When Shorts Were Short

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.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

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Give Us Tomorrow Now (Pitch Publishing)

Give Us Tomorrow Now (Amazon)

Sunderland 3 Arsenal 0 Div 1, 18 Dec 1982

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This episode (part 1 of 2), a look at Alan Durban’s ultimately doomed efforts in the early 80s to help Sunderland’s then young side realise its immense promise. David Snowdon, author of Give Us Tomorrow Now, is the go-to authority on Alan Durban’s Sunderland tenure. His 2018 book looked at Durban’s arrival at Roker Park in the summer of ’81 and his attempt at waking one of English football’s eternal sleeping giants.

Durban, a title winner with Derby under Brian Clough and a future guest on this podcast, gave up his secure managerial post with Stoke for the North East and in this first part of our interview, David Snowdon tells us about Durban’s battle to lay down the foundations of future success in his opening season, the 1981-82 campaign, as the boardroom grew impatient with both manager and chairman.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

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David Snowdon – Alan Durban’s Sunderland Team

Give Us Tomorrow Now (Pitch Publishing)

Give Us Tomorrow Now (Amazon)

Sunderland v Brighton, Div 1, 1981-82

Nick Pickering Compilation

Sunderland v Man City, May 1982

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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.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

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spencervignes.co.uk

@spencervignes

Bloody Southerners

Brian Clough at Brighton

Clough at Hartlepools and Brighton

The Damned United – Clough and Taylor arguing over Leeds job

Brighton v York 1973

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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.)

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

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Liverpool v Auxerre, 6 Nov 1991 UEFA Cup Second Round, 2nd Leg

Liverpool v Arsenal, First Division, 29 Jan 1992

Genoa v Liverpool, 4 March 1992, UEFA Cup QF 1st Leg

Liverpool v Aston Villa, 8 March 1992, FA Cup QF

Liverpool v Sunderland, 9 May 1992 FA Cup Final  

Steve Nicol - Compilation

Steve Nicol goals

Steve Nicol Autobiography - 5 League Titles and a Packet of Crisps

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Part 2 of our 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.

This week, plenty of ground covered with Bob now established as Arsenal’s new number one ‘keeper from the late sixties. We discuss the shock League Cup defeat to third division Swindon in 1969 on a terrible Wembley pitch, and how that second consecutive League Cup final loss triggered the wave of big success that followed under Bertie Mee and Don Howe in the next couple of seasons.

Bob tells us about Liverpool boss Bill Shankly singling him out for mind games on the eve of the ’71 FA Cup Final. We also look at Bob finally playing for his beloved Scotland in the early seventies, the early end to his career through injury, the switch to TV and the launch of Football Focus, the Match of the Day years with the one and only Jimmy Hill, , coaching the great Pat Jennings at Arsenal as he pioneered the goalkeeping coaching that’s now a big part of the British game, the shock move to ITV and the sad loss of his daughter that led to the creation of the Willow Foundation, the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to give them unforgettable Special Days. All that and more.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

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SHOW NOTES

Twitter Bob Wilson

Willow Foundation

Twitter @Willow_Fdn

Arsenal v Liverpool 1971 FA Cup Final

Arsenal v Stoke 1972 FA Cup semi-final

Football Focus 1986-87

Match of the Day

Bob Wilson – Left sock first  

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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 spot

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

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

Support the podcast by signing up for a season ticket via Patreon

Twitter @shortswereshort

Instagram @shortswereshort

Facebook shortswereshort

SHOW NOTES

Twitter Bob Wilson

Willow Foundation

Twitter @Willow_Fdn

Quizball Appearance 1971

WBA v Arsenal 1969 FA Cup 5th Round

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This week’s guest is former Villa, New York Cosmos, Coventry, West Brom and England midfielder Steve Hunt. Steve’s recently released autobiography, ‘I’m with the Cosmos’ looks back at a playing career that saw him overcome an early blow when the club he supported, Aston Villa, transferred him to that mythical NASL club New York Cosmos. This early blow of being let go by the club of his childhood was more than softened by his time in New York, a period that saw him play alongside Pele, Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbaur and the super confident Italian forward Giorgio Chinaglia.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

Support the podcast via Patreon

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1977 Soccer Bowl

1978 NASL Play Offs

1978 Soccer Bowl  

Chelsea v New York Cosmos, Sept 1978

1980-81 Steve Hunt (Coventry) v Birmingham Goal of the Season

Coventry v West Ham League Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg, 1980-81

Scotland v England 1984

England v Soviet Union 1984

WBA v Coventry 1984-85

Aston Villa v Bradford City 1987-88

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With guest Paul Davis.

Paul Davis was a mainstay of the Arsenal side for 15 seasons. In this interview, we discuss his breaking through under Terry Neill at the start of the 80s, a side in transition after losing its two outstanding Irish internationals, Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton in the space of a year. We look at the Don Howe era, the bridge between Terry Neill and George Graham, a quiet period for the club in many ways but an important one too as Howe was the man who blooded many of the youngsters who would go onto help Arsenal re-establish themselves as the country’s leading club, albeit intermittently, for several seasons under Graham. And we look too at why that hugely gifted George Graham team, despite knocking Liverpool off that perch despite Alex Ferguson’s largely unchallenged claims to the contrary, couldn’t stay at the top for longer.

Why did Arsenal go from that outstanding title success of ’91 that should have made it the team of the nineties to morphing into a very successful cup side that played dull football but had an incredible get out in the form of the talismanic Ian Wright up front, and we also look at Paul's complex relationship with the hard taskmaster that was George Graham. Paul was one of the few senior players at the club to challenge the Scot, but he would pay a heavy price at times.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

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Paul Davis Testimonial

1987 Littlewoods Cup Final

Paul Davis goals

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With guest Harry Harris.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

The guest for this episode is Harry Harris. A seasoned watcher of the national team, Harry spent four decades writing for the London Evening News, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily and Sunday Express, among others, as well as writing something like 80 football-related books. Speaking just a few days before Euro 2020 kicked off, Harry joined me in looking back at where it went so wrong for England. The injuries, the retirements, the exclusions, oh, and the no little matter of the estrangement between the manager Graham Taylor and his captain and star player Gary Lineker. Lineker’s form under Taylor had arguably matched his early England form during the years when Glenn Hoddle was in the England side, but by the spring of ’92, with his fearsome pace perhaps no longer what it was and with a young Alan Shearer on the rise, Lineker’s place was not as secure as it had once been.

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@FLegends100

Euro ’92 Goals

England v Denmark

England v France

England v Sweden

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With guest Patrick Barclay.

When Shorts Were Short only concerns itself with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast will only cover football from 1954, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, a design that was widespread within English football by the mid-fifties, 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.

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…

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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

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