Remember these?
We’re living in an era where information, results and statistics are instantly available, but this wasn’t always the case.
Any fans of the beautiful game that were raised in the late ’90s might just get a kick out of these retro pleasures.
Teletext
You would spend hours watching the pages change as the scores updated. There was none of this ‘F5’ or ‘refresh’ business.
Football Italia
Remember when James Richardson and the pink pages of Italy’s finest newspapers introduced us to the world of Italian football?
Match or Shoot?
The eternal dilemma that was usually resolved by which magazine had the best posters that week.
Merlin Premier League stickers
Everyone will remember the name of one random footballer they ‘needed’ to complete their collection.
Personally speaking, I spent about a month looking for Brian Deane.
Eurogoals
If you were lucky enough to have ‘the channels’ then you were probably glued to Eurosport’s weekly roundup of the best goals and highlights from around Europe.
Fantasy Football League
If ever a show tapped into the cultural zeitgeist of the decade, then it was Baddiel and Skinner’s irreverent take on football, pop-culture and absolute nonsense.
Here they are talking with James Richardson and Andy Gray.
Clip via – MrGazMac
Football gossip hotlines
It may sound incredibly dodgy to some people but there were specific telephone numbers that you could call just to hear the latest gossip from your club.
Retro video games
International Superstar Soccer still lives on in our minds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6sKoL0qSOQ
The odd live match on a Saturday
Does anyone else remember when RTÉ used to broadcast the occasional 3pm K.O as part of their schedule?
Wonderful.
Clip via – EveryFourthYear
The summer Fantasy Football guide
Before everything was available at the click of a button, football fans would spend hours scrawling their fingers down the page and obsessing over the rating of footballers for their Fantasy Team.
The beautiful games
Subbuteo or Pro Action Football?
Beautiful Boots
Remember these? If you had them, you were one of the lucky few.
Off the wall jerseys
Granted, there was some retro gold on display during this era but it’s far easier to remember the dodgy kits.
Random European teams vs Premiership clubs
Rotor-Volgograd, Ferencvaros, Kosice, Brann Bergen, Lodz, Honved, Skonto Riga…the list goes on.
Goals, goals, goals.
There’s no denying the appeal of a retro Goal of the Season competition. Pure beauty.
Clips via – VideotapeFTW
