Very true mate...It wasn't until the late 1970's before I had even heard the term Mackem, and then it was a derogatory term used by Mags..It sort of took hold and grew from then.
Miracle on Ice...arguably the greatest hockey team ever assembled (Soviets) losing to a group of college kids in the Olympics, 1980. Won't be a popular choice for this board, but never seen anything like it. They had played two weeks before in an exhibition and the Soviets won 10-2. Greatest upset I've ever seen.
There was a documentary on BT Sport about the Soviet Ice Hockey team a few weeks back. It was very interesting!
Saw one recently as well, and it was brilliant. They had a tough life. Expectations were brutal and they were treated like property. Their Captain, Fetisov, came late in his career to play in the NHL. Many followed afterwards and they changed the game here for the better. They played a beautiful game (no pun intended), and when combined with the Canadian style, everyone got to see the best the game has to offer.
A large part of the documentary I saw concentrated on Fetisov and the wrangling that went on over his move. I was lucky enough to see the first Russian import into British Ice Hockey, Aleksander Kozhevnikov, play for Durham Wasps. I even got his autograph!
Cheers mate...Fetisov was a national hero, they were extremely reluctant to let him go. Promises had been made, and eventually he came. Two additional players from that team, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov, came to the states to play late in their career. They signed with the San Jise Sharks and I held season tickets. Even at their advanced age, I'd never seen hockey played like that. It was truly beautiful. The Russians changed everything.
That must have been something! The doc I saw made a big deal of the Soviet's flowing style compared to the US National Team. They put it all down to the guy, who's name I forget, who'd been their mentor right up until the 1980 Olympics but then got replaced. It was really good this documentary. For the record, I think Kozhevnikov went to Calgary Flame. Do you still go to games?
I do...but no more season tickets. The Sharks have just advanced in the playoffs, so exciting times here. Yes, the Russians replaced the man who actually created/refined their "style" before the Olympics. Political suff I think. There isn't a member of the US Olympic Hockey Team that has had to buy their own drink since 1980. Legendary stuff.
Awesome! Well, I wish the Sharks luck. I try to keep an eye on the NHL and I'll be watching their progress now. In fact, I fully intend to go to an NHL game next time I'm in the US, but that might not be for some time!
Tottenham Hotspur winning the FA Cup in 1901 - the only non-league club ever to win it after 1888 when the Football League was formed. It's unlikely ever to happen again. USA 1 England 0 in the 1950 World Cup (Belo Horizonte, Brazil). James J. Braddock taking the World Heavyweight title from Max Baer in 1935. Cassius Clay taking the World Heavyweight title from Sonny Liston (1964) against odds of 7/1. Leon Spinks taking the World Heavyweight title from Muhammad Ali in only his eighth professional fight (1978).
What about Hungary beating England at Wembley in 1953? Maybe not a surprise in that the Hungarians had an amazing team and had been on a long winning run but I believe it shook English football up quite a bit.
Denmark (who didn't even qualify originally) came off the beach to win the Euro's in 1992 Newcastle managed to get a point off Sunderland a few weeks back......amazing
I thought about including that, but didn't because Hungary had such a good team. However, it did shock the English establishment. as you say, because no foreign team had ever won at Wembley before. The Selection Committee panicked and ended the international careers of three or four of the England team - Alf Ramsey, Stanley Mortensen, and Bill Eckersley were definitely dropped, and I'm not sure if that was all. They decided that England must have a young team with new ideas. The new young team went to Budapest for the return game a year later and lost 7-1. Ramsey paid them back around 1960. when the FA asked him to become the England manager. Alf replied "I'll take the job if I can pick the team." The Selection Committee had already become a laughing stock over the Shackleton dropping in 1955, so the FA agreed. Sir Alf won the World Cup six years later.
