When Shorts Were Short - S2 E10 GARY BAILEY

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.

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.

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When Shorts Were Short - S2 E09 David Snowdon (Part 2 of 2)

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.

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.

Support the podcast via Patreon

Twitter @shortswereshort

Instagram @shortswereshort

Facebook shortswereshort

YouTube

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.

When Shorts Were Short - S2 E07 Spencer Vignes

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.

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.

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.

When Shorts Were Short - S2 E06 Steve Nicol

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.

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

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.

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

Support the podcast via Patreon

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SHOW LINKS

Twitter Bob Wilson

Willow Foundation

Twitter @Willow_Fdn

Quizball Appearance 1971

WBA v Arsenal 1969 FA Cup 5th Round

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.

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

Introducing the When Shorts Were Short Patreon Page

My retro football podcast When Shorts Were Short has this week returned for its second series, and will feature more big names from that pre-1992 world of football, former players and managers, as well as a host of outstanding football writers. Coinciding with the return of the show, in time for the new season (former Arsenal midfielder Paul Davis is the guest on S2 E01), is the launch of a Patreon page.

Supporters of the show will receive each new episode a fortnight early, as well as bonus content from some of those episodes and exclusive to Patreon standalone episodes. This Patreon page will help to cover the show’s costs and also help me to bring in whatever research materials are required for individual episodes.

Please visit patreon.com/shortswereshort to show your support.

If you’re not yet familiar with the show, you can find S1 here and via all other podcast providers.

Thank you.

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Daniel Ruiz Tizon is Available - Ep 326 Mon 10 May 2021

Daniel Ruiz Tizon, a man on his fifth nose, is, he’d like the world to know, Available, and dissecting the minutiae of everyday life.

This week, discombobulation, the lost glove, running, milk defrosting fails to pan out, The Space Daddy leaves SW8 and blustery conditions at the café.

Support this indie podcast via patreon.com/drtavailable.

The podcast can also be supported with a donation via Paypal and the Patreon episode will be wetransferred to you.

Twitter: @1607WestEgg

Instagram: @1607westegg

Substack

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

When Shorts Were Short Ep 12

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.

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. 

When Shorts Were Short Ep 11

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.

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.

Twitter @shortswereshort

Instagram @shortswereshort

Facebook shortswereshort

www.shortswereshort.com

 

SHOW LINKS

Simon Hart – ‘Here We Go’

Twitter @simon22ph

Simon’s Neville Southall column

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

 

When Shorts Were Short Ep 10

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.

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 freekick 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.

When Shorts Were Short Ep 7

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.

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

DT M&S cover.jpg

When Shorts Were Short Ep 6

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.

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.