When Shorts Were Short concerns itself solely with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast takes 1954 as its starting point, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, 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.

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.

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SHOW NOTES

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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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If the shorts weren't short, we just 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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The podcast can be supported with a donation via Paypal.

This work can also be supported via Ko-Fi, a tip jar for creators where you can buy them a digital coffee.