Big Match Revisited

[Seany S]

Not sure if anyone else is as sad as me, but I have Big Match Revisited series linked on my TiVo box. It is basically the telly highlights show that was shown on ITV during the 80s and early 90s. ITV4 show one pretty much every day and it is always nice to have a few of them taped to watch when I have a spare moment.

 

Yesterday's edition featured a very young Steve Bould score an own goal in a draw between Stoke City and West Hame, but more importantly a rampant Southampton side putting Manchester City to the sword in 1983.

 

Interestingly the City team featured Ivan Golac (who came off injured) and Graham Baker, and Saints had a young, much more hirsute Ian Baird up front (he scored and was lucky not to have another). Moran scored two in a 4-1 victory at the Dell.

 

Is well worth taping this lovely slice of nostalgia - Saints have been on there a few times (whole show dedicated to the league cup final loss to Forest was on there a few months back).

[saint1977]

Cheers for that mate, just stuck the series on record.

[Foxy]

Funnily I was not much enamoured of 'The Big Match' as a kid, although in those pre-Sky days any footy you could get was essential viewing. Nowadays, however, it's tired punditry and dated format has a great deal of nostalgic charm - much like the footy of the era.

 

For those who didn't catch the mauling of Citeh it's all available for about a month after broadcast on ITV Player.

[Seany S]

I love the introduction sequence to this episode, which features some real ugly goalmouth bundles - one part of it shows four or five Saints players falling around and hacking each other on the deck.

[Kenilworthy]

Yes I am addict of the Big Match revisited. I use it to show my 15 year old son what football used to be like. There is a Big Match DVD featuring Saints as well. But unfortunately a number of our games that I know were on it, such as a 4-1 away thrashing of Luton in 76-77 aren't included.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

Love 1970s football, especially when they play on snow with the orange ball etc. Nothing short of a natural disaster would stop a game.

[The Majestic Channon]

Love 1970s football, especially when they play on snow with the orange ball etc. Nothing short of a natural disaster would stop a game.

 

One of my favourite dell matched was a 3-0 win v Everton in the snow with an orange ball, graham baker scored a beauty and the late Austin Hayes was brought down for a penalty. gordon lee the everton manager was not happy , he wanted the game called off. Football then was a much poorer quality but more affordable and a better crack all round and i would go back to that straight away.

[Noodles34]

One of my favourite dell matched was a 3-0 win v Everton in the snow with an orange ball, graham baker scored a beauty and the late Austin Hayes was brought down for a penalty. gordon lee the everton manager was not happy , he wanted the game called off. Football then was a much poorer quality but more affordable and a better crack all round and i would go back to that straight away.

 

It wasn't about football quality back then, it was a bout being there, having a laugh, having a rumble and thinking the players were like you, down the pub getting hammered (which they were). It's amazing today to see the game and more so, the players and how so very different it is now. Better? Don't know really, reasonable price to stand, meeting up with mates because you knew where they would be standing, even paying at the turnstile on the day. Yeah, the football is probably equal to the 1st div standard these days, but the whole experience was better wasn't it?

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

Currently watching Forest v Saints 26.03.83. Saints went 1-0 down but came back to win 2-1 with a wonder strike from Danny Wallace. A result that lifted them to 5th in the table. :-)

[ericofarabia]

Love 1970s football, especially when they play on snow with the orange ball etc. Nothing short of a natural disaster would stop a game.

 

You've got to love the pitches as well - come about December some had more mud/sand than grass on them, a far cry from the pristine bowling green appearance of The SMS pitch even by the end of the season.

 

The Dell used to have long lines of sand to try and aid drainage and The Baseball Ground (Derby County for our younger viewers) was always a mud bath and wouldn't even come up to Sunday League standard nowadays.

 

My favourite memories of The Big Match in the mid 70's were our two 4 goal maulings of The Skates (Channon Hat trick) and v The George Best/ Rodney Marsh Fulham Road show.

[kwsaint]

Since I've only watched football in the early 2000s, it's a good program to watch just to see what teams and football was like back then. Most notably, the pitches were in much worse states than they are now. Were probably at the current league 1 level.