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The magazine opens with rumoured tansfer activity by the Old Firm, with Rangers wanting to sign Richard Gough (he would eventually sign in 1987, after a year at Tottenham Hotspur) from Dundee United and Andy Goram (It took until 1991, from Hibs, for him to join) while Celtic want to sign Stevie Clarke from St Mirren. That is ex Chelsea player and West Brom manager Steve Clarke.

Another Scottish player potentially on the move is John Robertson of Hearts, who has been attracting attention from Tottenham Hotspur.

With the World Cup getting closer, there is a double page spread previewing Poland’s chances.

Canada also get a preview. UK fans will get a glimpse of them before the tournament as they play England in a friendly at a 16,000 capacity venue, due to England manager Bobby Robson insisting that the game be played on grass, and not artificial grass that is used in Canada’s bigger stadiums.

Bryan Robson uses his column to argue the case for England as World Cup winners, giving a brief profile of the 22 players tasked with taking the trophy home from Mexico.

Swindon Town won the 4th division, and this gets a double page spread, with manager Lou Macari giving most of the credit to defender Colin Calderwood.

Also promoted and getting a double page spread were Norwich City.

In World Cup news, Socrates was left out of Brazil’s friendly against East Germany, while West Germany manager Franz Beckenbauer says this World Cup has come too soon for his team, but they have a great chance of winning the trophy in 1990.

The centre page poster is of AC Milan’s English duo of Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley, settling in in Italy, complete with family portraits. Former Motherwell player Tom Hately wasn’t pictured, because he wasn’t born until 1989.

Charlie Nicholas uses his column to discuss the vacant manager’s position at Arsenal, suggesting that his preference is Alex Ferguson or Billy McNeill.

John Fashanu gets a full page profile, described as “articulate TV and radio star who listens to Dire Straits and Phil Collins”. His biggest ambition is to appear on The Cosby Show. Fashanu would be going to the World Cup in Mexico as a pundit for Nigerian TV. Fashanu describes himself as “Mean and nasty”

The magazine goes green for a few pages, with features on Northern Ireland and Plymouth Argyle.

There was an advert for the following week’s edition, which had a World Cup wallchart.

It was a World Cup that Trevor Francis won’t be playing. He tells Shoot of his disappointment of not being selected for England, and that he’s not planning on leaving Italy, where he is currently based.


It’s Christmas 1984, and Match gets in the festive mood, with a cartoon of Bryan Robson as Santa, and Kerry Dixon, Glenn Hoddle, Ian Rush and Mark Hateley as choirboys with their uniforms in their respective club kits, while Mo Johnston is a schoolboy meeting Santa.

A double page feature asks a series of stars what their ideal Christmas would be. John O’Neill of Leicester City’s ideal Christmas is Midnight Mass, take delivery of BMW 635, take Felicity Kendall out for a spin, then head to Switzerland for a holiday. Steve McMahon also wanted to be on holiday in Switzerland.

John Barnes would like a holiday to Jamaica for Christmas, while Kevin Ratcliffe wants a Snooker table.

One person who has want they want for Christmas is Trevor Francis. Based in Italy with Sampdoria, he was planning to take advantage of Italy’s mid season break to go back to England over the holiday period, and wanting to watch a Division One game on Boxing Day.

Peter Brackley, commentator with ITV’s ‘The Big Match’ is interviewed where he reveals he supports Brighton, and that former Albion player Mark Lawrenson is “The most complete player in the country”

He also won a talent competition at Butlins when he was younger for doing impersonations.

Match gives a double page spread to a recent FA Cup 2nd Round tie between Bristol City and Bristol Rovers, which Rovers won 3-1, in front of a crowd of 20,000 – more than double any FA Cup crowd that day.

In the middle of the magazine, you could get a centre page poster of Gordon Strachan.

Clive Allen gets a Q and A. Kenny Dalglish is his favourite Football League player, while Michel Platini is his favourite foriegn player, and includes David O’Leary and Mark Lawrenson in his British XI. He also dislikes smoking and bad drivers.

Ever wondered who Clive Allen’s favourite pop star is? Christopher Cross.

In League tables, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Arsenal were seperated at the top of Division One by two points. Liverpool were 8th, 9 points off the top.

Brian McClair of Celtic got a poster, his reward for being Nike’s man of the month. Interestingly, 1984-1985 was the first season and English club wore Nike. Sunderland, since you ask.

The foreign news feature reports that Giorgio Chinaglia is planning a comeback at the age of 38, while Steve Archibald is in goalscoring for for Barcelona, and Fortuna Dusseldorf have asked their players to take a wage cut.


Today, we take a trip back to 1990, and Cup Semi-Final weekends in England and Scotland.

On the cover is Crystal Palace players in a celebratory huddle, with the headline “ONE STEP FROM HEAVEN”, a reference to the fact that they were 1 win away from their first ever FA Cup Final.

That match gets a double page spread across pages 2 and 3. Steve Coppell, then manager of Crystal Palace, is billed as “Tipped as a future manager of Manchester United” and hus tipped by Palace striker Mark Bright to lead his side out in the 1990 FA Cup Final against the club he served as a player.

As yet, Steve Coppell hasn’t managed Manchester United, but Mark Bright’s prediction that it would be a Palace v United final did come true.

The other Semi-Final between Oldham Athletic and Manchester United also gets a double page spread.

Mark Bright, who had predicted the two FA Cup finalists, also features in an ad for Arrow Boots alongside David Burrows.

Jimmy Greaves letter page, as ever, is a joy.

Stephanie Martindale of Islington asked about the possibility of Crystal Palace and Oldham Athletic upsetting their more illustrious FA Cup Semi-Final opponents, “No chance” said Greavsie.

Crystal Palace beat Liverpool and Oldham Athletic led before taking Manchester United to a replay.

Samuel Nelson from USA suggests that Terry Butcher should be punished by the FA with regards to his role in the England team after smashing a dressing room door after an old Firm game.

Daniel Holbutt from Yorkshire suggests that if they get promoted, Leeds United and Sheffield United would be the two worst teams in the history of England’s top flight. Sheffield United survived for 4 years before relegation, while Leeds United lasted 14 years, winning the title in 1992.

John Say writes in to congratulate Danny Blanchflower on gettin a well deserved testimonial between Spurs and Norther Ireland. Details of the match can be found here.

Mark Hateley gets the “Wally Of The Week” award for stating that he would be in England’s World Cup squad but for injury, and will be in the England squad for Euro 92. He didn’t.

In world news, it emerged that Lev Yashin was working on arranging a UK tour for Dynamo Moscow in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their tour in 1945.

The countdown to the World Cup is in full swing as Roberto Baggio gets a page dedicated to him, billing him as “The Italian Gazza”

To be fair, Gazza did once had a dodgy ponytail

Ray Wilkins gets a double page spread as Shoot does a scouting report on him during a match for QPR against Nottingham Forest, amid a clamour for him to be part of England’s World Cup squad.

Their verdict is that while Wilkins is a player in form, England should be looking to the future.

There is also an advert for the following week’s issue, which contains free World Cup stickers.

Meanwhile, there is a double page spread on Sheffield United, the suibject of a BBC documentary called “United”

The show was a fly on the wall look at events at the club. An eventful season saw them get promoted to what is now the Premier League, as reach the FA Cup Quarter-Finals.

There is an advert for Guy Whittingham Soccer Masterclass, a football camp in Lanzarote. For just £199, you could be as good as a squad player for Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa.

Money well spent.