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 just don't talk about it.

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.)

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

And please subscribe, rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or any other platform you may be using to listen to the show.