Barry Davies with an outstanding takedown on Jimmy Hill at the beginning of this video. "Proving John and I do have a job, because that was Paul Walsh...", moments after Hill had erroneously, yet excitedly said "McMahon shoots" 🤣
I remember watching this game live on the BBC. It was one of the first games of the season to be shown due to the TV rights discussion. There are more shots in this highlights package than a typical Premier League game now.
Agreed. The Premier League was brilliantly entertaining in the later half of the 90s and first half of the noughties,but after that caution and fear took over too much as the already-widening wealth gap grew and grew. Now it's a revelation when anyone fields more than a lone striker.
Liverpool were the top dogs and always full of goals,while Watford always played an all-action 4-2-4 with two wingers (classically Barnes on the left and Callaghan on the right),seeking to attack constantly every game,no matter who they were playing. I was at this match,in the Red Lion corner of the Vicarage Road end.
The first live TV game of 1985/86 - despite being in mid January - due to the infamous TV blackout. Man Utd won their first 10 games of the season yet nobody got see it! I think the only footage is on home made videos or club shop videos?
It wasn't the first live game - that was Charlton v West Ham the week before. Some games in the first half of the season were recorded for overseas broadcast, with highlights being made available in the UK on an eye-wateringly expensive video called "Soccer 85", which came out in time for Christmas. As ever, the people who went to the games got to see them!
I played for Watford as a goalkeeper as a schoolboy. We would play in matches during half term on Watford's training ground. We could see the pros training on the pitch next to us, I remember the team doing shooting drills and Coton making all sorts of impressive saves.
He landed in court when part of the notorious Birmingham City bad boy set from the early-to-mid 80s. They had a penchant for trouble off the pitch while liking to rough all-comers up on it! He reformed from those days after coming to Watford. Brilliant goalkeeper,all-round good guy and a credit to football.
The away kit was white for a couple of years, 85/86-86/87. Before that an odd red/black/yellow kit was worn at Watford for a couple of years. There was a rare yellow third kit when 2nd choice was white.
You could argue that the score was revealed 30 years ago, and some of us remember. A couple of people have asked for the titles not to include the score, and I have done this for my more recent uploads. It would take a while to change all the games I've uploaded. I would hope that the football is worth watching even if you know the score.
Ay cheers for the response mate without biting my head off. I have to say, watching these classics is much better without knowing the score. Keep up the good work!
@@DaveWallerLFC Ok, cheers for the reply, went to that match as a kid, missed bus, missed first half, Watford were 2-0 up at HT, ended up a 4-3 win with Rushie getting winner....wish we had a Rushie today
@@chesteryoutubeactorsclub It was played on a Friday night (17th May 1985),completing the league campaign for both teams after a weather-ravaged fixture programme all round. It was a real thriller judging by the match reports I read. It was the evening before Manchester United v Everton in the FA Cup Final. Sadly,it like everything else was overshadowed by the Bradford City fire disaster that happened six days earlier.
@@randyborstol2491 I wish I'd been able to go to that game. Why was Barnes the target of abuse? He was rightly revered by our support at Watford,and aside from a tiny minority of occasional turn-up-once clods we knew it'd be the height of stupidity to barrack him,so he nearly never got any flak. I read in the match reports at the time that both sets of supporters applauded both teams off the pitch at the end of the first meeting of the teams at Anfield in December 1982,when Liverpool won 3-1 having scored their three in the first half. That included a great turn and pass from Dalglish to set Rush up.
All white Liverpool - so vivid - and a long time before marketing gurus would have decided this, so this change must have been because the usual red kit would have clashed with Watford's shorts and socks and maybe the kit man/lady didn't want to mix and match with a red shirt!?
An odd kit of red shirts, black shorts and yellow socks was used against Watford the seasons before this. Not sure why it was all white, rather than the traditional white/black/white away kit, particularly as black shorts were worn in a number of games.
Why would Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish keep a terrible keeper as first choice for so long? He made mistakes but was a great keeper otherwise. Maybe not as good as Southall but that's no insult.
He was a good keeper but he had the luxury of Hansen and Lawrenson in front of him.He could make saves that nobody on their best day could make but when he was bad he was dire.Luckilly didn't happen too often.Was often an isolated figure due to Liverpool's dominance in the eighties and often was lacking in concentration,imo anyway.
I wonder if he got bored during matches. Because Liverpool had such a good side back then and one of the best defences, maybe the few occasions that he was called upon he tried to make these out of this world saves and sometimes it backfired on him. Maybe. Just a thought.
Rubbish. They were excellent up to a three-week spell late March/early April 87 that allowed Everton to overtake them in the title race. Yes Barnes was a pivotal signing but you're making it out as if Liverpool struggled to get into the top six in 86/87 when for the third year in a row they were involved in a two-way title race with Everton.
@@matthewleslie4448 those 2 seasons were the reverse of each other..85/86 everton way clear in feb/march were overhauled by lpool, and like you said in 86/87.
I remember this on a Sunday on TV but I was at the FA cup game midweek later on in the season. 6th round I think. Memorable night
Barry Davies with an outstanding takedown on Jimmy Hill at the beginning of this video. "Proving John and I do have a job, because that was Paul Walsh...", moments after Hill had erroneously, yet excitedly said "McMahon shoots" 🤣
That's our Jimmy for you 🤣. A masterful innovator in his days running Coventry,etc. but always getting it wrong as a pundit.
I remember watching this game live on the BBC. It was one of the first games of the season to be shown due to the TV rights discussion. There are more shots in this highlights package than a typical Premier League game now.
Agreed. The Premier League was brilliantly entertaining in the later half of the 90s and first half of the noughties,but after that caution and fear took over too much as the already-widening wealth gap grew and grew. Now it's a revelation when anyone fields more than a lone striker.
Liverpool were the top dogs and always full of goals,while Watford always played an all-action 4-2-4 with two wingers (classically Barnes on the left and Callaghan on the right),seeking to attack constantly every game,no matter who they were playing. I was at this match,in the Red Lion corner of the Vicarage Road end.
Yes, remember watching this on a Sunday afternoon, probably followed by Bullseye and Murder She Wrote.
The first live TV game of 1985/86 - despite being in mid January - due to the infamous TV blackout. Man Utd won their first 10 games of the season yet nobody got see it! I think the only footage is on home made videos or club shop videos?
It wasn't the first live game - that was Charlton v West Ham the week before. Some games in the first half of the season were recorded for overseas broadcast, with highlights being made available in the UK on an eye-wateringly expensive video called "Soccer 85", which came out in time for Christmas. As ever, the people who went to the games got to see them!
Remember Walsh being impressive this day - shame he didn't ever nail down a regular place in the first team
Coton was class... Why didn't he ever play for England??
Iagree
@@waynehigham6504 He got into trouble with the police. that's the answer.
He was a brawler but should have been England number 1 for Italia90
I played for Watford as a goalkeeper as a schoolboy. We would play in matches during half term on Watford's training ground. We could see the pros training on the pitch next to us, I remember the team doing shooting drills and Coton making all sorts of impressive saves.
He landed in court when part of the notorious Birmingham City bad boy set from the early-to-mid 80s. They had a penchant for trouble off the pitch while liking to rough all-comers up on it! He reformed from those days after coming to Watford. Brilliant goalkeeper,all-round good guy and a credit to football.
I take it that the white kit was Liverpool’s 3rd kit. Seeing as their away kit was normally yellow.
The away kit was white for a couple of years, 85/86-86/87. Before that an odd red/black/yellow kit was worn at Watford for a couple of years. There was a rare yellow third kit when 2nd choice was white.
Dave Waller I remember that you wore the white shirts with the black shorts for a couple of seasons when you came to Old Trafford.
Remember when Liverpool came to Vicarage Road around 1982 83 and wore red shirts black shorts with yellow socks
@Peter Anderson yes It was I’d totally forgotten about that!!
How bad was that pitch in the goal mouth and centre circle areas.
What is the point of revealing the score beforehand?
You could argue that the score was revealed 30 years ago, and some of us remember. A couple of people have asked for the titles not to include the score, and I have done this for my more recent uploads. It would take a while to change all the games I've uploaded. I would hope that the football is worth watching even if you know the score.
Ay cheers for the response mate without biting my head off. I have to say, watching these classics is much better without knowing the score. Keep up the good work!
Have to say I search by score, as someone who saw them at the time.
Do you have the home game v Watford from May '85 ?
No, sorry. I don't have that much from 84/85 generally but my understanding is that no footage of that game exists.
@@DaveWallerLFC Ok, cheers for the reply, went to that match as a kid, missed bus, missed first half, Watford were 2-0 up at HT, ended up a 4-3 win with Rushie getting winner....wish we had a Rushie today
@@chesteryoutubeactorsclub It was played on a Friday night (17th May 1985),completing the league campaign for both teams after a weather-ravaged fixture programme all round. It was a real thriller judging by the match reports I read. It was the evening before Manchester United v Everton in the FA Cup Final. Sadly,it like everything else was overshadowed by the Bradford City fire disaster that happened six days earlier.
@@rjjcms1 Brilliant brilliant game. Barnes was getting abuse until he slammed in his free kick
@@randyborstol2491 I wish I'd been able to go to that game. Why was Barnes the target of abuse? He was rightly revered by our support at Watford,and aside from a tiny minority of occasional turn-up-once clods we knew it'd be the height of stupidity to barrack him,so he nearly never got any flak. I read in the match reports at the time that both sets of supporters applauded both teams off the pitch at the end of the first meeting of the teams at Anfield in December 1982,when Liverpool won 3-1 having scored their three in the first half. That included a great turn and pass from Dalglish to set Rush up.
Liverpool ! Liverpool!
All white Liverpool - so vivid - and a long time before marketing gurus would have decided this, so this change must have been because the usual red kit would have clashed with Watford's shorts and socks and maybe the kit man/lady didn't want to mix and match with a red shirt!?
An odd kit of red shirts, black shorts and yellow socks was used against Watford the seasons before this. Not sure why it was all white, rather than the traditional white/black/white away kit, particularly as black shorts were worn in a number of games.
Liverpool deserve extra credit for their success in the 80's when you consider the fact they carried such a clown of a keeper throughout the decade.
No chance! Bruce Grobbelaar was one of the world's top 'keepers in the '80s. The bloke is a legend.
I agree. Terrible keeper ESP when you compare him to Southall who was at Everton
Why would Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish keep a terrible keeper as first choice for so long? He made mistakes but was a great keeper otherwise. Maybe not as good as Southall but that's no insult.
He was a good keeper but he had the luxury of Hansen and Lawrenson in front of him.He could make saves that nobody on their best day could make but when he was bad he was dire.Luckilly didn't happen too often.Was often an isolated figure due to Liverpool's dominance in the eighties and often was lacking in concentration,imo anyway.
I wonder if he got bored during matches. Because Liverpool had such a good side back then and one of the best defences, maybe the few occasions that he was called upon he tried to make these out of this world saves and sometimes it backfired on him. Maybe. Just a thought.
The 86/87 season liverpool was poor ..
If barnes hadn't arrived August 87 then liverpool wouldn't have won a further 2 titles
Rubbish. They were excellent up to a three-week spell late March/early April 87 that allowed Everton to overtake them in the title race. Yes Barnes was a pivotal signing but you're making it out as if Liverpool struggled to get into the top six in 86/87 when for the third year in a row they were involved in a two-way title race with Everton.
@@matthewleslie4448 Yeah that 3 week spell where we lost 5 games or something like that
@@matthewleslie4448 those 2 seasons were the reverse of each other..85/86 everton way clear in feb/march were overhauled by lpool, and like you said in 86/87.