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The 1987/88 season was never going to be easy for Everton. They may have been reigning champions, but the departure of Howard Kendall to Athletic Bilbao was always going to hit the club hard. Like many before and after him, Kendall’s assistant Colin Harvey would discover that replacing a legendary manager was a thankless task. Read more »

The sad passing of Gordon Banks has inspired me to start a new series: great saves of the 1980s. The first entry involves a Welshman at the peak of his powers, and a defining moment in the 1984/85 Division One season. Although he is often regarded as one of the world’s best goalkeepers of the 1980s, it had actually taken Neville Southall a few years to establish himself as Everton’s number one. Making his debut in 1981, a spell out on loan at Port Vale in early 1983 suggested that his days at Everton were numbered. Read more »

All football clubs experience relative highs and lows throughout their history; seasons to remember, others to forget. But not all clubs manage to squeeze in such a wide range of emotions into one decade alone. The case of Newport County in the 1980s is a journey from hero to absolute zero. Read more »

Life was pretty good for anyone associated with Glasgow Rangers at the start of the 1988/89 season. Seven wins out of eight in the Premier Division, including a 5-1 destruction of Celtic, had catapulted Graeme Souness’ team to the top of the league, and the club also progressed to the final of the League Cup. Read more »

Reversing the fortunes of the England rugby union team in the mid-1980s was never going to be an easy task. Winning only two matches in the Five Nations championship between 1983-85, urgent action was required to revive the English patient. Read more »

Come the end of the 1989 Benson and Hedges Masters, newspapers were heralding the rise and rise of Stephen Hendry. His growing reputation in snooker was enhanced after winning the tournament at his first attempt. As the 20-year-old held the trophy aloft at Wembley, the sport looked like it was in safe hands for years to come. Read more »

The season was young as newly promoted Crystal Palace made the daunting trip to Anfield to take on a Liverpool team still hurting over that Michael Thomas moment in the previous campaign. What looked a tough examination on paper proved to be on grass too. September 12, 1989, would be a day many associated with Palace would never forget, no matter how hard they tried. Read more »