When Shorts Were Short Ep 9

When Shorts Were Short concerns itself solely with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast takes 1954 as its starting point, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, to 1992, when short shorts were all but finished as Umbro's baggy shorts for Tottenham's new kit, ahead of the '91 FA Cup Final, quickly caught on.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

This week’s guest is one of the most experienced administrators the English club game has seen. David Dent was appointed the first full time secretary of his home club Carlisle United in 1960, a post he would hold for eighteen years, taking in their brief but unforgettable single season stay in the old First Division in the mid-70s.

In 1978, David became club secretary at Jimmy Hill’s forward thinking Coventry City, a six-year period he looks back on fondly as the pioneer supreme Hill continued to innovate. Unfortunately for the sky Blues and their charismatic chairman, an investment in NASL clubs Detroit Express and later the Washington Diplomats brought financial difficulties for both parties, leading to a painful parting of the ways for Coventry and Hill.

In 1984, David moved to the Football League, progressing to become the last ever Football League secretary to preside over a 92-club league.

In this interview, we talk about his years at Carlisle, the exciting period at Coventry that was ultimately undone by their NASL investment, and the difficulty of steering the Football League through that tumultuous period in 1991 when the Premier League was founded.

Running Time: 00:57:45

When Shorts Were Short Ep 8

When Shorts Were Short concerns itself solely with what was actually a very narrow window in football history when teams wore, well, short shorts. The podcast takes 1954 as its starting point, when Umbro made their first England kit with shorter shorts, to 1992, when short shorts were all but finished as Umbro's baggy shorts for Tottenham's new kit, ahead of the '91 FA Cup Final, quickly caught on.

If the shorts weren't short, we just don't talk about it.

My guest this week is a man who served one of our big clubs with huge distinction, making over 600 appearances for the club his family supported. Alongside Frank Swift and Bert Trautman, Joe Corrigan is rightly regarded as one of Manchester City’s greatest ever keepers. In May ’81, in both what was the 100th FA Cup Final and the replay, Corrigan was man of the match in both games and unfortunate to be on the losing side. It was supposedly the era of Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton, both keeping goal for what were then the country’s top clubs, Liverpool and Forest, and vying to be England’s number one. Joe Corrigan was the nominal number three, but in those two games at Wembley in May 1981, he reminded the country what an exceptional keeper he was and while he is rightly proud to have won nine England caps, it should’ve been more. 

We look back at Joe Corrigan’s eventful career, from his early difficulties winning over the City fans, to being voted the supporter’s player of the year as he finally convinced the City faithful of his talents, to the difficulties of Malcolm Allison’s disastrous return to the club in the late 70s, and no less disastrous perhaps, the collapse of John Bond’s initially promising Manchester City revamp in the early 80s.

Running Time: 01:38:02