Sunderland v Brighton & Hove Albion, 1982
Sunderland went into this First Division fixture at Roker Park needing a win near the end of Alan Durban’s first season in charge. His side were struggling just outside the relegation zone, while visitors Brighton were comfortably in mid-table under manager Mike Bailey, also enjoying his first season at the South Coast club. David Snowdon’s…
Panini Official Celebration: Book Review & Interview with author Greg Lansdowne
Panini football stickers are a worldwide phenomenon. Greg Lansdowne is the author of Stuck on You: The Rise & Fall… & Rise of Panini Stickers (Pitch Publishing, 2015) and Panini Football Stickers: The Official Celebration (Bloomsbury, 2021). As a long-term collector and enthusiast, Greg Lansdowne is perfectly positioned to tell the story of one of…
David Snowdon: Give Us Tomorrow Now Interview, Part Two
David Snowdon continues to discuss his book Give Us Tomorrow Now, charting Alan Durban’s time in charge of Sunderland, and English football of the day – Part One is here. The area was renowned for producing players – you mention Kevin Dillon, Mick Harford and Mike Hazard, and Nigel Gleghorn was another, a Sunderland fan…
Give Us Tomorrow Now: Book Review & Interview with author David Snowdon
Give Us Tomorrow Now: Alan Durban’s Mission Impossible (Pitch Publishing, 2018) by David Snowdon reconstructs Alan Durban’s managerial reign at Sunderland with a wealth of detail, from his appointment in the summer of 1981 to his untimely sacking in March 1984. The background to the book is a very different era of English football, with…
Leicester City v Wimbledon, 1987
Leicester City welcomed Wimbledon for the first time in February 1987, as the two clubs met at Filbert Street. The Dons had been a league club for less than a decade, and were enjoying their debut season in English football’s top flight. Leicester were experimenting with a new management structure. Former Northern Ireland international Bryan…
Andy Leeder: Roots to the 92 Interview, Part Two
Andy Leeder continues our conversation around his book Roots to the 92, and the changes in English football that it documents – Part One is here. Part Two You saw the first hospitality boxes and corporate entertainment coming into football grounds – is this at the expense of so-called ‘legacy fans’? I don’t mind the…
Roots to the 92 Book Review & Interview with author Andy Leeder
Roots to the 92 charts five decades of travels to English football grounds. Before ‘groundhopping’ was even invented, Andy Leeder was groundhopping. Starting at his local side Southend United’s Roots Hall, he eventually covered the country. Over the decades it became a quest to ‘do the 92’, but with clubs moving grounds and promotion/relegation from…
Flamengo v Liverpool, 1981 Intercontinental Cup
Flamengo and Liverpool met in Tokyo in December 1981 as the champions of South America and Europe, competing for the Intercontinental Cup and the title of the best club team in the world. Liverpool, having lost their league title to Aston Villa the previous season, had won their third European Cup by beating Real Madrid…
Post-War London – Villains: The Football League on Film
London football grounds were an ideal location for post-War film and TV drama, their stands and terraces the perfect setting for crooks, spivs and villains. Orient’s Brisbane Road was used for a key scene in 1967’s Robbery. Based on the Great Train Robbery, Stanley Baker leads the gang planning an audacious armed robbery, who meet…
Chelsea v Stoke City, 1974
Chelsea and Stoke City were First Division rivals in the early 1970s, and took part in the 1972 League Cup final. At the end of October 1974, the clubs met four times in a matter of weeks. Their League Cup Third Round tie required two replays, and was eventually won 6-2 by Stoke at the…
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