THE MANAGERESS WILL SEE YOU NOW
“Do you think you can make it work?” I’m sitting in a small London office. It’s near the end of November 1986, and I’m with two producers looking to pitch a drama to Channel 4. It’s about a woman managing a men’s football team, and my response to the question is yes.
Football was in turmoil following the events of 1985. In March, a riot broke out during Luton’s FA Cup tie at home to Millwall. Two months later, a dreadful fire at Bradford’s Valley Parade stadium killed 56 trapped fans. A fortnight after that, ahead of the European Cup final in Brussels, a surge of Liverpool fans towards their Juventus rivals caused a wall to fall on those trying to flee the conflict, leading to 39 deaths and 600 injuries.
UEFA banned English teams from European competition and court cases resulted in a core group of Liverpool supporters being jailed for manslaughter, while the decrepit state of the stadia at Bradford and Heysel were criticised. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s responses included proposals for ID cards
