Radio Times: 1986 World Cup preview issue

For the vast majority of us not able to visit the 1986 World Cup in Mexico personally, the Radio Times did a pretty good job of making you feel like you were actually there. Every possible detail about the build-up to the competition, the British teams involved and the climactic challenges awaiting them was covered comprehensively. Jimmy Hill’s opening gambit, ‘Here we go!’ prepared us for a slower, more skilful brand of football better suited...

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Random Things From Our Football Collections: Pique

Awww, look at little Pique there, a microcosm of all Mexican stereotypes all rolled into one cute (?) little mascotty thing. Aye Caramba etc Let's just tick all the boxes shall we? Sombrero - check Pencil thin moustache... or is it a beard? - check Two tone green skin - er... There are rumours that he was even available in a little gift set, replete with mini wire cutters, false documents and years of second class citizen status, but that...

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Bartholomew Football History Map of England & Wales, 1971

As football memorabilia goes, it's not often you stumble upon something as functional as a map, but back in 1971 John Bartholomew & Son filled that particular gap in the market to great effect. If you were lucky enough to be both a serious football fan and a car owner in the early 1970's, you'd have probably spent many a Friday evening poring over a huge map like this to work out how to get to the away ground of your choice. All well and good,...

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Classic football shirt sponsors

It started as a single Twitter message sent out a couple of days ago by the great football blogger @mirkobolesan. It read: "Napoli = Mars, Hellas Verona = Canon, Arsenal = JVC, Everton = NEC, Liverpool = Crown Paints, Man United = Sharp. #propersponsors‬" David Johnson in action for Liverpool. No explanation was needed and none was given, yet everyone knew what was being discussed. Before long, many people (including myself) were chipping in...

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Golden Wonder 'All Stars', 1977

The worlds of football and savoury snacks are forever destined to meet and collide on a regular basis. Whether it’s Gary Lineker peddling the latest offerings from Walker’s Crisps or Peter Crouch urging us to buy more Pringles, you can be sure that The Beautiful Game will occasionally persuade us to devour half our own body weight in fat-laden comestibles. The use of football to increase crisp sales is a subject we’ve not covered so far on The...

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Observer's Book of Association Football, 1972

Around the age of ten, I could often be found at the Thames View Library in Barking, Essex. It wasn’t because I yearned to absorb every ounce of knowledge from the hundreds of books that lay before me; moreover, my sister worked there and I often popped in on my way home from school to say 'hello.' I’d linger a while, ambling up and down the aisles between the wooden bookshelves that matched me for height. Such were the frequency of my visits...

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League of Blogs Sticker Album - Now Available

At 6pm today, I finally got my hands on the League of Blogs Sticker Album...and even if I do say so myself, it's pretty damn sweet! :) Measuring 21cm x 28cm, it's roughly the size of an A4 softback book and features all 92 kits from the League of Blogs Wallchart, all served up in a Panini style. There's a short history of the League of Blogs, the wallchart and the sticker album along with The Football Attic's 3 favourite designs. And...

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UEFA Euros - in captions

Switch on your TV to watch any football match these days and you won't fail to notice the continuous presence of the score in the top corner of your screen. A handy facility for those who can't remember the score or can't wait for the commentator to utter it again among a billion random statistics, but it's still a relatively recent addition to our televised football coverage. Once upon a time, you'd have been hard pressed to see any information...

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