When Shorts Were Short

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E21 - Dave Bowler (Classic Kits 1954-92)

Sat, 06 Apr 2024 10:34:19 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

Writer and podcaster Dave Bowler returns to the show to choose his three classic kits from the 1954-92 era.

Follow Dave on Twitter @MagicofFACup

And find all his books here

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E20 Stuart Horsfield - Brazil '82

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 12:46:16 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

On the 14th of June 1982, a day after the 1982 World Cup kicked off in Spain, Argentine forces surrendered and the British flag was raised on West Falkland to signal the end of the conflict, news if I remember rightly that broke either just before Brazil and the Soviet Union took to the field or during the game itself. Either way, for anyone watching that game, I don’t think too many minds were on the Falklands because we were watching something extraordinary unfold. And up on the Yorkshire coast, in Scarborough, a small boy was watching the match too, and while up and down the country, boys spent the rest of the summer pretending to be Zico, Eder, Socrates and co, for this boy it went a little deeper.

That game against the Soviets left him bewitched by the men in yellow and Telê Santana’s men would continue to thrill, their fragility at the back increasingly evident along the way. A complicated format involving a second group stage shouldn’t have been too difficult to navigate, but instead Brazil would find themselves in arguably the Group of Death to top all Group of Deaths. The semi-finals would elude them, perhaps adding to the myth that had quickly built up around that team and Brazil ’82 would go the same way as Hungary ’54 and the Netherlands 20 years later, forever doomed to be labelled as one of, if not the greatest, side to never win the World Cup.

And for that young boy in Scarborough, the memory of the summer of ’82 would never leave him.

Follow Stuart on Twitter @loxleymisty44

And find Stuart's book here 1982 Brazil: The Glorious Failure

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E19 GARRY THOMPSON - Coventry, WBA, Sheff Wed, Villa, Watford, Palace, QPR

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 13:31:25 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

A handful for defenders AND managers, Garry Thompson, the ex-Coventry, WBA, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Watford, Crystal Palace and QPR striker looks back at his career and off-the-pitch, some huge personal losses that rocked him. A boyhood Villa fan, Garry broke through at Highfield Road in the late 70s at a time when racial abuse was rife - as it would continue to be for decades. A bad injury early in his career, Garry tells us, robbed him of perhaps being the player that he should've been, but nevertheless, during his peak years in the mid-80s at WBA, he did come close to England selection and in 1988, was part of Graham Taylor's Villa side that won promotion back into the top flight at the first time of asking.

Follow Garry on Twitter @Thompson1Garry

And find Garry's book 'Don't Believe A Word' is available here and in all good bookshops.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E18 - Dave Bowler on Alf Ramsey and Ipswich Town 1955-63

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:07:15 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

A fine fullback in Arthur Rowe’s seminal push and run side of that decade, Alf Ramsey had seen his England career abruptly end following Hungary’s sensational 6-3 win at Wembley in November 1953 and he took over at Portman Road in 1955. Ipswich were then in Division 3 South, and had, incredibly, only been elected into the Football League as recently as 1938. Under Ramsey, just seven seasons later, Ipswich, the 1961-62 season their first in the top flight, and built on a strong defence marshalled by Roy Bailey in goal who would serve the club for nine seasons, and a frontline of the frail looking left winger Jimmy Leadbetter and the prolific Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips, were League Champions. The following season, the club were almost relegated, staying up by just four points, a sign of things to come. By the ’63-64 season, Ramsey was in the England job and Ipswich, under his successor, Jackie Milburn, fell back into Division Two.

Writer and podcaster, Dave Bowler is one of the few writers to cover this period in Ipswich’s history, his Winning Isn’t Everything: A Biography of Sir Alf Ramsey arguably the best volume out there on what is a surprisingly poorly covered chapter of English football history, even by Ipswich itself. And Dave, in this interview, gives me his theory as to why this might be.

Follow Dave on Twitter @MagicofFACup

And find all his books here

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E17 - LEIGHTON JAMES (Wales, Burnley, Derby, QPR, Swansea, Sunderland, Bury and Newport)

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 13:27:40 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

“I’m like the Ayatollah – back out of exile.”

That great line was uttered by left winger Leighton James, actually one of the best two-footed wingers in the British game during the 70s, when he returned to the Wales team after a long period out and helped take England apart 4-1 in May 1980 in what was manager Mike England’s first game in charge of Wales. To put that game into context, just four days earlier at Wembley, England had convincingly defeated world champions Argentina.

Breaking through as a 17-year-old in late 1970 for the club of his life Burnley, James had won his first cap for Wales a year later and would, in a 12-year career for the national team, score 10 goals in 54 appearances.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E16 Steven Scragg - Liverpool '81 - 82 (Paisley's Greatest Moment?)

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 12:11:37 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

It's the summer of 1981.

For the best part of four seasons, a Liverpool side that both domestically and on the European stage, had battled for supremacy with Nottingham Forest, had a starting eleven that rolled off the tongue regardless of whether you were a Liverpool fan or not. 1 to 11, Clemence, Neal, Alan Kennedy, Thompson the captain, Ray Kennedy, Hansen, Dalglish, Case – from ’80-81 sidelined by Lee – Johnson, McDermott and Souness. But by '81-82, Paisley’s greatest side, probably the finest in Liverpool’s history, had begun to break up.

Steven Scragg, author, journalist and heavyweight podcaster who more often than not anchors the outstanding These Football Times, is my guest this week. One of the most authoritative voices on Liverpool out there, Steven has written on Liverpool’s dramatic ’81-82 season and was the obvious name to walk us through what may well have been Bob Paisley’s finest moment.

Find Steven on Twitter @Scraggy_74

And his football books are available online and all good bookshops.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E15 - KENNY HIBBITT (Wolves, Coventry and Bristol Rovers)

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 14:15:43 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

A leading light in that Wolves side of the seventies and first half of the 80s was Kenny Hibbitt, a goalscoring midfielder, who wore the old gold with distinction for 16 years. A club legend, and I don’t use the word lightly. A guy who, as he tells us, played for the love of the game, and wasn’t motivated by money, turning down several opportunities to leave Moulineux during his long span of service with the club.

We look at the missed opportunities for Wolves to kick on from a position of strength after the League Cup successes of ’74 and ’82 and the darkness that swallowed up the club in the early to mid-80s.

Kenny runs us through his entire playing career, from the early days at Bradford Park Avenue to the final seasons at Bristol Rovers and the first chunk of his management career at Walsall.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E14 - Paul McParlan (Classic Kits 1954-92)

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 13:40:22 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

Author Paul McParlan selects his three classic kits from the 1954-92 era.

You can find Paul's book here 'The Forgotten Champions: Everton's Last Title' and elsewhere online and of course, in all good bookshops.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E13 - Paul McParlan on Everton '87 - The Forgotten Champions

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 07:58:54 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

The summer of ’87 would prove a pivotal one for Everton, one arguably from which they have never recovered from.

This week’s guest is author Paul McParlan whose book ‘The Forgotten Champions: Everton’s Last Title’ looks at why the ’86-87 side lives

in the shadow of the great ’84-85 outfit that had blown away all opposition, bar in the FA Cup Final which was one game too many for the

Toffees after a long season.

Paul makes a strong case for the second of Kendall’s ’86-87 title-winning side deserving equal billing with the ’85 vintage, an achievement

made all the more extraordinary because from the ’85 team, only Kevin Ratcliffe, Trevor Steven and the returning Neville Southall would

make more than 30 appearances during that second title season.

You can find Paul's book here 'The Forgotten Champions: Everton's Last Title' and elsewhere online and of course, in all good bookshops.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E12 - Terry Conroy (Stoke City and Rep of Ireland)

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 10:33:34 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

This week’s guest is the Stoke City and Republic of Ireland winger Terry Conroy, a big fan favourite at the Victoria Ground in the late sixties and through the seventies. More than a winger, I think. The Dublin-born Conroy knew how to find the back of the net scoring 74 goals in a 14-year career, 12 of which were spent at the Victoria Ground as Tony Waddington’s side transitioned from a retirement home for older players who had graced the game, into a young and hungry side that in 1972 upset a Chelsea side looking for a third consecutive year of cup success, Stoke downing the west London side in the League Cup Final, and in the 1974-75 season, would come close to landing the club’s first League Championship.

You can find Terry's book 'You don't remember me, do you?' here or any good bookshop and, of course, online.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E11 - Mike Keegan (Mail Sport) on Oldham Athletic 1989-91

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 17:34:34 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

Unfortunate not to go up to the First Division in 1987 when they finished third but instead had to go through the inaugural play offs where they fell to Leeds on away goals, it would be another couple of seasons before the Oldham Athletic side most closely identified with Joe Royle’s 12 and a half years at Boundary Park emerged. And what a team it was.

A twin assault in the halcyon season of 1989-90, a time of significant change in this country, both culturally and politically, arguably cost a brilliant team promotion. Along the way in the cups, champions Arsenal were downed in the Littlewoods Cup, before Southampton were brushed aside in the last eight over two legs. The Valentine’s Day massacre of West Ham in the first leg of the semi final at Boundary Park saw Royle’s man switch off for the second leg, as we’ll hear, but they progressed to meet Brian Clough’s resurgent young Forest side at Wembley.

Meantime, in the FA Cup, Everton, who would finish in the top 6 that season, were knocked out after a second replay, Villa, runners up that season were then dismantled 3-0 in the Quarter Finals.

This was no giant killing, as we’ll hear. You’d have thought Oldham were the top flight club that day. That performance set them up for two epic tussles in the last four with Alex Ferguson’s finally emerging Manchester United, two games that I have personally never forgotten, which along with Palace’s perhaps better known 4-3 triumph over Liverpool were the first ever FA Cup semis to be televised live and which I think perhaps helped English football take the first small steps, post Hillsborough, to getting itself together. Turin in June 1990 was bigger, of course, but I do feel those televised semi-finals in April made some fall back in love with the game.

Oldham would finish trophyless that season and still in the second division but they had captured the hearts of the country.

Mike Keegan, the Daily Mail’s sports editor has written a brilliant book on the Joe Royle years, This is How it feels, an English Football Miracle, and was kind enough to give me his time to discuss that wonderful ride the club enjoyed. Find Mike's book here or any bookshop or online stockist.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E10 - John Barnwell

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 11:31:40 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

For a generation of football fans, most likely for those of you listening to this show, despite a strong playing career, this week’s guest is best known for managing one of the historically big names in English football to a surprise cup success at the start of the 80s when the club was trying to drop anchor in calmer waters after bouncing back into the First Division after relegation in 1976.

John Barnwell had succeeded Noel Cantwell as Peterborough manager and in his one and only season at London Road, the club narrowly missed out on promotion to the second division before a dispute with the board led Barnwell to Moulineux, where he replaced Sammy Chung as manager after Wolves made a poor start to the 1978-79 campaign.

In what was an eventful reign that lasted just over three and a half years, Barnwell led a club that was still in Stan Cullis’s long shadow to two FA Cup semi-finals, a top six finish, League Cup success over European Champions Nottingham Forest who were looking to lift the trophy for a third success finish and Europe, but his greatest victory was arguably surviving a near fatal car accident that had, as we’ll hear, an even darker element to it.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E09 - Chris Evans MP on Don Revie

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 11:42:40 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

If you were to name the great managers of British football during the 1954-92 era covered by this podcast, most of us would probably namecheck the likes of Busby, Shankly, Stein, Clough. Bob Paisley, six league titles in just 9 years, 20 trophies overall during his managerial reign, would be my own choice. Bill Nicholson might be in there. If he isn’t, he should be. But one name that should be around the top of that list is sometimes missing and that is Don Revie, a visionary as a player and as a manager. Much of what we see in modern football, as we’ll cover in this interview, the dossiers on the opposition, the mass market that is replica kits, Revie was behind that.

My guest this week is Labour and Co-op MP for Islwyn, Chris Evans, whose book Don Revie – The definitive Biography was described by the Time as '[an] engrossing account of one of football's most divisive yet brilliant characters... this book rehabilitates a much maligned manager who changed English football.'

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Don Revie - The Definitive Biography

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E08 Jeff Foulser - The Big Match (Producer 1976-89)

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 11:10:08 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

My guest this week is Jeff Foulser who in 1976, at just the age of 24, became The Big Match’s youngest ever producer. For many kids who grew up in the 70s and 80s, it was The Big Match or its regional variation, that was THE big football show in their life. It was our entry point into the world’s greatest game, in black and white initially for me but I seem to recall that didn’t diminish my early love for the game at all as I marvelled at this world of muddy pitches, combovers, glorious striped kits where the back of the shirt also had stripes – who would believe that now, eh – uncapped teeth, barely a tattoo in sight, and of course, there was the show’s frontman Brian Moore.

Brian Moore was our God.

Jeff oversaw the show for 13 years, a time of change, through the Michael Grade-led Snatch of the Day, and the end of the regional variations of the show in 1983 which saw The Big Match become the only football highlights show on ITV, and there was the introduction of live football in 1983-84, ITV showing the first game that autumn, and in 1988, there was the switch to only showing live football and having to fight the powers that be at ITV over the choice of new presenter to replace Brian Moore who would now be focusing solely on commentating.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E07 Alan Hinton - Wolves, Forest, Derby and England

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 10:52:28 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

Alan Hinton broke into the Wolves side during the final years of the Stan Cullis era. Emerging during the 1961-62 season, the strikingly blonde haired left winger scored 5 times in 16 appearances, and was a rare bright spark in an otherwise dreadful season for the club which saw them finish 18th that year, after a top 3 finish the season before.

Staggeringly, one of the most gifted English players of the era was capped only three times by Alf Ramsey – Hinton is in good company there – and by the time he left his second club Nottingham Forest in 1967 to make his career-defining move to Derby, the white-booted playmaker was already a ‘former’ England international.

After two league titles at the Baseball Ground, the first in 1972, under Clough and Taylor, the second three years later under Dave Mackay, the deepest of personal tragedies pushed Hinton into moving his family to the States. After closing out his playing career with spells at Dallas Tornado and Vancouver Whitecaps, Hinton managed in the old NASL, most notably with the Seattle Sounders, whom he would also manage in the mid-90s early days of the MLS.

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The Triumph and Tragedy: The Alan Hinton Story

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E06 Mark Adolph - Subbuteo

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 10:02:37 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

A dashing and restless figure, an innovator and QPR fan, with a packed life away from the game he gave life to, Subbuteo founder Peter Adolph had a colourful love life, even getting caught up in a duel as we’ll hear. He had a Mr Toad-like love of fast cars, pursued expensive and exotic life-long hobbies such as ornithology, and much later, botany and photography. Pre-subbuteo, he’d even been a vocalist in one of the UK’s most popular big bands of the era. A humble and shy man, flawed as so many of us are, this is the story of the man who gave us one of the greatest games ever, and something that for many of us who grew up in the era of short shorts and knew the discomfort of wearing those early, itchy replica kits, remains the greatest football game ever made.

This is the second of two festive When Shorts Were Short specials and it’s the story of Subbuteo founder Peter Adolph, told by his son Mark, whose book Growing up with Subbuteo: My Dad Invented the World's Greatest Football Game is the closest we’ll ever come to knowing the real Peter Adolph.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E05 Barrie Tomlinson's all-time Comic Book Footballers X1

Sun, 17 Dec 2023 15:11:05 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

In the first of two festive specials, this week’s guest is legendary comics editor Barrie Tomlinson, last on in Christmas 2020. Barrie enjoyed a long and illustrious career at Fleetway, initially as a writer. He worked as a sub-editor on Lion before becoming editor of Tiger in 1969 and then famously launching Roy of the Rovers in his own standalone and hugely successful title in 1976. Of course Barrie has worked many more titles than that, including the Daily Mirror football strip Scorer on which he spent 22 long years.

I asked Barrie if he fancied choosing his All-Time Comic Book Footballing X1, a traditional 1-11, no squad numbers and names on shirts, and only two subs allowed, something only introduced at the start of the 1987-88 season.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E04 Alan Smith (Ex-Leicester, Arsenal and England)

Sat, 09 Dec 2023 15:50:21 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

Alan Smith was an English forward untypical of his time, in possession of one of the best first touches in the domestic game and while primarily left footed, the Birmingham-born number nine fired in plenty with his right boot too and was formidable in the air. He was a centre forward who would’ve comfortably fitted into the early years of the Wenger era that he narrowly missed out on.

Alan was kind enough to come on the show as we looked back at his career, from his time at non-league Alvechurch, through his formative years at Leicester partnering Gary Lineker up front as the Foxes reined in Fulham to sneak promotion to the old First Division in 1983, to winning two league titles at Arsenal and the little matter of winning two golden boots too. We discuss those golden years at Highbury, a sense of disappointment at his England career being one of unfulfilled potential, the injury that ultimately and very quickly ended his career in the ’94-95 campaign and in and around all that, I also posed the question whether Graham’s brilliant young side ultimately underachieved.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E03 Neil Palmer on Gerry Gow

Sat, 02 Dec 2023 14:12:11 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

Probably every football fan of a certain generation, the ones this show has sporadically tried to connect with, will know of Gerry Gow. The long, prematurely greying locks, the bushy moustache, a hard tackling Scottish midfielder – how many times have we heard that – who for most of the country probably came to prominence during Manchester City’s resurgence under John Bond during the ’80-81 season when they went from being first division strugglers under Malcolm Allison to reaching both the League Cup semi-finals, for which Gow was ineligible and the FA Cup Final where Gow would lock horns with the Tottenham midfield at Wembley, one of the most stylish midfields of that era, in two epic games. But for Bristol City fans, where Gow spent the overwhelming part of his career, Gow was one of, if not, their greatest ever player.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E02 - David Hunt (Scorcher and Roy of the Rovers Editor)

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 17:15:41 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

My guest for this episode is one of the finest comic editors to ever come out of the UK, David Hunt. David joined Fleetway in 1961, working on a couple of picture library titles before joining Tiger, then already one of the country’s biggest weekly titles, where he worked under its founding editor Derek Birnage.

By 1970, still only in his mid-20s, David became editor of the new football comic Scorcher, though it styled itself as a football paper, and it’s his years on that title, still my favourite all-time football comic/paper, that made him one of those people I absolutely had to speak to when setting up this show.

David and I had a long chat about his childhood, growing up in bomb-devastated East London just after the War’s end, his journey into comics, his influences, the Scorcher years that kickstarted a long editorial career, and which in the early 90s saw him caught in the eye of the storm after Roy of the Rovers finally folded in controversial fashion. David, as he tells us, was unfairly blamed for the storyline that saw Roy lose his famous left leg and 30 years on, get the chance to right that.

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When Shorts Were Short S3 E01 - Tim Vickery (Classic Kits 1954 - 92)

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:46:19 GMT

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

My guest for this Classic Kits episode is South American football historian Tim Vickery. For the last 25 years, Tim has been a staple of World Soccer Magazine, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and of course, the BBC’s cult radio show, The World Football Phone-In. Tim chooses a selection of his favourite kits, which include a sash (you can’t beat a sash) and the history of the sash.

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E15 - ADAM RICHES (Classic Kits 1954 - 92)

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 12:42:20 GMT

This episode was originally a Patreon bonus show back in Oct '21.

My first Classic Kits guest is Adam Riches, author of Football’s Comic Book Heroes, a comprehensive look at UK football comic strips, from their beginning in the early 20thcentury and taking in the 54-92 period that we cover. And Adam has chosen several strips plus his favourite ever football comic strip kit, no easy thing when you factor in many of these strips were black and white.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, to 1992 when short shorts were all but finished as Umbro's baggy shorts for Tottenham's new kit, ahead of the '91 FA Cup Final, quickly caught on.

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

Running time: 00:17:37

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E14 - TERRY BUTCHER

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 14:10:51 GMT

My guest this week is former Ipswich, Rangers and England captain Terry Butcher. We take a look at the second half of Terry's 1981-82 season when, playing for Ipswich in the FA Cup 4th Round at promotion-chasing Luton, he suffered a curious and near-fatal injury, one of the strangest injuries ever seen in English football. And yet somehow, Terry recovered to nail down a place in England's World Cup side that summer.

Plus Twitter’s unofficial bookshop @Biggreenbooks are giving away a book. To enter, listen out for the competition details towards the end of the episode.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, to 1992 when short shorts were all but finished as Umbro's baggy shorts for Tottenham's new kit, ahead of the '91 FA Cup Final, quickly caught on.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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Show Notes

Spain ’82 World Cup

England 3 France 1

Spain 0 England 0

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E13 - Lindsay Jelley (Admiral Sports Kit Designer)

Mon, 17 Jan 2022 08:10:41 GMT

My guest this week is artist and landscape painter Lindsay Jelley who in another life was a designer and not just a designer, but the designer who through her work with Admiral from the mid-seventies to early eighties, whom she joined as a nineteen-year-old just out of art college, transformed the football replica kits market.

Plus Twitter’s unofficial bookshop @Biggreenbooks are giving away a book. To enter, listen out for the competition details towards the end of the episode.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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Show Notes

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jelleyart.co.uk

Admiral Sports

Get Shirty

Get Shirty – Coventry away kit

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E12 - Mike Donovan (Classic Kits 1954-92)

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 17:55:58 GMT

My latest Classic Kits minisode guest is Mike Donovan, author of Football's Braveheart: The Authorised Biography of Dave Mackay. Mike has gone with several choices from the early sixties, the period when he fell in love with football and actually saw his kit choices live.

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

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Football's Braveheart: The Authorised Biography of Dave Mackay

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Mike Donovan

Kit 1

Kit 2

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E11 - Iain Macintosh (Classic Kits 1954-92)

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 10:02:33 GMT

My latest Classic Kits guest is journalist, author and podcaster Iain Macintosh. Iain, like me, is one of those guys who’s been podcasting forever and I’ve been following his work for over a decade. Co-founder of Muddy Knees Media, in the summer of 2017, Iain, Ben Green (aka Producer Ben) and James Richardson, all left Football Weekly to launch the hugely successful Totally Football Show for the new company. In 2020, Muddy Knees became part of The Athletic and these days, Iain fronts The Football Manager Show for them.

If the shorts weren't short, we don't talk about it.

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The Football Manager Show

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E10 - GARY BAILEY

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:00:35 GMT

This week, I’m talking with Gary Bailey, the former Manchester United and England ‘keeper, son of Ipswich’s title-winning ‘keeper Roy and Gary himself, as we’ll hear, as part of Ron Atkinson’s very talented early to mid-80s side really should’ve had at least one league title winner’s medal of his own. He almost did, but not under Atkinson. The less stellar Dave Sexton side of 1979-80 almost landed a surprise title win in a neck and neck battle with Bob Paisley’s greatest Liverpool side, and had United claimed that unexpected title, the club’s modern history would’ve been very different.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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Man Utd's Greatest Keepers

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GARY BAILEY

Gary Bailey SuperSport Tribute

Gary Bailey saves 3 penalties

Man U v WBA 30 Dec 1978

Mexico v England June 1985

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E09 - David Snowdon on Sunderland 1981-84 (Part 2)

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 09:52:53 GMT

This week, the second and final part of our David Snowdon interview looking at the ultimately doomed Alan Durban ’81-84 era at Sunderland. If you missed the first part, park this episode here and download the opening instalment and listen to that first.

David, the author of Give Us Tomorrow Now, Alan Durban’s Mission Impossible, his take on the Durban era, talks enthusiastically and with no end of regret for what he and many Sunderland fans of his generation feel was a wasted opportunity. A promising side under a still young manager who had promising work at Stoke behind him, was allowed to come to nothing.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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Give Us Tomorrow Now (Pitch Publishing)

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Give Us Tomorrow Now (Amazon)

Sunderland 3 Arsenal 0 Div 1, 18 Dec 1982

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E08 - David Snowdon on Sunderland 1981-84 (Part 1)

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 08:35:40 GMT

This episode (part 1 of 2), a look at Alan Durban’s ultimately doomed efforts in the early 80s to help Sunderland’s then young side realise its immense promise. David Snowdon, author of Give Us Tomorrow Now, is the go-to authority on Alan Durban’s Sunderland tenure. His 2018 book looked at Durban’s arrival at Roker Park in the summer of ’81 and his attempt at waking one of English football’s eternal sleeping giants.

Durban, a title winner with Derby under Brian Clough and a future guest on this podcast, gave up his secure managerial post with Stoke for the North East and in this first part of our interview, David Snowdon tells us about Durban’s battle to lay down the foundations of future success in his opening season, the 1981-82 campaign, as the boardroom grew impatient with both manager and chairman.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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David Snowdon – Alan Durban’s Sunderland Team

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Give Us Tomorrow Now (Pitch Publishing)

Give Us Tomorrow Now (Amazon)

Sunderland v Brighton, Div 1, 1981-82

Nick Pickering Compilation

Sunderland v Man City, May 1982

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E07 - Spencer Vignes

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 14:32:53 GMT

This week's guest is Spencer Vignes, the author behind Bloody Southerners, which tells the story of Clough and Taylor’s time at the Goldstone Ground, and how those seven months together almost broke their working relationship for good. There’s a third protagonist too, for Bloody Southerners is also the story of chairman Mike Bamber, a colourful character, musician and property developer, acknowledged by Clough later to be the best chairman he ever worked for. Bamber would eventually realise his dream of getting Brighton into the top flight, but not before a somewhat disorientating ride with the tour de force that was Brian Clough.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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Bloody Southerners

Brian Clough at Brighton

Clough at Hartlepools and Brighton

The Damned United – Clough and Taylor arguing over Leeds job

Brighton v York 1973

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E06 - Steve Nicol

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 08:26:06 GMT

The guest this week is former Liverpool and Scotland, well, what was he? He could play so many different positions. It’s Steve Nicol. Arriving from Ayr United for £300,000 in October 1981, a considerable sum in those days for someone not out of his teens for another couple of months, Nicol would have to wait until Joe Fagan succeeded Bob Paisley a couple of years later for his first team breakthrough. This was the norm at Liverpool in those days. The club were now entering their second decade dominating the English game and even the likes of Terry McDermott and Ray Kennedy, established first teamers at Newcastle and Arsenal respectively, had struggled to hold down a regular place in their first two seasons with the club after arriving in 1974.

(Technically speaking, the '91-92 season didn't involve 'short shorts', with Liverpool being early adopters of the revived baggy look.)

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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Liverpool v Auxerre, 6 Nov 1991 UEFA Cup Second Round, 2nd Leg

Liverpool v Arsenal, First Division, 29 Jan 1992

Genoa v Liverpool, 4 March 1992, UEFA Cup QF 1st Leg

Liverpool v Aston Villa, 8 March 1992, FA Cup QF

Liverpool v Sunderland, 9 May 1992 FA Cup Final

Steve Nicol - Compilation

Steve Nicol goals

Steve Nicol Autobiography - 5 League Titles and a Packet of Crisps

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E05 - Bob Wilson (Part 2 of 2)

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 07:24:29 GMT

Part 2 of our comprehensive interview with Arsenal’s ’71 double-winning ‘keeper Bob Wilson, also, of course, for an entire generation, the presenter of what was during his time with the show, the formidable Football Focus, the Saturday lunchtime preview show that existed within the BBC’s Grandstand.

This week, plenty of ground covered with Bob now established as Arsenal’s new number one ‘keeper from the late sixties. We discuss the shock League Cup defeat to third division Swindon in 1969 on a terrible Wembley pitch, and how that second consecutive League Cup final loss triggered the wave of big success that followed under Bertie Mee and Don Howe in the next couple of seasons.

Bob tells us about Liverpool boss Bill Shankly singling him out for mind games on the eve of the ’71 FA Cup Final. We also look at Bob finally playing for his beloved Scotland in the early seventies, the early end to his career through injury, the switch to TV and the launch of Football Focus, the Match of the Day years with the one and only Jimmy Hill, , coaching the great Pat Jennings at Arsenal as he pioneered the goalkeeping coaching that’s now a big part of the British game, the shock move to ITV and the sad loss of his daughter that led to the creation of the Willow Foundation, the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to give them unforgettable Special Days. All that and more.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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SHOW NOTES

Twitter Bob Wilson

Willow Foundation

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Arsenal v Liverpool 1971 FA Cup Final

Arsenal v Stoke 1972 FA Cup semi-final

Football Focus 1986-87

Match of the Day

Bob Wilson – Left sock first

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E04 - Bob Wilson (Part 1 of 2)

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 06:58:27 GMT

This week’s episode is our first two-parter, a comprehensive interview with Arsenal’s ’71 double-winning ‘keeper Bob Wilson, also, of course, for an entire generation, the presenter of what was during his time with the show, the formidable Football Focus, the Saturday lunchtime preview show that existed within the BBC’s Grandstand.

Bob had three hugely successful careers. As the Arsenal number one of the late sixties and early seventies, and as we’ll hear, securing the number one shirt of his beloved north London club was far from easy. Then there was the football broadcasting career, first with the BBC and then later at the end, with ITV, but he was also the man who, after seeing the Brazilian ‘keepers training with a goalkeeping coach during the ’66 World Cup who brought that into the British game. Goalkeeping coaches, and goalkeepers, in this country owe a huge debt to the man whose signature save, diving head first at the feet of an opponent, arguably shortened his career.

This week we concentrate on Bob’s early life, studying at Loughborough University, almost becoming a Busby Babe, playing as an amateur for Wolves’s reserves

during the back end of the Stan Cullis era, before he finally ends up at Arsenal where it’s five years before he finally nails down the number one spot

with a fine performance in a FA Cup fifth round replay defeat at Birmingham.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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SHOW NOTES

Twitter Bob Wilson

Willow Foundation

Twitter @Willow_Fdn

Quizball Appearance 1971

WBA v Arsenal 1969 FA Cup 5th Round

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E02 - Steve Hunt

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 08:02:22 GMT

This week’s guest is former Villa, New York Cosmos, Coventry, West Brom and England midfielder Steve Hunt. Steve’s recently released autobiography, ‘I’m with the Cosmos’ looks back at a playing career that saw him overcome an early blow when the club he supported, Aston Villa, transferred him to that mythical NASL club New York Cosmos. This early blow of being let go by the club of his childhood was more than softened by his time in New York, a period that saw him play alongside Pele, Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbaur and the super confident Italian forward Giorgio Chinaglia.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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1977 Soccer Bowl

1978 NASL Play Offs

1978 Soccer Bowl

Chelsea v New York Cosmos, Sept 1978

1980-81 Steve Hunt (Coventry) v Birmingham Goal of the Season

Coventry v West Ham League Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg, 1980-81

Scotland v England 1984

England v Soviet Union 1984

WBA v Coventry 1984-85

Aston Villa v Bradford City 1987-88

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When Shorts Were Short S2 E01 - Paul Davis

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 07:40:23 GMT

With guest Paul Davis.

Paul Davis was a mainstay of the Arsenal side for 15 seasons. In this interview, we discuss his breaking through under Terry Neill at the start of the 80s, a side in transition after losing its two outstanding Irish internationals, Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton in the space of a year. We look at the Don Howe era, the bridge between Terry Neill and George Graham, a quiet period for the club in many ways but an important one too as Howe was the man who blooded many of the youngsters who would go onto help Arsenal re-establish themselves as the country’s leading club, albeit intermittently, for several seasons under Graham. And we look too at why that hugely gifted George Graham team, despite knocking Liverpool off that perch despite Alex Ferguson’s largely unchallenged claims to the contrary, couldn’t stay at the top for longer.

Why did Arsenal go from that outstanding title success of ’91 that should have made it the team of the nineties to morphing into a very successful cup side that played dull football but had an incredible get out in the form of the talismanic Ian Wright up front, and we also look at Paul's complex relationship with the hard taskmaster that was George Graham. Paul was one of the few senior players at the club to challenge the Scot, but he would pay a heavy price at times.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

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Paul Davis Testimonial

1987 Littlewoods Cup Final

Paul Davis goals

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When Shorts Were Short - Euro '92 special with Harry Harris

Sat, 10 Jul 2021 14:26:08 GMT

With guest Harry Harris.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

The guest for this episode is Harry Harris. A seasoned watcher of the national team, Harry spent four decades writing for the London Evening News, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily and Sunday Express, among others, as well as writing something like 80 football-related books. Speaking just a few days before Euro 2020 kicked off, Harry joined me in looking back at where it went so wrong for England. The injuries, the retirements, the exclusions, oh, and the no little matter of the estrangement between the manager Graham Taylor and his captain and star player Gary Lineker. Lineker’s form under Taylor had arguably matched his early England form during the years when Glenn Hoddle was in the England side, but by the spring of ’92, with his fearsome pace perhaps no longer what it was and with a young Alan Shearer on the rise, Lineker’s place was not as secure as it had once been.

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When Shorts Were Short - Euro '84 special with Patrick Barclay

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 18:43:02 GMT

With guest Patrick Barclay.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

The guest for this Euro ’84 special is one of the finest football writers these islands have produced, Patrick Barclay. 37 years ago, he was making his name at The Guardian. With the paper’s chief football correspondent David Lacey away with England on their South American tour that summer, Paddy was one of a handful of British football journalists sent to France to cover the 1984 European Championships. Incredibly, simply because none of the home nations had qualified, only two matches from this tournament were shown live on British TV.

It was the greatest international football tournament of the last 40 years, giving us peak-Platini, Tigana, Scifo, Elkjaer and more, but barely anyone in the UK saw it…

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Denmark v Belgium

Spain v West Germany

France v Portugal 1984 European Championship semi-final

Spain v Denmark 1984 European Championship semi-final

Football’s Greatest International Teams – France ‘84

Platini’s 9 goals at Euro ‘84

France v Spain Euro ’84 Final

Preben Elkjaer Larsen

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When Shorts Were Short FA Cup Special - Matt Eastley (Football Writer)

Fri, 14 May 2021 11:44:51 GMT

With guest Matt Eastley.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

The guest for this FA Cup special is author Matt Eastley. His trilogy of books, ‘When the FA Cup Really Mattered’ from Pitch Publishing covers the competition from the 1960 Wolves v Blackburn final to the tragic ’89 final played out in the long shadow of Hillsborough, and the story of the finals is told through the fans who were there. The books cover that thirty-year period where the FA Cup was firmly established as the greatest cup competition the game has ever known.

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Pitch Publishing

Matt Eastley books

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When Shorts Were Short - Richard Sydenham (Football Writer)

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 16:42:53 GMT

With guest Richard Sydenham.

If the shorts weren’t short, we don’t talk about it.

This week’s guest is journalist and author Richard Sydenham whose book, Ticket to the Moon: Aston Villa, the Rise and Fall of a European Champion, details the steady rise of Aston Villa after their return to the old First Division under Ron Saunders in 1975, and the improbable success that followed, champions of England in ’81 and of Europe a year later, by which time Ron Saunders had resigned in dramatic fashion. It’s largely the story of the enmity between Doug Ellis, at the club for much of Saunders’ time, and Saunders, and how the club’s failure to recover from Saunders’ shock resignation led ultimately to their dramatic relegation just five years after lifting the European Cup.

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SHOW LINKS

Richard Sydenham – ‘Ticket to the Moon’

Twitter Richard Sydenham

deCoubertin Books

Ron Saunders tribute

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When Shorts Were Short - Simon Hart (Football Writer)

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 11:47:19 GMT

With guest Simon Hart.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

Running Time: 01:13:51

This week’s guest is writer Simon Hart. Simon is the author of ‘Here We Go: Everton in the 1980s: The Players’ Stories’, a fascinating look at the club during that decade. If you think about Everton in the 80s, understandably you recall their great mid-80s side which surely would’ve won the European Cup, probably more than once, had it not been for the post-Heysel ban. But it’s largely overlooked, at least by non-Evertonians, that that great ’84-87 era was sandwiched between two periods of significant decline.

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Simon’s Neville Southall column

SHOW LINKS

Simon Hart – ‘Here We Go’

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@simon22ph

deCoubertin Books

Oxford Utd v Everton, League Cup QF Jan 1984

Everton ‘Here We Go’ Wogan 1985

Everton v Bayern Munich, April 1985, ECWC SF 2nd Leg

(I think my recollection this was shown on ‘Sportsnight’ was misplaced. Martin Tyler commentary suggests it was actually shown on ITV’s ‘Midweek Sports Special’.

Everton v Sunderland, April 1985

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When Shorts Were Short - Paul Power

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 15:50:09 GMT

With guest Paul Power.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

Running Time: 01:17:21

This week’s guest is former Manchester City skipper Paul Power. Paul speaks about doing a law degree while starting out at City. He looks back at the strong mid-70s City side that wasn’t far off the title in ’77. Then we look at the drama of the second Malcolm Allison era, the epic FA Cup run under John Bond and the semi-final free-kick scored by the City captain which remains one of my favourite all-time goals. And we finish things off by looking at Paul’s switch to Everton. Success came to him late in his career, but once he got to Everton in the summer of ’86, Paul Power didn’t look out of place in one of Europe’s top sides.

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Halifax v Man City, FA Cup 3rd Rd Jan 1980

Show links

Man City v Norwich FA Cup 4th Rd 1981

Man City v Ipswich, FA Cup Semi-Final 1981

(Free-kick, 01:35)

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When Shorts Were Short - David Dent (Former Carlisle and Coventry Chairman, and Football League Secretary)

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 17:30:08 GMT

With guest David Dent.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

This week’s guest is one of the most experienced administrators the English club game has seen. David Dent was appointed the first full time secretary of his home club Carlisle United in 1960, a post he would hold for eighteen years, taking in their brief but unforgettable single season stay in the old First Division in the mid-70s.

In 1978, David became club secretary at Jimmy Hill’s forward thinking Coventry City, a six-year period he looks back on fondly as the pioneer supreme Hill continued to innovate. Unfortunately for the sky Blues and their charismatic chairman, an investment in NASL clubs Detroit Express and later the Washington Diplomats brought financial difficulties for both parties, leading to a painful parting of the ways for Coventry and Hill.

In 1984, David moved to the Football League, progressing to become the last ever Football League secretary to preside over a 92-club league.

Running Time: 00:57:45

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Chelsea v Carlisle, Div 1, 1974-75 (Starts @ 4:56)

Show Notes

Wolves v Carlisle

Carlisle learn they've been promoted to the old First Division

Civic Reception 1974 as Carlisle celebrate promotion

Jimmy Hill's Coventry years

NASL shootout, Detroit Express against Chicago Sting

Trevor Francis and Detroit Express against Dallas Tornado

Saint and Greavsie Rumbelows Cup draw 1991, with David Dent and Donald Trump.

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When Shorts Were Short - Joe Corrigan

Fri, 05 Feb 2021 18:10:11 GMT

With guest Joe Corrigan.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

My guest this week is a man who served one of our big clubs with huge distinction, making over 600 appearances for the club his family supported. Alongside Frank Swift and Bert Trautman, Joe Corrigan is rightly regarded as one of Manchester City’s greatest ever keepers. In May ’81, in both what was the 100th FA Cup Final and the replay, Corrigan was man of the match in both games and unfortunate to be on the losing side. It was supposedly the era of Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton, both keeping goal for what were then the country’s top clubs, Liverpool and Forest, and vying to be England’s number one. Joe Corrigan was the nominal number three, but in those two games at Wembley in May 1981, he reminded the country what an exceptional keeper he was and while he is rightly proud to have won nine England caps, it should’ve been more.

We look back at Joe Corrigan’s eventful career, from his early difficulties winning over the City fans, to being voted the supporter’s player of the year as he finally convinced the City faithful of his talents, to the difficulties of Malcolm Allison’s disastrous return to the club in the late 70s, and no less disastrous perhaps, the collapse of John Bond’s initially promising Manchester City revamp in the early 80s.

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Italy v England New York 1976, USA Bicentennial Tournament

SHOW NOTES

CITY! -A Club in Crisis (1981 Documentary)

1981 FA Cup Final replay

Joe Corrigan save v Allan Clarke

Kazimierz Deyna - Argentina v Poland 1978

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When Shorts Were Short - Daniel Tatarsky (Subbuteo author)

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 15:23:42 GMT

With guest Daniel Tatarsky.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

This week’s guest is actor, director and writer Daniel Tatarsky, appearing on the show wearing his writer’s hat. I first became aware of Daniel’s work around 2005, shortly after Flick to Kick: An Illustrated History of Subbuteo was published by Orion. It’s a beautiful book, a book that inevitably, with my lifelong obsession with Subbuteo, is one I revisit frequently.

It is, I hope, a comprehensive interview looking at Peter Adolph’s creation of Subbuteo just after the second world war, its development in its first decade and a half, the bitter war with table football rival New Footy, the possibly ill-judged decision by Adolph to sell the game to Waddington’s in the late sixties, his attempt to create a new Subbuteo to take on the old Subbuteo, if you’re with me, and Subbuteo’s fall from grace after the 70s.

Running Time: 01:22:43

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Daniel Tatarsky

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Books Daniel Tatarsky

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When Shorts Were Short - Elton Welsby

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 20:03:31 GMT

With guest Elton Welsby.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

This week’s guest is English TV presenter Elton Welsby, ITV’s frontman on The Match, which showed the final four years of Football League Division One football before Sky and The Premier League changed TV coverage forever.

Discussed on this interview with Elton, who strikes me as what in football would be termed as a ‘bit of a character’, are his dual love of Football and Rugby League, his passion for Everton, his association with legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly during Elton’s formative years as a young journalist and also later at Radio City as his broadcasting career took off, reaching its peak in the ’88 to ’92 era during which he presented a World Cup, a European Championships and the biggest league title decider there’s ever been.

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When Shorts Were Short - Kevin Ratcliffe

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:24:27 GMT

With guest Kevin Ratcliffe.

At his peak through the mid-eighties, Everton captain Kevin Ratcliffe was one of Europe’s finest centre halves, the young leader of a supremely talented group of kids who either came through the Goodison ranks or were recruited from the lower leagues and took a while to get going in the early years of Howard Kendall’s eventual hugely successful first tenure as Everton manager.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

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When Shorts Were Short - Keith Hackett

Sat, 09 Jan 2021 18:18:33 GMT

With guest, FIFA Top 100 referee Keith Hackett.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

This week’s guest is Keith Hackett, regarded by FIFA as one of the top 100 all-time referees. The Sheffield-born man in black enjoyed a rapid rise through the officiating ranks in the early 70s and by the middle of that decade, aged just 32, was refereeing in the old First Division of the Football League.

At just 36, unusually young for the time, Keith refereed one of the all-time great FA Cup Finals, the ’81 epic between Tottenham and Man City, the 100th FA Cup Final at a time when it cannot be overstated just how massive that competition was.

Eleven years later, via many more huge games, Keith was still refereeing for the first couple of Premier League seasons before retiring in the mid-90s.

Never mind the fact that his long career brought him into contact with many of the big names in football, as you’ll hear, his European games brought him face to face with some major historical figures of the late 20th century.

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When Shorts Were Short - Stewart Grant (Subbuteo Collector)

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 17:15:29 GMT

With guest Stewart Grant (Subbuteo Collector).

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

For this New Year’s Eve show, I’m joined by Stewart Grant, who you might know better as Subbuteo Collector. Stewart has put together a brilliant collection of subbuteo teams and accessories since 2014 and has 2.29k subscribers on his YouTube subbuteo channel where right now, you can watch him working on his labour of love, the S.C. Municipal Stadium.

Show notes and links

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Daniel Ruiz Tizon’s Advent Calendar – Day 15 ‘Subbuteo’ (15 Dec 2014)

Daniel recalls the arrival of the Subbuteo Club Edition at Mayflower in Christmas ‘78, the greatest game he ever played, and how it put it him at odds with his dad.

Subbuteo Collector Links

subbuteocollector.com

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When Shorts Were Short Christmas Special 2020 - Barrie Tomlinson (Roy of the Rovers editor)

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 14:41:13 GMT

With guest Barrie Tomlinson.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

For the Christmas special, I'm joined by Barrie Tomlinson, Fleetway's legendary editor of Tiger and Roy of the Rovers, during the peak years of the old UK comics industry.

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Barrie Tomlinson Twitter @BarrieEditor1

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When Shorts Were Short - Paul Walsh

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:51:37 GMT

With guest Paul Walsh.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

The guest on this first episode is Paul Walsh. The gifted south London-born forward made his debut aged just 16 for Charlton in 1979, and went on to play for Luton, where he won all five of his England caps, Liverpool and Spurs, before having two stints at Portsmouth via a hugely successful spell at Man City.

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