When Shorts Were Short - Euro Special

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 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…

Twitter @shortswereshort

Instagram @shortswereshort

Facebook shortswereshort

SHOW LINKS

Twitter @paddybarclay

@perspectivepod_

The Perspective Football Podcast

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

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

When Shorts Were Short Ep 13 - FA Cup Special

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 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.

Twitter @shortswereshort

Instagram @shortswereshort

Facebook shortswereshort

SHOW LINKS

Pitch Publishing

Matt Eastley books

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

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 9

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 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.

In this interview, we talk about his years at Carlisle, the exciting period at Coventry that was ultimately undone by their NASL investment, and the difficulty of steering the Football League through that tumultuous period in 1991 when the Premier League was founded.

Running Time: 00:57:45

When Shorts Were Short Ep 8

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.

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.

Running Time: 01:38:02

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. 

When Shorts Were Short - Ep 5

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.

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.

When Shorts Were Short - Ep 4

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 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. 

When Shorts Were Short - Ep 3

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.

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

Twitter @shortswereshort

Instagram @shortswereshort

Facebook shortswereshort

www.shortswereshort.com

danielruiztizon.com

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

Twitter @subbuteocollect

YouTube

Instagram @subbuteocollector

Facebook

When Shorts Were Short Christmas Special 2020

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.

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.