I’ve been going through a 80’s fascination the past few weeks. No, I haven’t been getting the styling gel out to give myself a Flock Of Seagulls hairdo, but I have discovered (better late than never) a 24/7 music station on Sirius-XM called “1st Wave,” which plays new wave music from the 1980’s on a 24/7 loop. On top of that, I’m listening to a new book called Talking To Girls About Duran Duran, which charts the teenage years of an author who grew up in the 80s and was heavily influenced by the music of the time.
Funnily enough, the thing set me off on this escape into the 80s was the 2010 World Cup sticker collection from Panini. All this 80s talk made me start thinking about different decades and which one was the best for soccer fans. The 80s themselves were a dark period in English football with the Bradford fire disaster, the Hillsborough tragedy and Heysel. But in between those years there were some golden highlights including Brazil’s dazzling performance during the 1982 World Cup, Liverpool’s domination in England and Europe during the early 80s, Everton’s glorious silverware achievements and more, just to name a few.
Not to wallow in the eighties, but there have been two decades of soccer since then and tons of decades before it. The nineties were memorable times, but sometimes for the worst reasons (those horrid kits from the early 90s will scar anyone). But during that decade you had Manchester United winning the Treble, the Premier League being born, the World Cup coming to America, the beautiful flowing from Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United and more.
The 2000’s (aka the Noughties) were filled with Arsenal’s Invincibles, Liverpool’s incredible comeback to win the 2005 Champions League Final, the dominance of the “Big Four” clubs in the Premier League, Zidane’s headbutt and more.
So, which decade has been your favorite for the Beautiful Game? And why? Share your opinions in the comments section below.
