1989: Australia v Lions First Test

From a results point of view there could be no doubting that so far the 1989 Lions tour to Australia had been a roaring success (excuse the obvious pun). Unbeaten in six matches against opposition of varying abilities, the team had at times ground out results with some strong second half displays, but although their record was impressive, not all were convinced that the performances were anything to write home about.

1988 US Open: Curtis Strange

Sunday April 14, 1985: As Curtis Strange walks to the 10th tee at Augusta, he is on the brink of one of the most remarkable sporting comebacks ever. After carding a disastrous first round 80, Strange bounced back with rounds of 65 and 68, and a front nine of 32 (-4) on the Sunday left him four shots clear of the field and in touching distance of his first major. But just as he appears to have one arm in the green jacket, he capitulates on the last six holes, finding water at both 13 and 15, and eventually finishing two shots behind winner Bernhard Langer. Crushing doesn't even come close to describing it.

1989: British and Irish Lions warm-up matches

The eighties had not been all that kind to the British and Irish Lions before 1989. In fact, the decade had been such a disappointment thus far, that David Hands, writing in The Times, described the period as "the toothless eighties", after a 3-1 loss in South Africa in 1980, and a 4-0 crushing against New Zealand in 1983. A proposed tour to South Africa was postponed in 1986, the political issue of apartheid too big to simply sweep under the carpet, so by the time of the 1989 tour to Australia, the arrival of the inaugural World Cup, along with a growth in international tours, led some to question the whole concept of the Lions in an ever changing rugby landscape.

1989 French Open: Chang v Lendl

Any British tennis enthusiasts reading this piece can probably tell you a thing or two about Grand Slam droughts. Andy Murray's success at the US Open in September 2012, ended 76-years of British hurt in the male game, so we can be forgiven for a lack of sympathy when another nation experiences what they perceive as a dry period in the sport. In 1989, America had gone a whopping five years without seeing one of their finest men lift a Grand Slam trophy, which in terms of a country with such a proud tennis history, was an age.

1986: England v New Zealand First Test

I am always thankful that I discovered cricket in 1985. As an English boy, the Ashes triumph of that year was the ideal introduction to the sport, more of a Graham Thorpe debut rather than an Andy Lloyd. From this point onwards, I would sit in front of the television on summer mornings, eagerly waiting for the first few click-clicks of the Soul Limbo theme tune, before Peter West or Tony Lewis would appear, and that would be me sorted for the rest of the day. Had my induction occurred a year either side though, I cannot be 100% sure that my commitment would have been quite so high; the 5-0 thrashing at the hand of the West Indies in 1984 was understandable, but 1986 was downright depressing.

1984-85 FA Cup final

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth rounds and semi-finals of the 1984/85 FA Cup, which you can view here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

May 1985 was not a particularly pleasant period for English football. On Saturday May 11, what had originally been a day of celebration turned into tragedy at Bradford, as 56 people lost their lives in the horrific fire that swept through the Main Stand at Valley Parade. As the nation heard of the horror at Bradford, news also started to drift through of crowd violence at St Andrews, with Birmingham and Leeds fans involved in running battles. Sadly, during the trouble inside the ground, a wall collapsed, killing a 15-year-old boy, and dragging the name of the sport through the mud once more. It was within this climate of angst that the build-up to the 1985 FA Cup final played out, a nation of football fans hoping that the showpiece event could maybe paper over the gaping chasms within the structure of the game at the time.

1984-85: Neville Southall

As someone who played over ten years of youth football as a goalkeeper, I've often had a lot of admiration for anyone mad and/or brave enough to play in that position. Sometimes the respect has been grudging; as an Arsenal fan, Peter Schmeichel broke my heart on many occasions, but I'll argue with anyone that he was just as influential a player in United's successes as any others such as Cantona and Keane. Often the love has been based on a purely biased view; Pat Jennings, John Lukic, David Seaman, Jens Lehmann, even Alex Manninger for a few glorious months in 1998 (but never ever Manuel Almunia I can assure you). On the whole though, my appreciation of a decent goalkeeper has always lived within me, and when I was growing up in the 1980s there was one man who I wanted to be more than most: Neville Southall.