What Was Football Like in the 1980s? provides a fascinating and insightful perspective on the game in a decade when football faced major challenges on and off the field. The author's own memories and experiences are augmented by a wealth of research to bring you the definitive account of the clubs, players, managers, referees, grounds, crowds and competitions that defined '80s football. The book examines the Hillsborough, Heysel and Bradford fire tragedies, along with the increasingly commercialised aspects of the game and the evolution of televised football. The scourge of hooliganism - which reached its height in the 1980s - is also given due consideration. What Was Football Like in the 1980s? is an enthralling and illuminating account of a truly remarkable decade for the beautiful game, penned by a respected football author and journalist. How different was the sport 30 to 40 years ago? Richard Crooks gives you the answer, leaving no stone unturned.

Do you remember a time when footballers' perms were tighter than their shorts? When supporters still swayed on terraces? When a chain-smoking doctor played central midfield for Brazil? Take a nostalgic stroll back to an era when football on TV was still an occasional treat, when almost anyone could finish runners-up to Liverpool and when finishing fourth in the top flight was not a cause for celebration but a sackable offence! Football in the 1980s is an affectionate look at all the essential facts, stats and anecdotes from the decade before the national game was commercially rebranded. Including both some of modern football's darkest days and its most memorable matches, Football in the 1980s will take you back to a time of tough tackles, muddy pitches and cheap seats. Read on for a grandstand view . . .

From three recognized football and statistics experts comes a revealing and lively look at the pro game, with new stats, unusual facts and figures, revolutionary strategies, and keys to picking the winners.

From a multiple New York Times bestselling author, the rollicking, outrageous, you-can't-make-this-up story of the USFL The United States Football League--known fondly to millions of sports fans as the USFL--was the last football league to not merely challenge the NFL, but cause its owners and executives to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, 1983-85. It secured multiple television deals. It drew millions of fans and launched the careers of legends. But then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner--a New York businessman named Donald J. Trump. The league featured as many as 18 teams, and included such superstars as Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, Reggie White, Doug Flutie and Mike Rozier. In Football for a Buck, the dogged reporter and biographer Jeff Pearlman draws on more than four hundred interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America. From 1980s drug excess to airplane brawls and player-coach punch outs, to backroom business deals, to some of the most enthralling and revolutionary football ever seen, Pearlman transports readers back in time to this crazy, boozy, audacious, unforgettable era of the game. He shows how fortunes were made and lost on the backs of professional athletes and also how, thirty years ago, Trump was a scoundrel and a spoiler. For fans of Terry Pluto's Loose Balls or Jim Bouton's Ball Four and of course Pearlman's own stranger-than-fiction narratives, Football for a Buck is sports as high entertainment--and a cautionary tale of the dangers of ego and excess.

This book looks beyond the common label of 'Ronald Reagan's America' to chart the complex intersection of cultures in the 1980s. In doing so it provides an insightful account of the major cultural forms of 1980s America - literature and drama; film and television; music and performance; art and photography - and influential texts and trends of the decade: from White Noise to Wall Street, from Silicon Valley to MTV, and from Madonna to Cindy Sherman. A focused chapter considers the changing dynamics of American culture in an increasingly globalised marketplace.

Comprised of all - new, exclusive interviews with Jets players, head coaches, and those closest to the organization, "Sack Exchange" is not only an eye - opening account of the Jets from this time, but also of the National Football League as a whole.The New York Sack Exchange was the nickname given to the New York Jets defensive line of the early 1980s, consisting of Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons, and Abdul Salaam.Examined are such topics as the beginning of the Jets - Dolphons rivalry, the controversial firing of head coach Walt Michaels and hiring of Joe Walton, the team's relationships behind the scenes, the emergence of Joe Klecko, the rise and fall of Mark Gastineau, steroid use among the Jets and in the NFL, the legendary Shea Stadium as well as never - before - heard stories and insight into the legacy of Joe Namath.

Set in an easy-to-read Q&A format, this volume is full of the stories and firsthand accounts from many of the men who helped shape the 1970s into one of the most exciting and memorable eras in National Football League history.

For Everton FC, the 1980s were the most successful decade in the club's history. In Here We Go, Simon Hart interviews some of the Blues' best-loved players from that era - along with the most controversial and the unsung heroes too - to provide a vivid, colourful portrait of a period when a group of unheralded young footballers came together to achieve something special with a rare, intoxicating mix of raw talent and team spirit.

How three football legends -- Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Parcells -- won eight Super Bowls during the 1980s and changed football forever. Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells dominated what may go down as the greatest decade in pro football history, leading their teams to a combined eight championships and developing some of the most gifted players of all time in the process. Walsh, Gibbs and Parcells developed such NFL stars as Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, Jerry Rice, Art Monk and Darrell Green. They resurrected the careers of players like John Riggins, Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, Everson Walls and Hacksaw Reynolds. They did so with a combination of guts and genius, built championship teams in their own likeness, and revolutionized pro football like few others. Their influence is still evident in today's game, with coaches who either worked directly for them or are part of their coaching trees now winning Super Bowls and using strategy the three men devised and perfected. In interviews with more than 150 players, coaches, family members and friends, GUTS AND GENIUS digs into the careers of three men who overcame their own insecurities and doubts to build Hall of Fame legacies that transformed their generation and continue to impact today's NFL.

The shotgun formation. The West Coast Offense. The 4-3 defense. We expect to see these things when we watch football, but without Tom Landry and Bill Walsh, it's possible we wouldn't see any of that. This is the story of how two independent thinkers molded football in general -- and championship football in particular. And they didn't just change the sport's Xs and Os; they changed its style. The story of their combined influence is unusual because neither man's ideas seriously affected the other's. This story also is the tale of many football greats: Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, Jerry Rice, Tony Dorsett, Ronnie Lott, Bob Lilly, Roger Craig, Ed "Too Tall" Jones and numerous others. What's more, the story of these coaches is one of great opponents: Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Mike Ditka and Lawrence Taylor, to name a few. Most of all, this is the story of two icons: Landry, the cerebral, stoic, impeccably-dressed engineer, and Walsh, the creative, professorial, somewhat sensitive artiste. Their greatest moments rank among football's seminal moments. Fittingly, each coach's most famous play was a pass. For Landry, it was the Hail Mary that beat the Vikings in the 1975 playoffs. And for Walsh, it was, of course, The Catch, which came at the expense of the Landry Cowboys. These stories and many others comprise the larger narrative of how these men shaped the game we see today. PRAISE FOR TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH FROM GADY EPSTEIN, STAFF WRITER, THE ECONOMIST... Lawson "knows more about those two coaches and their teams than any sane human being does (or should)...trust me when I say John is an entertaining writer...Buy the book!" PRAISE FOR TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH FROM CHARLES GAY, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION..."TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH is a feast for serious NFL fans, tracing the game's dramatic evolution in a deeply intelligent and analytical style. Lawson layers his story with context and detail while never losing sight of the broader theme: innovation. The book manages to do all that while being a damned enjoyable read. If you love pro football, TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH is a must for your reading list."