Fergus Dowd

The immortal Jock Stein and the A74 highway crash

“You Are Now Immortal Jock” Bill Shankly – Liverpool F.C. Manager On the 5th of July 1975 in the early hours of the morning…

28/04/2020

The Blonde Bombshell and the TV blackout – Frankie and football in the dark

On an autumnal day in 1985 Martin Tyler then ITV football correspondent sat in the offices of The South Bank Television Centre staring out…

25/04/2020

1985 – The year of Our Lord and the Dalymount Crush

In February 1985 BBC presenter Janice Long stood in Elstree Studios and announced to the watching public ‘Okay! If you have taste, you will…

25/04/2020

The story of the kit: Five foreign teams who took the British look

In his kitchen at Bellefield Avenue, West Derby then Liverpool manager Bill Shankly had a vision, one which would carry a psychological impact on…

19/04/2020

The birth of the Ultra and the story of Vincenzo Paparelli

In the Autumn of 1979, the Prati district of Rome was still reeling from the assassination of journalist Carmine Pecorelli. Pecorelli, a maverick journalist…

17/04/2020

Now That’s What I Call Quite Good – The story of six football indie tunes

A music scholar once wrote, the art of song writing can be broken down into three essential building blocks: ‘Lyrics, Chords and Melody’. Over…

10/04/2020

The Sound of Waltzing Matilda in Saigon: The birth of Australian soccer in the Vietnam War

“I had prayed to God that this thing was fiction.” – Colonel William Wilson, a combat veteran who investigated the massacre at My Lai.…

10/04/2020

Manchester United – A story of rebellion from outcasts to seagulls

On the 18th of April 1995, Eric Cantona welcomed twelve young football hopefuls to the indoor gym at the Cliff Training Centre, Salford. The…

05/04/2020

Revolutionising Celtic – How the rebels won

In the summer of 1986, Graeme Souness came home to Glasgow from Italy and was unveiled as the new Glasgow Rangers player/manager. Flanked by…

04/04/2020