Wednesday 3 April 2024
NEXT HOME GAME: Morecambe – Saturday 13 April, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Sutton – Saturday 6 April, 3pm
If you’d like to write an article for The Scarf My Father Wore, share a few snippets or photos, or advertise your business, please email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com.
Good morning from Hollyoaks!
A very early start for your editor this morning (the 5.56am train from Chester to Liverpool) so I made sure most of today’s edition was finished last night. All I had to do this morning was add a couple of bits and bobs, like a big thank you to Donny Rovers for beating Wrexham last night! Our chances of automatic promotion are looking good, but there’s now a strong possibility of clinching our first Football League title since 1967 as well.
As you know, I enjoy publishing regular County content for County fans, and Stockport stuff for Stopfordians, but I like to cater for The Football Family too. That’s what we’re doing today, with an extract from Euro 1984, the brand new book from Aidan Williams which is scheduled for release on 22 April.
Our first live event of 2024 is taking place two weeks tonight! ‘Flynny at the Finger’ – an evening with County legend Mike Flynn – is at The Fingerpost on Wednesday 17 April. Start time 7.30pm. If you’d like to join us, please email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com. Tickets are £10 (or £5 for paid subscribers plus anyone who’s written an article for The Scarf My Father Wore). That includes a full colour souvenir programme, and even a little bit of stand-up comedy!
Today’s edition is sponsored by SW Appliances. A big thank you to Steve. If you’re looking for a new oven or a washing machine at the moment, have a look around Steve’s showroom on Castle Street before the Morecambe game next weekend. He’s there from 10am till 2pm on a Saturday when County are at home.
Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.
Total distance so far: 136.36 miles
Total steps so far: 217,174
Total raised so far: £1,666
Total completed streets so far: 271 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)
Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.
Des Junior
Some tournaments are more iconic than others, remaining forever etched in the mind's eye. Those shimmering, hazy summer images, full of vibrant colour and dazzling football, that were always better when you were young. The mottled sounds of tournaments past, when the commentary crackled with glorious imperfection adding a dose of the exotic, transporting you through the portal of your television screen to some far-flung field where the action was playing out. The imagery alone can make a tournament iconic, but add in the feats of the world's finest footballers in their prime achieving the remarkable in matches that rate among the finest in tournament history, and you have the perfect blend.
These are the tournaments that live longest in the memory. Those that capture a moment and place in time. The 1984 European Championship, with its fascinating themes and startling action, was very much a tournament in this image. It was a tournament which thrilled so many, galvanised by the astonishing displays of attacking football. There were iconic players, iconic teams and iconic matches, played out in a vibrant, raucous atmosphere in majestically austere stadia. Played out in France, a homecoming for the European Championship indeed, at a time when it was still finding its way as an eight-team tournament, 1984 not only invigorated a competition that had been in need of a boost, but provided what is arguably still the finest summer in its long history.
For a tournament that would end up being described by the winning French manager, Michel Hidalgo, as ‘a triumph for attacking football,’ the European Championship was not in a good state ahead of the era-defining 1984 edition. It’s not even stretching things too far to describe the 1984 finals as being nigh on make or break for the European Championship.
Europe was a significantly different place in the early 1980s to the one we know today. The political and national boundaries were still shaped and fixed by the Cold War and its iron curtain. European football was moulded and defined by this, as was its showpiece international event. Long before the breakup of the eastern European nations, UEFA comprised just 33 members, but enjoyed a strength and level of competition that ought to have made the European Championship close to the World Cup in terms of significance and difficulty.
Having existed as a four-team finals tournament from its inception in 1960 through to 1976, the expansion to eight finalists in 1980 had not produced the anticipated feast of football. In fact, the 1980 finals in Italy had produced such dour, unimaginative, uninspiring football, that it left the European Championship in the unenviable position of being seen an unloved, inferior local squabble when compared to the significantly more inspiring World Cup.
How then could the 1984 European Championship revive the fortunes of a flagging tournament? Perhaps the safe bet would have been to award the 1984 finals to one of Europe’s football hotbeds, but then again, Italy was one such hotbed and the tournament was on its knees following its Italian summer of 1980. England had expressed an interest in hosting in 1980, but didn’t do so again when it came to 1984, presumably feeling the increasing reputation for the disorder of its fans would render any thoughts of hosting redundant. In the end only two nations seriously put themselves forward to host in 1984: West Germany and France.
Of the two, at that time only West Germany could have been considered one of football’s hotbeds in terms of fan enthusiasm, attendances, and also in terms of the performances of its clubs and national team. When the decision was made in December 1981, however, it was to France that the tournament was awarded. This was something of a gamble on UEFA’s part, but in returning to the nation that gave us the European Championship – and indeed the World Cup and European Cup – it was perhaps a retreat to a symbolic comfort blanket: a return home for a tournament that had maybe tried to spread its wings too far too soon.
The organisers were desperate for the negativity of 1980 to fade away to a distant memory, to be replaced by that of a tournament full of memorable moments, players and matches. The 1984 European Championship needed good football, to replace the strangling negativity and limiting fear with the excitement of positivity and exuberance. It needed the tournament to be fun: for players, for spectators, for fans across Europe and beyond.
It also needed the host nation to perform if the tournament was to be a success, and there was major pressure on France as a team. For all that it was a Frenchman, Henri Delaunay, who had been the main driver for the creation of a European Championship, France had barely caused a ripple in its entire history. Holding the 1984 edition would mark only France’s second appearance at the finals, following their hosting of the inaugural 1960 event.
Fortunate, then, that France had arguably the greatest team in their history, coming to a peak at just the right time. And not only that, but they also had the greatest player in their history in his prime: Michel Platini. For all that more recent history may subsequently associate him with scaling the greasy pole of UEFA and FIFA administration and his subsequent rapid crash back to earth, Platini was the most elegant, gifted of players. Part striker, part playmaker, he excelled at both without ever fitting either category neatly. He was a bit of everything, a force of nature capable of the astonishing, the exquisite and the prolific. Despite the abilities of those who have subsequently inspired France to their more recent glories, Platini ranks above them all as the finest France has ever produced. In 1984, he was on top of the world. With Diego Maradona still on the rise at this point, Platini was arguably the world’s greatest, and the reigning Ballon d’Or winner – the first of three successive European Player of the Year awards.
French ambitions, and those of UEFA for a festival of positive football, would both be significantly aided by the performances of a genius of his craft. The perfect player, in the perfect place at the perfect time. His presence was a boost to the hopes of a tournament that simply needed to be good.
France was ready, but there were 32 other nations desperate to join the party too. The qualifying process had begun shortly before the 1982 World Cup finals, when Romania beat Cyprus 3-1 in front of just 9,000 people in the Transylvanian city of Hunedoara. It would last until December 1983, by which time the 32 had been whittled down to seven qualifiers. The story of the 1984 European Championship may naturally be dominated by what occurred in that sizzling French summer, but it is a story that began with many extraordinary tales of fortune, hope and despair during the qualifying rounds. It saw the emergence of new stars, saw some giants toppled and others come perilously close amidst heroic performances, last gasp drama and a dose of controversy. The qualifiers were played out in small groups which were mostly highly competitive, in a format full of jeopardy with only the best, the group winners, making it through to the finals. Of the qualifying teams, only Belgium made it through by a margin greater than a single point.
The final eight team line-up could so easily have been different from the way it ended up. A twist of fate here, a bounce of the ball there: such fine margins decided the destinies of so many. But the ways in which the seven who did qualify secured their places in France became a collection of epic tales themselves, adding to the rich history written by this astonishing tournament, enhancing its allure with every kick of the ball.
5 great discounts to take advantage of in the spring sale at SW Appliances
I don’t want to be accused of slander by a man with significantly more money than me, but I reckon Jeff Bezos has never set foot inside Edgeley Park. On that basis alone, don’t buy your kitchen appliances on Amazon. Get them from SW Appliances instead, a business owned by County fan Steve Gibbons.
Whether you visit Steve’s showroom on Castle Street, or purchase online, SW Appliances have hundreds of products in stock. You won’t get a personal service from Bezos if you buy a kettle off him, but you will if you do business with Steve. He’s the appliance version of a train spotter and what he doesn’t know about appliances simply isn’t worth knowing. (That’s not an insult by the way, it’s on his website.)
And now’s the time to order that new appliance you need, as Steve’s offering some great discounts in his spring sale.
1) Electrolux KGS6424W 60cm Gas Hob White – £119.99 £94.99
2) Zanussi ZWF91483WR 9KG 1400 RPM Freestanding Washing Machine – £349.99 £299.99
3) Beko CFG1552W Frost Free 55cm Fridge Freezer Frost Free – £329.99 £299.99
4) Zanussi ZBB28441SV 70/30 Integrated Fridge Freezer – £499.99 £399.99
5) Zanussi ZCI66050BA 60cm Electric Cooker with Double Oven Induction Black – £649.99 £549.99
The showroom is open from 9am till 5pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am till 4pm on a Saturday (closing at 2pm if the Hatters are at home).
Visit swappliances.co.uk for further details.
Photo of the day
Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster
Owen Bailey celebrates his winner for Donny Rovers last night, which keeps Wrexham four points behind us, and we’ve now got a game in hand over our friends from North Wales.
Today in SK
🎬 Cinema
Two films at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG) at 1.45pm and 4pm, followed by Oppenheimer (15) at 6.30pm. Click here for tickets.
🍺 Food and drink
The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.
If you find yourself in Stockport today, pop into The Petersgate Tap (SK1) for a pint or two.
Pie Meal Deal at The Friary (SK3). Any pie or pudding and chips with peas, curry or gravy. Plus tea or coffee. £7.95. (Greenhalgh’s Pies £1 extra.)
❓ Quiz night
Flying Coach (SK7). 9pm. (Chicken wings available for just 25p before the quiz!)
Random County fan of the day #86 – Darran Moores!
One final thing before you go… if you’d like a spring clean for your car, carpets, house, oven or even your windows, get in touch with our brilliant bunch of sponsors!
🎨 Art & Gifts: Kate O’Brien Art
🧱 Builders Merchant: MKM Manchester South
🧽 Car Valeting: Rub A Dubz Detailing Ltd
🧼 Carpet Cleaning: A Star Clean Ltd
🏠 Carpets & Flooring: Kingsway Carpets & Rugs Ltd
🐈 Cat Flaps: That Cat Flap Company Ltd
👶 Child Health: The Sleep Nanny
🏠 Chimney Sweep: Three Shires Chimney Services
🧹 Cleaning: Beespoke Cleaning
🚙 Coatings: Colourtone Ltd
🗣 Counselling: Time and Space Counselling
🚘 Driving School: CFN School of Motoring
💷 Financial Services: The Mortgage Mill
🔥 Fire Protection: Radial Fire And Security Limited
🍏 Greengrocers: Waterhouse’s Quality Food
🛁 Grout Refresh & Recolour: GroutGleam Stockport
💇♀️ Hairdressing: C West Hairstylist
💻 IT Services: Bridge Computer Services
🪚 Joinery: SAW Contracts Ltd
👨🍳 Kitchen Appliances: SW Appliances
🌳 Landscaping: PR Landscapes
🔑 Locksmith: APL Locksmiths Ltd
🧤 Oven Cleaning: That Oven Girl
🖌 Painter & Decorator: BGM Decorators
🚑 Personal Injury: Parkers Solicitors Ltd
📸 Photography: Holly Dwyer Photography
🎹 Piano Tutor: Sophie Grace Piano and Keyboard Tuition
🧱 Plastering: DT Plastering Services and Damp Proofing Specialists
🚰 Plumber: GTG Gary the Gasman
🦶 Podiatry: SK Podiatry
📕 Publishing: Victor Publishing
🤳 Social Media Management: Believe Media
☀️ Solar Panels: Malbern Solar Ltd
👨💼 Solicitors: B.J. McKenna & Co
⚽️ Sports Coaching: UK Sports Coaching Ltd
🪨 Stonemason: LM Stone Creative
🪵 Timber Supplies: Portwood Timber Division of Illingworth Ingham (Manchester) Ltd
☀️ Travel Agent: PTF Travel Ltd
⚖️ Weight Loss: Slimming World Reddish & Bredbury with Shlean
🪟 Window Cleaner: R ‘N’ B Window Cleaning
🧘♀️ Yoga: Greenshoots Yoga