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…
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…
Wool City Rivals: A History in Colour by George Chilvers & John Dewhirst
Wool City Rivals is a photographic history of Bradford football from the turn of the nineteenth century. It offers a glimpse into the lost world of early football, when Bradford boasted two top-flight football clubs immediately before and after the First World War. It covers over half a century of images from the years when…
Luton Town v Oxford United, 1988
Luton Town welcomed Oxford United to Kenilworth Road for a First Division fixture in February 1988, with the two sides enjoying the most successful periods in their histories. Four days later they were to meet again in the Littlewoods (League) Cup semi-finals. Oxford had won that competition two years previously, and Luton were to lift…
Festive Football in Great Britain
Festive football was a tradition of the British game, introduced even before the very first seasons of the league. While Boxing Day (St Stephen’s Day) fixtures continue to the current era, Christmas Day matches fizzled out in England during the late 1950s and lingered a few years longer in Scotland. Britain’s last Christmas Day football…
Queens Park Rangers v Derby County, 1975
Queens Park Rangers welcomed champions Derby County to Loftus Road, with the home team in the midst of their most successful season. QPR’s 1975-76 campaign ended agonisingly short of the title, remaining unbeaten at home all season and finishing a point behind Liverpool. QPR had won 5-1 at Derby in August with a Stan Bowles…
Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley, 1979
Barnsley faced Sheffield Wednesday in November 1979 on their first visit to Hillsborough in over 20 years. The previous game between the two in April 1959 ended in a 5-0 home win for Wednesday. The sides were meeting for the first time in the Third Division in the 1979/80 season – their opening-day encounter at…
Middlesbrough v Norwich City, 1980
Middlesbrough and Norwich City met in the First Division at Ayresome Park in October 1980 as two solid mid-table sides. The home side had consolidated their top-flight status under John Neal, in charge from 1977 until leaving for Chelsea in 1981. The visitors had been managed by John Bond since 1973 but he was to…
Coventry City v Crystal Palace, 1980
Coventry City and Crystal Palace met in the First Division at Highfield Road early in the 1980-81 season. This fixture was won by the home side, but is largely remembered for a Clive Allen ‘goal’ that didn’t count. The Palace striker hit a fierce free-kick which rebounded out from the stanchion in the back of…
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