Everybody Wants to Rule the World: Britain, Sport and the 1980s

An awesome decade is well covered here, in this great value book.

A definite trip down memory lane for me which will appeal to those that were there and for those wishing to learn about the 1980s both in a sporting and historical context.The pieces on Hillsborough and Bradford are excellent.My only gripe is that someone didn't check some of the details more thoroughly including - Did Ireland really defeat Bulgaria in the 2nd Round of the 1990 World Cup? I'm old enough to remember it was Romania. Did Steve Ovett finish 3rd in the 1500m at the 1984 LA Olympics? I'm old enough to remember he had to drop out with one lap to go.

This could have been written for me. If you were around in the 80s and can remember staying up to see Dennis Taylor beat Steve Davis or enjoyed Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks on ITV a wrestling this is a lovely trip down memory lane.

An outstanding trip back into the 1980s through the lens of sport, culture, politics and society intertwined. Brought back many memories from that time and I also learned a lot of background and context to certain issues and events I wasn’t aware of. It was interesting to reflect that some things have changed a lot in the intervening years and some others not so much. Fantastic read that I would highly recommend.

If you remember things like the first Rugby World Cup in 1987, the 1985 TV Football blackout when Manchester United's 10 match winning run was unshown on UK TV, Heysel when English clubs were banned, Bradford, Hillsborough, Snooker and Darts were getting soap sized ratings on TV, Maradona's hand of god goal in the 1986 World Cup, England getting knocked out of the 1982 World Cup without losing a match and conceding 1 goal and qualifying for four of the five major tournaments in the 80s in. A resurgence which culminated in the SFs in 1990 in Italy and beating Brazil in Brazil in 1984, Triple Crowns for Ireland and Wales in 1982, 1985, and 1988 Grand Slams for England, France and Scotland in 1980, 1981, 1984 and 1987 and shared championships with France, The Australian Rugby League team going through the north of England unbeaten, the success of Hull and Hull KR and the remergence of Wigan, the rebel Cricket and Rugby tours of South Africa by England, New Zealand, Australia, West Indies and controversial official tours by the British Lions in 1980, a away tour to New Zealand in 1981, England in 1984 and the resulting African and Carribbean boycott of the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Cold War politics in the Olympics with a USA led boycott in 1980 and the Soviet Union led boycott in 1984 , The West Indies dominating international cricket along with Ashes wins for England in 1981 and 1985 and 1987 the latter 2 against a Australian team weakened by bans as a result of rebel tours to South Africa while Australia in 1982 beat a England team hit by South Africa related bans. Then this is the book for you