141. Football in the 1980s

In this podcast episode Jim White, Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes turn their attention to one of the darkest decades in recent football history - the 1980s.  It wasn’t all bad.  We got to the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1986 and were unlucky to lose to a goal punched past Shilton by the Hand of God.  We had a fascinating rivalry at the top of the game between the two sides based in Liverpool one of whom was not Tranmere Rovers.  Three different English sides won the European Cup between 1980 and when we were banned from Europe after Heysel.  However, if you look at the crowds during the decade there was a steep decline.  The hooliganism was bad and getting worse, the government hated the game and everything to do with it and television was accordingly losing interest.  The decade was the last chapter of the game as it had traditionally been played in this country and it culminated in one of the great finishes to the League Championship as Arsenal won at Anfield.  Tragically too, it was the decade of Bradford fire and the Hillsborough disaster when 96 innocent people died needlessly.  What are your feelings about football in the Eighties?   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices