Thanks to a video found on YouTube, readers of my blog are able to watch highlights of the match below, but first I will give a brief review of the match day programme that was on sale back in 1983 for the princely sum of 60p.
The front cover of the programme features an action shot of Mike Duxbury and Kenny Dalglish in the 1983 Milk Cup Final that had been played back in March ’83. Liverpool ran out 2-1 winners on that afternoon, so this was a chance for the Red Devils to exact a little revenge. You can read more about the 1983 Milk Cup Final, by clicking here
Littlewoods have taken a full page advert on page 2 to advertise the potential benefits of playing the football pools. Apparently, it could lead to punters joining the three quarter of millionaire’s club – not exactly enticing nowadays. This is followed by an outline of the afternoon – apparently half time is 45 minutes after kick-off when spectators can enjoy the excitement of a marching band – and a small feature on the two guests of honours for the afternoon – Sir Matt Busby and Bob Paisley.
Pages 4 and 5 look back on the history of the Charity Shield competition and features a run down of previous finals. Liverpool actually won the Shield in 1982 with a Ian Rush goal granting them victory against Tottenham Hotspur. It is surprising to see some of the teams that have won this piece of silverware. I was most surprised to see the name of Burnley on the list of winners on two separate occasions (1960, 1973). Why Northampton Town were runners up in 1909, I have no idea, but I am sure Google will let me know.
An exhaustive review of this informative issue would take me a week or more. I guess my readers would like to be able to learn about the match on the anniversary of it being played, so I will only write a brief outline, while making sure that the interesting statistics and information picked up from these pages are featured in blogs throughout the season.
There are 32-pages in this colourful brochure that is crammed full of information and pen-pics of both squads. The first 16 pages are taken up with articles on Joe Fagan’s Liverpool and advertisements – as well as the Charity Shield article mentioned above – while the second half of the programme, after the team line-ups decorate the centre pages, feature Ron Atkinson’s Manchester United who had just won a record-breaking fifth FA Cup.
An impressive 92,000 were in attendance at Wembley for this contest that had been staged at the National Stadium ever since 1974. A full history of the Charity Shield, now known as the Community Shield, can be found here.
Time to enjoy the action now, and an impressive display by Manchester United against a sloppy Liverpool side who would be bidding to become only the third team in history, to retain the League Championship for a third consecutive season. The other clubs to have achieved this feat were Huddersfield Town (1924-25-26) and Arsenal (1933-34-35).
