Go to war : how the '80s rocked football

In the 1980s politicians declared war on football; football supporters declared war on each other inside crumbling stadia that resembled bomb sites and the ’82 and ’86 World Cups were played against the backdrop of the Falklands conflict.

It was the decade when some fans died watching the sport they loved and at times, football seemed set to die too. The decade also saw the emergence of West Ham’s blonde bombshell Frank McAvennie, the very 1980s rivalry between Luton Town and Watford, the birth of the long-ball game, early sponsorship deals, the inflatable craze of the late 1980s, Saint & Greavsie, the arrival of plastic pitches and fanzines, mullets and back perms, travelling behind the Iron Curtain for matches and short-lived competitions like the Full Members’ Cup. Like its prequel, the bestselling Get It On, Go To War draws heavily on the recollections of the footballers and managers who set the tone for the decade, providing a unique insight into the contemporary game and blending football stories with historical, political and cultural insights.