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England v Scotland Preview - 1983 - The Year That Was

By Fred Culazzo
Matchbox

The last time Scotland tasted victory in Twickenham against England was 34 years ago. Jim Telfer was head coach and scrum-half Roy Laidlaw (Uncle to a certain Greig) scored a try in the 12–22 victory. A momentous day for Scottish Rugby fans, but what else happened in 1983?

Wooden Spoon

As if losing at home to Scotland wasn’t painful enough, England went on to pick up the wooden spoon, finishing in last place in the Five nations. France took the title on points difference.

 The A Team

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A Team. The year that brought us B.A, Murdock, Hannibal & The Face. Thank you 1983.

All Blacks

50,000 Scottish fans crammed into Murrayfield to watch Jim Pollock score a late try to secure a 25-25 draw with New Zealand. Let’s not talk about the conversion or their record since.

Moonwalk

Every now and then something comes along that shakes the earth to its core. In 1983 this happened for the very first time. 4.08 into the video to be exact. Someone should really integrate this into their try scoring routine.

 Glory, Glory Aberdeen!

Scotland were riding high in the sporting world. Aberdeen & Alex Ferguson beat Real Madrid 2–1 to win the European Cup Winners' Cup for the Scottish team.

Hooters

The hair was bigger & the T-shirts baggier, but Florida decided to unleash this on the World in 1983:

Lions Tour

Led by Ciaran Fitzgerald, The British & Irish Lions lost the series 4-0 to the All Blacks as part of their 18 match tour to New Zealand.

McNuggets

Not quite Scottish, but the 'Mc' does have Celtic roots. 1983 saw the arrival of these tasty, diabetes inducing treats.

Maggie's Back

This delightful lady was re-elected by a landslide majority.

The KOP

Liverpool won the English first division and Man City were relegated. I wonder how many fans City had back then?

Delorean

It may seem like all was right in the world, but 1983 wasn’t without tragedy. It was also the year that The DeLorean Motor Company ceased production. RIP

Will this be the year Scotland end their Twickenham drought, or will we be reliving 1983 for a few more years to come?