Roy of the Rovers Hughes were brought out of retirement to play for Melchester in 1985, along with longtime fans of the strip Martin Kemp and Steve Norman, of the pop group Spandau Ballet. Geoff Boycott served for several years as Melchester's chairman, and Sir Alf Ramsey had briefly taken over as manager of Melchester in 1982, while Roy lay in his coma. Players such as Malcolm Macdonald and Trevor Francis would sometimes line up alongside Roy in England matches, despite the fact that the clubs they played for in real life were never featured in the strip. The concept of TV pundits and
Melchester Rovers 1987–88 saw the club become League Champions once again, but they were fighting relegation in 1988–89 during a season that saw them play most of their home matches at Wembley Stadium after massive local subsidence during a match led to Mel Park being closed for major reconstruction. Rovers avoided relegation with a 3–1 win over Melboro' in the season's final match. Rovers started the decade well by winning the 1990 FA Cup Final, 2–1 against Weston Villa. They were League Champions in 1991–92 while Roy set a new league goal-scoring record, notching up his 436th goal to win a charity