walk into England and Scotland’s teams, comparing him to Bobby Moore.

For the whole tournament, he expected Argentina to beat Brazil in the final.

Tony Roche gets a double page spread to assess the rest of the European teams, stating that Denmark could take the competition by storm, comparing them to Holland’s team of the 70s.

There is a full page round up of the results and tables from the European groups.

Peter Reid gets interviewed with the headline “ON YER BIKE JOAN COLLINS”. In case you’re wondering why, England will be warming up in America, staying in a hotel in Denver which is used to film scenes for the TV show Dynasty.

Reid comments on the progress in his career between World Cups, having just avoided relegation to the Third Division with Bolton in 1982, he was now challenging for trophies with Everton.

Shoot canvassed journalists from around the world for their opinion, and the consensus was that Brazil would repeat their success in Mexico they had in 1970.

Bobby Moore writes about his experiences at the 1970 World Cup, advising the players that playing Snooker will be a good way to relieve the boredom in the hotel room.

Charlie Nicholas gets four pages to write about his Scotland team-mates, where he reveals he shares a room with Steve Nicol. They are good mates, but Nicholas doesn’t share Nicol’s love of Status Quo.

There is a double page interview with the three UK managers, Bobby Robson (England), Alex Ferguson (Scotland) and Billy Bingham (Northern Ireland)

Ferguson and Robson predict Brazil will win the trophy, while Bingham shies away from predicting a winner.

Bryan Robson writes a two page article where he predicts England will reach the Semi-Finals, and that Gary Lineker will be England’s biggest star in Mexico, comparing him to Jimmy Greaves.

There are two pages then dedicated to the South American challenge, written by Tony Roche.

Shoot has bagged an interview with Diego Maradona, who says England look good, Northern Ireland have a chance of reaching the knock-out stage, while Scotland are in the toughest group. He didn’t predict Morocco to upset anyone.

The main question asked in Northern Ireland’s preview is where the goals will come from. Billy Bingham has a lot of praise for Norman Whiteside, predicting him to be a regular Northern Ireland player for the next decade.

Jimmy Greaves has two pages of letters, where a Notts County fan predicts Algeria to win because of Rachid Harkouk, to which Greaves sarcastically responds.

There is a full page dedicate to free-kick experts, listing the best players with this skill, including Platini, Hoddle, Cooper and Molby.

As well as looking forward, Shoot also looks back at England, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s World Cup history.

There are two pages dedicated to Jock Stein, who was Scotland manager during the qualifying campaign until his death after the game against Wales in September 1985, with tributes from Alex Ferguson and Billy McNeill.

There is a competition where you can win a Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Ray Clemence World Cup video game.

The preview ends with an infographic of all the team’s kits.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 17.12.1983

Jesper Olsen, in an Ajax kit doing keep-uppeys, is the cover star of this edition of Shoot. Despite wearing an Ajax kit, he’s very much a Manchester United player, having just signed for the club.

The headline desribes him as “United’s new George Best” – No pressure there.

United’s purchase of Olsen, in the week that Notts County couldn’t afford to sign Glenn Roeder is used as evidence in an editorial that a breakaway Super League of England’s top club beckons.

Olsen helped Denmark reach Euro 84 at the expense of England. 1966 World Cup winner Alan Ball speaks to Shoot about what England can do to win the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, suggesting that England should start throwing young players into international games.

Olsen wouldn’t be wearing a United shirt until the summer of 1984, as he’d be seeing out the season at Ajax, with Bryan Robson using his column to compare him to George Best, and urging United fans to keep a close eye on him when Denmark are playing in the European Championship in France.

England might not be heading to the finals in France, but Wales have a chance, and their qualifier against Yugoslavia is previewed. A win for Wales would send them to France.

The match finished 1-1, which meant they had to hope Yugoslavia fail to beat Bulgaria, but the Yugoslavs won it with an injury time winner.

If Wales were dreaming of France, Scotland weren’t, with a dismal campaign which saw them finish bottom of a group containing Belgium, East Germany and Switzerland.

Scotland were now looking to the 1986 World Cup Qualifiers, and that began with a British Championship game at Windsor Park against Northern Ireland, a side who Jock Stein has failed to beat as Scotland manager.

In competitions, Shoot were giving away a trip to the European Championship in France. The Subbutteo European Championship that is.

In club football, Dennis Mortimer speaks to Shoot about his return to the Aston Villa team, and how it has given him a new lease of life.

Paul Mariner is interviewed by Shoot, telling them that he fears he is played his last England game, having just turned 30, and how he revels on the verbal abuse he receives from oppositions fans.

It’s not just the 1986 World Cup that people are looking forward to, as England have submitted a bid to host the 1990 World Cup. They fear they have been upstage by Italy, who sent a delegation to FIFA HQ, while Greece sent a Telex, and Soviet Union hand delivered theirs.

Paolo Rossi has been fined £1,400 by authorities in Italy for the crime of wearing the national shirt without permission, after wearing it in an advert for sunglasses.

Another star with money problems was Diego Maradona, who had to pay £4,000 on excess baggage on a flight back home to Buenos Aires.

Raymond Goethels, manager of Standard Liege, predicts that Dundee United will win the European Cup in 1984.

Staying with Scottish teams, Rangers defender John McClelland is a guest columnist, and he declares that Mark McGhee is his toughest opponent.

Gary Mabbutt is another guest columnist, and he praises his young Tottenham team-mate Ally Dick.

Kenny Dalglish’s column focuses on Scotland’s visit to Windsor Park, saddened that this is the last season of the British Championship.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 5.10.1985

There’s a North London feel to this edition of the Magazine Archive, as Ray Clemence is the cover star, while there is a free poster commemorating 100 years of Arsenal, in this edition of Shoot.

Frank Stapleton gets a double page feature where he expresses his shock that Manchester United were prepared to sell him to Bordeaux but he declined the move.

Celtic star Mo Johnston spoke about getting a new car as his Porsche makes him a target for Scottish police.

There was a story linking Graeme Souness with a return to Anfield in 1986 as Assistant Manager to Kenny Dalglish when his contract with Sampdoria ends.

In 1986, Souness would get his first job in coaching, in his native Scotland as Player-Manager of Rangers, before eventually succeeding Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool manager in 1991.

There is a double page spread of action from the recent World Cup Qualifier at Ninian Park between Wales and Scotland. The match finished 1-1 which put Scotland into a World Cup play-off against Australia, which they won.

The match though, will be remembered for what happened after the final whistle when Scotland manager Jock Stein suffered a heart attack and died.

The headline of the double page spread is “JOCK STEIN’S LAST BATTLE”

Ray Clemence is subject to a Q and A, where he states he will retire in 1987, and expresses his sadness at English clubs being banned from Europe, while having some enthusiasm for the Screen Sport Super Cup (he must have been the only one)

Meanwhile, Ian Rush writes a piece cheerleading Steve McMahon for inclusion in England’s squad for the 1986 World Cup.

Neil Webb is subject of a Player Profile. Bill Cosby and Cheers make Neil Webb laugh, and his hobby is listening to music.

His long term ambition was to be successful at Nottingham Forest (he won a League Cup) and get into the England side (played in a World Cup and two European Championships)

In Jimmy Greaves Letters Page, Paul Barrett from West Midlands wrote in to say that Aston Villa’s promising younsters such as Steve Hodge and Tony Dorigo will help Aston Villa challenge for the league in the near future. Aston Villa were relegated in 1987.

Dorigo and Hodge did eventually get a league medal ……. with Leeds United in 1992.