I don't have much time in moment and I saw your message late! We hope you will share photos from the magazines soon
Ah, I just saw your reps and message before I log off for tonight Pavlin! Not such good news for the 1988/89 Match Facts - they were literally just the remaining ratings for the final few games (from a couple of weeks or so before the date of the magazine). I guess it's likely it'll be the same for 1989/90 since the same words are used, but I will check when that issue of Match arrives too of course. Some more possibilities though - I saw these for sale for a cheap price on Ebay too, and ordered them today: 1989/90 Match Facts Yearbook (potentially with ratings for 1988/89 - it was mainly for keeping track of the 1989/90 season as it happened and collecting stickers but maybe it has some 'match facts' data from the previous season) 1990 Match Yearbook (potentially with ratings for 1988/89) 1991 Match Yearbook (potentially with ratings for 1989/90) (According to what Paul had said maybe those could contain some ratings summaries, but again I'll find out when they arrive).
@Pavlin Arnaudov the Match magazine from June 9th 1990 didn't have end of season Match Facts average ratings either, but maybe it's interesting to post a few of the most significant ratings from that issue (for the European Cup Final, which as shown in the post of Paul I'm quoting Shoot didn't do ratings for I think or they were in the following issue or something, and the two games of the FA Cup Final - I will show the Match/Shoot average for each player in brackets too): European Cup Final: AC Milan - G.Galli 6, Tassotti 7, Maldini 7, Colombo 6, Costacurta 7, Baresi 8, Ancelotti 7, Rijkaard 7, Van Basten 7, Gullit 7, Evani 7 Benfica - Louao 6, Carlos 6, Ricardo 6, Samuel 6, Aldair 6, Thern 6, Paneira 6, Pacheco 6 (Brito 7), Hernai 6, Valdo 7, Magnusson 6 FA Cup Final (1st game) - Shoot/Match averages in brackets: Crystal Palace - Martyn 7 (7), Pemberton 7 (7), Shaw 7 (7.5), Gray 8 (7), O'Reilly 6 (6), Thorn 6 (6.5), Barber 6 (6) (Wright 7 - no grade from Shoot), Thomas 7 (8), Bright 7 (6.5), Salako 7 (7.5), Pardew 6 (6.5) Man Utd - Leighton 5 (5), Ince 6 (7), Martin 6 (6), Bruce 6 (6.5), Phelan 7 (7), Pallister 5 (5.5) (Robins 6 - no grade from Shoot), Robson 7 (7), Webb 5 (5.5), McClair 5 (5.5), Hughes 8 (8.5), Wallace 6 (6) FA Cup Final (2nd game) - Shoot/Match averages in brackets: Crystal Palace - Martyn 6 (6), Pemberton 6 (5.5), Shaw 6 (5.5), Gray 9 (8), O'Reilly 4 (5.5), Thorn 4 (5), Barber 5 (5) (Wright 6 - no grade from Shoot), Thomas 6 (7), Bright 6 (5.5), Salako 6 (6), Pardew 4 (5.5) Man Utd - Sealey 9 (8.5), Ince 8 (8.5), Martin 7 (7.5), Bruce 7 (6.5), Phelan 7 (6.5), Pallister 7 (7), Robson 7 (7.5), Webb 7 (7), McClair 8 (7.5), Hughes 6 (7), Wallace 6 (6) Not all International games have ratings (and the Cup Winners Cup and Uefa Cup Finals don't), but the England and Scotland ones do. Shoot were more generous in England vs Denmark for sure - I'll show the ratings for that again below in the same format: England vs Denmark - Shoot/Match average in brackets: England - Shilton 5 (6) (Woods 6 - no grade from Shoot), Stevens 5 (6), Pearce 6 (6) (Dorigo 6 - no grade from Shoot), McMahon 6 (6), Walker 7 (7.5), Butcher 5 (5.5), Hodge 6 (7.5), Gascoigne 6 (6.5), Waddle 6 (5.5) (Rocastle 5 - no grade from Shoot), Lineker 6 (6.5) (Bull 5 - no grade from Shoot), Barnes 6 (6.5) Denmark - Schmeichel 5 (6), Sivebaek 5 (5.5), Nielsen 5 (5.5), Olsen 5 (6), Andersen 5 (5.5), Bartram 6 (6.5), Jensen 6 (6), Vilfort 7 (6.5), Povlsen 6 (6.5) (Bruun 5 - no grade from Shoot), M.Laudrup 6 (7) (Jakobsen 5 - no grade from Shoot), B.Laudrup 6 (7.5) There are no 1st Division game ratings and I didn't think overall it was worth scanning pages in, but if there are some good pages in those Yearbooks I ordered then potentially I will scan some in and post attachments here.
It's interesting re: the above that Match were giving out more ratings for substitutes in 1990 (they did if they played 20 minutes or more) while Shoot was doing ratings for more International games (the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). Anyway, I guess the combined Match/Shoot ratings for the FA Cup Final games and England-Denmark can even be good for your site @Krokko (not a request, just a suggestion - I think where Shoot haven't rated subs it's fine to just use the Match grades probably for those players, or they could be left off the summary). I can do England-Uruguay too the same way actually (showing the Match magazine ratings, and then the combined Shoot/Match averages in brackets) England - Shilton 6 (5.5), Parker 7 (6.5), Pearce 6 (6), Hodge 7 (6.5), Walker 9 (8.5), Butcher 7 (6.5), Robson 7 (6.5), Gascoigne 8 (7.5), Waddle 7 (6), Lineker 7 (6.5), Barnes 8 (7.5) Uruguay - Pereira 7 (7.5), Gutierrez 7 (7), De Leon 7 (6.5), Herrera 8 (7), Perdomo 7 (7), Dominguez 7 (6.5), Alzamendi 7 (7), Ostolaza 7 (7), Francescoli 8 (8), Paz 9 (7.5), Sosa 8 (7.5) As extra info: the Scottish MOTM vs Poland with Match was Aitken rather than McAllister (with an 8, the same as Shoot gave McAllister; both magazines had Kosicki as Polish MOTM with an 8) and vs Egypt it was Cooper rather than Durie (with a 7, which Shoot had given to both of them; Match had El Cass as top Egyptian with an 8 - Shoot named him differently I think but he came off just after half-time anyway, while as Paul showed Shoot had Abdel Hamid as top rated Egyptian and with a 9; Match gave him 7). Match did do ratings for the Wales vs Costa Rica game actually, and also had Saunders as top rated player but with an 8, not a 9, while Montero with a 7 was their top rated Costa Rican rather than Cayasso (who they even gave a 5, while Shoot gave him an 8!).
@vyncy has got the 1980/81 season up on DBS Calcio now too! This time he should take most of the credit as he entered all the ratings himself. It was in a way a bit educational for me to help out with deciding the positions and formations because I ended up looking at more footage and info than I had done before for that 1st Division season. Anyway, if I copy and paste a snapshot of the top 50 rated players (with 50%+ games played, and based on ratings for a particular team - see my earlier summary for nuances about players with nearly 20 games like Trevor Francis or with high ratings playing for two clubs like Martin O'Neill - those miss out on the 'top 11' for Forest and Norwich respectively but that's because Garry Birtles fitted best as a SP overall and his Forest average was very slightly higher than Francis's, and for Norwich Graham Paddon was ever present and played the majority of games as the INC in midfield which is the role O'Neill took over towards the end of the season), like I did for 91/92 a couple of pages back (obviously for more detailed info see DBS Calcio, including average ratings for each team, manager ratings, ratings for each role....): 1 Craig Johnston 6.796 2 Gerry Francis 6.740 3 Alan Brazil 6.671 4 Peter Shilton 6.663 5 Kenny Dalglish 6.647 6 Osvaldo Ardiles 6.639 7 Arnold Muhren 6.610 8 Peter Withe 6.608 9 Bryan Robson 6.588 10 Eric Gates 6.581
11 Bosko Jankovic 6.568 12 Frans Thijssen 6.565 13 Steve Williams 6.561 14 Les Sealey 6.557 15 Glenn Hoddle 6.539 16 Paul Cooper 6.539 17 Asa Hartford 6.538 18 Steve Foster 6.536 19 Tony Morley 6.536 20 Russell Osman 6.536
21 Mick Mills 6.530 22 Graeme Souness 6.527 23 Allan Evans 6.513 24 Mark Lawrenson 6.513 25 George Burley 6.500 26 Tommy Hutchison 6.500 27 Dennis Mortimer 6.488 28 Stan Cummins 6.488 29 Ray Kennedy 6.488 30 Brian Horton 6.487
31 Shaunn Elliott 6.487 32 Joe Jordan 6.470 33 Terry Butcher 6.463 34 Martin O'Neill 6.458 35 Chris Turner 6.426 36 Kenny Sansom 6.417 37 Paul Mariner 6.417 38 Mike Channon 6.417 39 Gary Shaw 6.413 40 Ricardo Villa 6.397
41 Michael Robinson 6.393 42 Steve Perryman 6.393 43 Kevin Keegan 6.389 44 Tony McAndrew 6.389 45 Alan Hansen 6.389 46 Steve McMahon 6.386 47 David Armstrong 6.385 48 Pat Jennings 6.375 49 Phil Thompson 6.375 50 Mark Wallington 6.369 The averages have been reduced to comply with the DBS Calcio standard, based on the averages of all players - by a little bit less than the Shoot ratings of 1991/92 but not much less.
Peter Fox (Stoke), Steve Archibald (Tottenham), Ray Clemence (Liverpool) and Trevor Cherry (Leeds) were on the same score as Wallington to 3 decimal places. Wallington and Fox have a maximum 42 rated games, and the other three have 41, so they're all pretty much in an extended top 50 I guess, in an equal 50th place.
Sorry, I mis-read it - Fox is the one on an equal score to 3 decimal places (and having the same number of games too he possibly is a justified tied 50th), although the other three are very close behind (it makes sense the average is slightly different given the different number of rated games of course...but it's very very close behind anyway).
Actually @vyncy re: the top 11s, I'm wondering now whether it might have been best to classify Gary Goodchild as either an INC or a S, leaving Flanagan to be in Crystal Palace's top 11. I guess it doesn't matter, and it's due to me and my recommendations, not you, that Goodchild has gone as an SP in the first place (I had been slightly undecided on Walsh too and he had enough games to go in the XI in theory, while Flanagan was one short of that of course), but potentially if you would think it is better and it's easy to do maybe making that change does seem suitable. I didn't have a lot to go on, but he only came on as a second half sub in one game (although clearly did enough to get a good rating): Gary Goodchild - Wikipedia Middlesbrough FC - Crystal Palace 2:0 (Premier League 1980/1981, 28. Round) (worldfootball.net) Gary Goodchild » Premier League 1980/1981 (worldfootball.net)
Doing a search on Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk I guess maybe C (striker) is better than INC (central/attacking midfielder) That's from a report in a Grimsby newspaper before an FA Cup game in January, but it does describe Goodchild as a striker (possibly it can mean just a player playing in the front 2 though, and I did think SP was better for Carter already from what I've seen). The only thing that could lean towards INC being better is that he came on for a midfielder in that Middlesbrough game - this report is all I can see but doesn't detail any tactical change when he came on or anything like that (but it's feasible they added another attacker for sure I think) That's from the Sunday Sun (Newcastle, not a national newspaper, so it's mainly focused on the North East games of course), which could be an interesting source to investigate a bit further potentially, due to naming MOTM choices as 'top men' for each club (in the Southampton-Sunderland game in the other report slightly visible there they had Keegan as Southampton's top player, and Chisholm as Sunderland's). Anyway, I don't think it matters a lot re: Goodchild with him on 1 appearance (just like it didn't matter too much what position Terry Wilson of Forest has for 91/92, albeit I had remembered/realised he played his one game as midfielder, MCC, not as defender/LCD, with Nigel Clough still in defence, after we'd already sorted that season). So it's just whether it's better not to have him in Palace's 'top 11' due to the fact he hardly played any football for them (and moving him allows Flanagan to go in the 11 as SP which might be the most realistic thing I think...and his average is higher than Walsh's who like I said could reasonably be moved from C to SP himself probably but maybe that wouldn't be the best call).
Going back to this, as can be seen on DBS Calcio now, the other team not previously mentioned that has been designated a 4-3-3 is Coventry City. Crystal Palace did possibly play more games with a kind of 4-3-3 too overall (similar to West Brom's system with one winger, or in Palace's case it might have been seen more as an asymmetrical 4-4-2 than an asymmetrical 4-3-3 I guess possibly) but I think 4-4-2 was still suitable for the top 11. Brighton & Hove Albion were designated a 4-3-1-2 though too - they did play that kind of system with Smith behind two strikers/forwards quite a bit, although also played with one winger, or occasionally two wingers, sometimes. Lawrenson was played quite a few times both in midfield and defence I think - he lines up as the right midfielder in the 3 in the top 11 (as ACD therefore). Also, as can be seen on DBS Calcio Gerry Francis has been classed as an INC, so actually he's the top rated INC with more than 20 games, ahead of Ardiles. The DBS Calcio XI based on top-rated player in each role (with more than 20 games) ends up like this in that case I suppose: Shilton; Burley, Osman, Foster, Mills; Johnston, G.Francis; Gates; Jankovic, Withe, Brazil
Thanks mate. Like I said vyncy did the majority of work on this one (and it wasn't simple given needing to use multiple sources), so big kudos to him for getting another English season entered on DBS Calcio.
Re: the Football Writers Player of the Year poll for that 1980/81 season, referred to in this post I made https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/p...ivision-ratings.2037606/page-29#post-41242275 Mike Langley wrote this on April the 5th (prior to deciding who he was voting for - it seemed like he was deciding between Thijssen and Muhren potentially, but thought Mortimer would do well and thought Trevor Francis was the best player when he was fit to play):
There was nothing about 1st Division average ratings in the Match Yearbooks (just World Cup game ratings from Italia '90 that Paul has already posted on the forum, plus the Euro 88 Final ratings), but there are a few interesting things in there such as questions to players about who they idolised when growing up, which players they most admire that play their position and who their toughest opponent has been - I'll put their answers below from left to right respectively: Paul Blades (Norwich) - Roy McFarland/Colin Todd, Mark Wright, John Barnes Dalian Atkinson (Real Sociedad at the time) - Pele, Roger Milla, Des Walker Matt Le Tissier (Southampton) - Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle, Stuart Pearce David Platt (Aston Villa) - Michel Platini (no questions on the other topics, but one about who should have been an International and he said Mark Walters) Vinny Jones (Leeds) - Glenn Hoddle (also no questions on the other topics, but he said it was himself who should have been an International and said he was working on it).
I thought what might be interesting is to show the placings of the teams with their top two rated players with more than 10 games played and games played used as tiebreaker for equal averages to two decimal places, for the 1980/81 and 1991/92 1st Division seasons (alongside each other), as shown on DBS Calcio (with Match predominantly used for 80/81, but with significant contribution of ratings from The People too; and with Shoot used for 91/92 of course): 1980/81 on the left: and 1991/92 on the right. 1st Aston Villa (4-4-2) - Peter Withe (C/Centre Forward - 6.61 - 37 games - English), Tony Morley (ACS/Left Winger - 6.54 - 42 games - English): Leeds United (4-4-2) - David Batty (MCC/Central Defensive Midfielder - 6.70 - 40 games - English), Gary McAllister (INC/Central Attacking Midfielder - 6.52 - 41 games - Scottish) 2nd Ipswich Town (4-3-1-2) - Alan Brazil (SP/Second Striker - 6.67 - 35 games - Scottish), Arnold Muhren (INC/Left Attacking Midfielder - 6.61 - 41 games - Dutch): Manchester United (4-4-2) - Andrei Kanchelskis (ACD/Right Winger - 6.64 - 28 games - Russian/Lithuanian/Ukrainian), Bryan Robson (INC/Central-Attacking Midfielder - 6.58 - 26 games - English) 3rd Arsenal (4-4-2) - Kenny Sansom (TLS/Left Back - 6.42 - 42 games - English), Pat Jennings (P/Goalkeeper - 6.38 - 32 games - Northern Irish): Sheffield Wednesday (4-4-2) - Carlton Palmer (MCC/Central-Defensive Midfielder - 6.71 - 42 games - English), Peter Shirtliff (SCD/Marking Centre Back - 6.29 - 12 games - English) 4th West Bromwich Albion (4-3-3) - Bryan Robson (MCC/Central Midfielder - 6.59 - 40 games - English), Remi Moses (INC/Right Central Midfielder - 6.24 - 41 games - English): Arsenal (4-4-2) - Paul Merson (ACS/Left Winger - 6.67 - 41 games - English), Ian Wright (SP/(Second/)Striker - 6.52 - 30 games - English) 5th Liverpool (4-4-2) - Kenny Dalglish (SP/Second Striker - 6.65 - 34 games - Scottish), Graeme Souness (MCC/Central-Defensive Midfielder - 6.53 - 37 games - Scottish): Manchester City (4-4-2) - Tony Coton (P/Goalkeeper - 6.38 - 37 games - English), Steve McMahon (MCC/Central Defensive Midfielder - 6.28 - 18 games - English) 6th Southampton (4-3-3) - Steve Williams (INC/Right Central Midfielder - 6.56 - 33 games - English), Mike Channon (ACD/Right Forward - 6.42 - 42 games - English): Liverpool (4-4-2) - Jan Molby (INC/Central-Attacking Midfielder - 7.30 - 25 games - Danish), Mark Wright (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 7.02 - 21 games - English) 7th Nottingham Forest (4-4-2) - Peter Shilton (P/Goalkeeper - 6.66 - 40 games - English), Trevor Francis (SP/Second Striker - 6.58 - 18 games - English): Aston Villa (4-4-2) - Paul McGrath (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.87 - 41 games - Irish), Dalian Atkinson (SP/Second Striker - 6.36 - 11 games - English) 8th Manchester United (4-4-2) - Joe Jordan (C/Centre Forward - 6.37 - 33 games - Scottish), Martin Buchan (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.35 - 26 games - Scottish): Nottingham Forest (4-4-2) - Stuart Pearce (TLS/Left Back - 6.82 - 30 games - English), Des Walker (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.77 - 32 games - English) 9th Leeds United (4-4-2) - Trevor Cherry (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.37 - 41 games - English), John Lukic (P/Goalkeeper - 6.25 - 42 games - English): Sheffield United (4-4-2) - Brian Deane (C/Centre Forward - 6.78 - 30 games - English), Simon Tracey (P/Goalkeeper - 6.45 - 29 games - English) 10th Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2) - Osvaldo Ardiles (INC/Central Attacking Midfielder - 6.64 - 36 games - Argentinian), Glenn Hoddle (ACD/Right Attacking Midfielder - 6.54 - 38 games - English): Crystal Palace (4-4-2) - Andy Gray (MCC/Central Midfielder - 6.42 - 25 games - English), Andy Thorn (LCD/Covering Central Defender - 6.24 - 33 games - English) 11th Stoke City (4-4-2) - Peter Fox (P/Goalkeeper - 6.37 - 42 games - English), Alan Dodd (MCC/Central-Defensive Midfielder, sometimes Sweeper I think - 6.22 - 41 games - English): Queens Park Rangers (4-4-2) - Ray Wilkins (INC/Playmaking Midfielder - 6.77 - 26 games - English), Andy Sinton (ACS/Left Winger - 6.64 - 38 games - English) 12th Manchester City (4-3-3) - Tommy Hutchison (ACD/Right Winger - 6.50 - 24 games - Scottish), Steve Daley (INC/Right Central Attacking Midfielder - 6.27 - 15 games - English): Everton (4-4-2) - Martin Keown (SCD/Marking Centre Back - 6.92 - 39 games - English), Peter Beardsley (SP/Second Striker and sometimes attacking mid - 6.83 - 42 games - English) 13th Birmingham City (4-4-2) - Frank Worthington (SP/Second Striker - 6.36 - 36 games - English), Archie Gemmill (INC/Central-Attacking Midfielder - 6.27 - 41 games - Scottish): Wimbledon (4-4-2) - Warren Barton (MCC/Central Midfielder - 6.38 - 42 games - English), Terry Phelan (TLS/Left Back - 6.38 - 37 games - Irish) 14th Middlesbrough (4-3-3) - Craig Johnston (MCC/Central Midfielder - 6.80 - 27 games - English/South African/Australian), Bosko Jankovic (ACD/Right Forward or forward in general - 6.57 - 22 games - Yugoslavian): Chelsea (4-4-2) - Andy Townsend (INC/Central-Attacking Midfielder - 6.66 - 35 games - Irish), Paul Elliott (SCD/Marking Centre Back - 6.63 - 35 games - English) 15th Everton (4-4-2) - Asa Hartford (INC/Central Attacking Midfielder - 6.54 - 39 games - Scottish), Steve McMahon (MCC/Central-Defensive Midfielder - 6.39 - 35 games - English): Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2 - often a bit asymmetrical I think though when they did use this formation which they mostly did I think i.e Samways not normally playing as true left winger) - Erik Thorstvedt (P/Goalkeeper - 6.54 - 24 games - Norwegian), Gary Lineker (C/Centre Forward - 6.51 - 35 games - English) 16th Coventry City (4-3-3) - Les Sealey (P/Goalkeeper - 6.56 - 35 games - English), Steve Hunt (ACS/Left-Attacking Midfielder - 6.29 - 41 games - English): Southampton (4-4-2) - Tim Flowers (P/Goalkeeper - 6.38 - 41 games - English), Terry Hurlock (MCC/Central-Defensive Midfielder - 6.31 - 27 games - English) 17th Sunderland (4-4-2) - Stan Cummins (SP/Supporting Attacker but also Attacking Mid and Left Winger at times I think - 6.49 - 42 games - English), Shaunn Elliott (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.49 - 38 games - English): Oldham Athletic (4-4-2) - Earl Barrett (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.59 - 29 games - English), Richard Jobson (SCD/Marking Centre Back - 6.57 - 36 games - English) 18th Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-4-2) - John Humphrey (TLD/Right Back - 6.21 - 12 games - English), Paul Bradshaw (P/Goalkeeper - 6.14 - 38 games - English): Norwich City (4-4-2) - Jeremy Goss (MCC/Central Midfielder - 6.34 - 29 games - Welsh), Chris Sutton (SCD/Marking Centre back, but occasionally striker too - 6.34 - 16 games - English) 19th Brighton & Hove Albion (4-3-1-2) - Steve Foster (SCD/Marking Centre Back - 6.54 - 42 games - English), Mark Lawrenson (ACD/Right Central Midfielder but also centre back/libero at times - 6.51 - 40 games - Irish): Coventry City (4-4-2) - Stewart Robson (MCC/Central Midfielder - 6.54 - 37 games - English), Steve Ogrizovic (P/Goalkeeper - 6.46 - 38 games - English) 20th Norwich City (4-4-2) - Martin O'Neill (INC/Central-Attacking Midfielder - 6.82 - 11 games - Northern Irish), Kevin Bond (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.32 - 28 games - English): Luton Town (4-4-2) - Mick Harford (C/Centre Forward - 6.52 - 29 games - English), Mark Pembridge (INC/Central-Attacking Midfielder - 6.26 - 42 games - Welsh) 21st Leicester City (4-4-2) - Mark Wallington (P/Goalkeeper - 6.37 - 42 games - English), Larry May (LCD/Covering Centre Back - 6.24 - 34 games - English): Notts County (4-4-2) - Mark Draper (INC/Central Attacking Midfielder - 6.48 - 32 games - English), Craig Short (SCD/Marking Centre Back - 6.46 - 37 games - English) 22nd Crystal Palace (4-4-2) - Gerry Francis (INC/Central-Attacking Midfielder - 6.74 - 25 games - English), Paul Barron (P/Goalkeeper - 6.14 - 33 games - English): West Ham United (4-4-2) - Ludek Miklosko (P/Goalkeeper - 6.24 - 36 games - Czechoslovakian), Steve Potts (LCD/Covering Centre Back and sometimes midfielder I think - 6.07 - 34 games - English) There wasn't always a big distinction between 'covering centre back' and 'marking centre back' probably, but I labelled them like that to match the roles on DBS Calcio anyway.
Those were perhaps the most interesting things to put on the thread from the 1991 Yearbook (published around the start of 1990/91). In the 1990 Yearbook (published around the start of 1989/90) there are some pages detailing 6 positive traits of various players, detailed below: John Barnes (Liverpool) - 1) Intelligent wandering and bewildering change of pace make him very difficult to mark, 2) Plays the wall pass well, moving off to collect the return pass in full flight, 3) Full of running, he darts off at all angles, beating and luring defenders into false positions, creating space for team-mates, 4) A disconcerting dribbler, he sets up most of his own scoring chances, 5) An instinctive player, forever popping up to collect the ball in the positions likely to create danger, 6) Very unorthodox. Goes straight at opponents when they might be expecting him to make a pass. (General comment in intro says he is one of the world's greatest forwards) Terry Hurlock (Milwall) - 1) Defenders (note: he's specified as a midfielder - intro says "one of the top midfield men in the division) must be able to mark space as effectively as they mark opponents. Hurlock is outstanding in this respect, 2) When repelling an attack he is always prepared to play a short pass to a colleague who has taken up a good position, 3) When he wins the ball in an attacking position, he has the courage and ball control to move up into attack, 4) Tremendous anticipation, intercepts quickly to cut off supply of passes to opposing forwards, 5) A high proportion of his passes, even when he hits a moving ball, delivered with the correct weight for a team-mate to collect in his stride, 6) A fearless, hard tackler - never reckless. Will not tackle until he's sure of winning the ball. David Seaman (QPR) - 1) Seaman is boss of his own penalty area. He shouts advice and encouragement to his defenders. When he calls for a ball, he gets it, 2) He deals with every high centre in or around the six-yard box, 3) When forced to punch the ball out, he clears the penalty area, 4) When racing an attacker to a through pass, he has the courage to go down at his feet and spread himself sideways to present the largest possible barrier, 5) His faultless positional play means he always has a better than even chance of saving a shot. Rarely left stranded in a false position, watching the ball roll in, 6) Does not indulge in aimless high kicks down field. A good reader of the game, he excels in throws to unmarked team-mates. John Fashanu (Wimbledon) - 1) Deadly in the air. Times his jumps so it appears he is hovering above opponents, 2) Has the skill and strength to hold off a challenge. Very good at shielding the ball when waiting for midfield men to get up in support, 3) Makes his forward line work by playing the ball off intelligently with his head and his feet, 4) Devestating when going to meet centres played short to the near post, 5) Makes maximum use of his great physique. Practically impossible to knock off the ball, 6) His astute positional sense makes him an ideal target for long passes played out from his defence. Diego Maradona (Napoli) *Not related to the English league of course (intro calls him one of the most unorthodox match winners in football) - 1) Tremendous close control at full speed. Likes to run straight at the man, denying him the chance to read which was he is going. Then at the last second he dummies and goes around, 2) A cool finisher - unpredictable. Shoots when seemingly off balance, 3) He always thinks ahead, running intelligently into threatening positions behind defenders to collect a return pass, 4) An exceptional first-time passer of the ball - whatever the range, 5) Adept at controlling the ball with his chest. He can cushion the ball, dropping it at his feet or playing it off accurately to a team-mate, 6) Always on the move and rarely caught in possession. Bryan Robson (Manchester United) - 1) He has the skill and control to beat players which enables him to play his way out of trouble, 2) An outstanding all-rounder, his vast reservoir of stamina enables him to operate continuously in both penalty boxes, 3) Courageous. Willing to go in among the flying boots and meet the ball in a crowded goalmouth, 4) Fast on the turn, which allows him, when beaten, to get back and challenge again, 5) Skilled at turning defence into attack with one killer pass, 6) Good reader of the game. It often appears the opposition are hitting the ball straight at him - this is because he is moving into position before the ball is struck. Terry Butcher (at Rangers in Scotland at that moment) - 1) Extremely combative. Never gives up - will not accept defeat until the final whistle is blown, 2) A great ball winner. His long legs reach out to collect balls which appear to have escaped him, 3) He has a big heart and a lot of courage, brave enough to accept opponents hitting him from behind when he is trying to win the ball in the air, 4) A good reader of the game, who is quick to spot threatening moves, 5) Good 'Big Match' temperament. In tight situations he doesn't panic and beat himself. He keeps cool and plays out of trouble, 6) In possession, he's not a great dribbler of the ball, but he is quick to see an opening and he's a fine passer of a ball. In the World Cup Preview section (in the middle of 1989, so before qualifying has been decided) the players picked out are Rinat Dassayev (that's how it's they spell it) as 'Deft Dassayev', Ruud Gullit under a heading 'Ruud Awkening', Gianluca Vialli 'Italy's Finest', Ray Houghton 'Hero Houghton', Michael Laudrup 'Great Dane' and Diego Maradona 'Dangerman Diego'. There is a '20 Facts' piece about Neil Webb, including that his best friend was Steve Wigley, he used to have Kellogg's Frosties, Cadbury's milk chocolate and Ribena as a pre-match breakfast, he had been a Tottenham fan and his idol was Glenn Hoddle, and he owned a large collection of video tapes featuring Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer etc.... In the 1989 copy of Match I bought Emlyn Hughes did say "Team of the season was undoubtedly Nottingham Forest who possessed players of real class in Des Walker, Neil Webb, Nigel Clough and Steve Sutton, but even so I can never see them winning the Championship. Instead we've got to look to the likes of Manchester United and Everton for that, but Alex Ferguson and Colin Harvey are still some way short of getting it right and it looks like Liverpool will start the season odds on for the title....for a change (he is joking, meaning it is not unusual)!"
I missed one out there actually - about Mel Sterland (I'll add it tomorrow sometime probably). Another thing I thought would be interesting (having already done summaries about the top average ratings of each decade from The People - for most of 70s, all of 80s, a bit of 90s, according to their available ratings) would be to show the results of a points system based on The People's final average ratings that you and me have found Pavlin, for those final 20 1st Division seasons between 1972/73 and 1991/92: allocating points from 10 for 1st place within each section (goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, forwards) according to those lists they published, allowing players tied with each other to receive the full points for that place (so sometimes having more than 10 players scoring from a particular section, although sometimes it's less than 10 too because of their final list for that section being shorter than 10 names like sometimes happened, and for 1991/92 we only have top 6s for every section too): Players shown with clubs they scored the points for (by being within the top 10s while playing for them). Goalkeepers Peter Shilton (Leicester City, Stoke City, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Derby County) - 160 Pat Jennings (Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal) - 61 Ray Clemence (Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur) - 60 Phil Parkes (Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United) - 60 Joe Corrigan (Manchester City) - 56 Jimmy Rimmer (Arsenal, Aston Villa) - 43 Neville Southall (Everton) - 39 Paul Cooper (Ipswich Town) - 32 Bryan Gunn (Norwich City) - 31 David Seaman (Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers, Arsenal) - 30 Steve Ogrizovic (Coventry City) - 25 Jim Platt (Middlesbrough) - 25 Nigel Spink (Aston Villa) - 25 Tony Coton (Watford, Manchester City) - 18 Kevin Keelan (Norwich City) - 23 Chris Woods (Norwich City) - 23 Mark Wallington (Leicester City) - 21 David Harvey (Leeds United) - 20 John Burridge (Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Southampton) - 19 Bruce Grobbelaar (Liverpool) - 19 Les Sealey (Coventry City, Luton Town) - 18 Peter Fox (Stoke City) - 16 Tim Flowers (Southampton) - 15 Dave Beasant (Wimbledon) - 13 George Wood (Everton) - 13 Tony Godden (West Bromwich Albion) - 11 Peter Schmeichel (Manchester United) - 10 Gary Bailey (Manchester United) - 9 Colin Boulton (Derby County) - 9 Alec Chamberlain (Luton Town) - 9 Peter Hucker (Queens Park Rangers) - 9 John Lukic (Arsenal) - 9 Chris Turner (Sunderland) - 9 Martin Hodge (Everton, Sheffield Wednesday) - 8 Erik Thorstvedt (Tottenham Hotspur) - 8 Simon Tracey (Sheffield United) - 8 Jeff Wealands (Birmingham City) - 8 David Best (Ipswich Town) - 7 Steve Cherry (Notts County) - 7 Bill Glazier (Coventry City) - 7 Graham Moseley (Brighton & Hove Albion) - 7 Steve Sutton (Nottingham Forest) - 7 Ian Andrews (Leicester City) - 6 Bobby Ferguson (West Ham United) - 6 Jim Leighton (Manchester United) - 6 Nigel Martyn (Crystal Palace) - 6 Hans Segers (Wimbledon) - 6 Jim McDonagh (Everton) - 5 Ludek Miklosko (West Ham United) - 5 Jim Montgomery (Birmingham City) - 5 Peter Bonetti (Chelsea) - 4 Brain Horne (Milwall) - 4 Eric Martin (Southampton) - 4 Tom McAllister (Sheffield United) - 4 Tony Norman (Sunderland) - 4 Alan Stevenson (Burnley) - 4 Hans van Breukelen (Nottingham Forest) - 4 Paul Bradshaw (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 3 Mervyn Day (West Ham United) - 3 Stephen Pears (Middlesbrough) - 3 Alex Stepney (Manchester United) - 3 Paul Barron (West Bromwich Albion) - 2 Ivan Katalinic (Southampton) - 2 Mike Mahoney (Newcastle United) - 2 Tom McAllister (West Ham United) - 2 Willie McFaul (Newcastle United) - 2 Defenders Alan Hansen (Liverpool) - 42 Colin Todd (Derby County, Everton) - 42 Des Walker (Nottingham Forest) - 38 Mark Lawrenson (Liverpool) - 37 Norman Hunter (Leeds United, Bristol City) - 34 Kenny Burns (Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest) - 33 Stuart Pearce (Nottingham Forest) - 29 Paul Parker (Queens Park Rangers) - 29 Alvin Martin (West Ham United) - 27 Terry Butcher (Ipswich Town) - 26 Roy McFarland (Derby County) - 25 Paul McGrath (Manchester United, Aston Villa) - 24 Stuart Boam (Middlesbrough) - 23 Wiilie Maddren (Middlesbrough) - 23 Steve Nicol (Liverpool) - 23 Derek Statham (West Bromwich Albion) - 23 Steve Bruce (Norwich City, Manchester United) - 22 Allan Evans (Aston Villa) - 22 Paul Madeley (Leeds United) - 22 Kenny Sansom (Arsenal) - 22 Dave Watson (Norwich City) - 22 Steve Foster (Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town) - 21 Gordon McQueen (Leeds United, Manchester United) - 21 Viv Anderson (Nottingham Forest, Arsenal) - 19 Kevin Beattie (Ipswich Town) - 17 Martin Buchan (Manchester United) - 16 Phil Thompson (Liverpool) - 16 Mark Wright (Derby County) - 16 Lee Dixon (Arsenal) - 15 Steve Perryman (Tottenham Hotspur) - 14 George Burley (Ipswich Town) - 13 Gary Gillespie (Coventry City, LIverpool) - 13 Gary Mabbutt (Tottenham Hotspur) - 13 Graham Roberts (Tottenham Hotspur) - 13 David O'Leary (Arsenal) - 12 Russell Osman (Ipswich Town) - 12 Tony Adams (Arsenal) - 11 John McClelland (Watford) - 11 Glenn Roeder (Newcastle United) - 11 John Wile (West Bromwich Albion) - 11 Nigel Winterburn (Wimbledon, Arsenal) - 10 Richard Jobson (Oldham Athletic) - 9 Bobby Moore (West Ham United) - 9 Bobby Moncur (Newcastle United) - 9 Ian Atkins (Sunderland) - 8 Martyn Bennett (West Bromwich Albion) - 8 Paul Elliott (Chelsea) - 8 Terry Fenwick (Queens Park Rangers) - 8 Alan Kennedy (Newcastle United, Liverpool) - 8 Steve Wicks (Queens Park Rangers) - 8 Jeff Clarke (Sunderland) - 7 John Craggs (Middlesbrough) - 7 Mike Doyle (Manchester City) - 6 Shaun Elliott (Sunderland) - 6 John Gidman (Aston Villa) - 6 Glenn Hysen (Liverpool) - 6 Rob Jones (Liverpool) - 6 Alan McLeary (Milwall) - 6 Frank McLintock (Queens Park Rangers) - 6 Phil Neal (Liverpool) - 6 Mike Pejic (Stoke City) - 6 Tommy Smith (Liverpool) - 6 Chris Whyte (Arsenal) - 6 Steve Wood (Milwall) - 6 Noel Blake (Birmingham City) - 5 Steve Bould (Arsenal) - 5 Julian Dicks (West Ham United) - 5 Alan Dodd (Stoke City) - 5 Emlyn Hughes (Liverpool) - 5 Derek Jeffries (Manchester City) - 5 David Needham (Nottingham Forest) - 5 Ally Robertson (West Bromwich Albion) - 5 Colin Foster (Nottingham Forest) - 4 Tony Gale (West Ham United) - 4 Allan Hunter (Ipswich Town) - 4 Frank Lampard Sr (West Ham United) - 4 Johnny Metgod (Nottingham Forest) - 4 David Nish (Derby County) - 4 John Pratt (Tottenham Hotspur) - 4 Mel Blyth (Crystal Palace) - 3 Terry Cooper (Middlesbrough) - 3 Kevin Lock (West Ham United) - 3 Mick Lyons (Everton) - 3 David Watson (Manchester City) - 3 Mike England (Tottenham Hotspur) - 2 Bob Hazell (Leicester City) - 2 Chris Nicholl (Aston Villa) - 2 Ante Rajkovic (Swansea City) - 2 Gary Bennett (Sunderland) - 1 Billy Bonds (West Ham United) - 1 Mark Bowen (Norwich City) - 1 Dave Langan (Birmingham City) - 1 Larry Lloyd (Nottingham Forest) - 1 Ken McNaught (Aston Villa) - 1 Irving Nattrass (Newcastle United) - 1 John Scales (Wimbledon) - 1 Eric Young (Crystal Palace) - 1 Midfielders Graeme Souness (Middlesbrough, Liverpool) - 46 Osvaldo Ardiles (Tottenham Hotspur) - 37 Bryan Robson (West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United) - 37 Tony Currie (Sheffield United, Leeds United) - 33 Paul Gascoigne (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur) - 31 Peter Reid (Everton, Manchester City) - 31 Archie Gemmill (Derby County, Nottingham Forest) - 28 Ray Wilkins (Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers) - 28 Glenn Hoddle (Tottenham Hotspur) - 27 Liam Brady (Arsenal) - 25 Alan Hudson (Chelsea, Stoke City) - 24 John Mahoney (Stoke City) - 24 Trevor Brooking (West Ham United) - 23 Howard Kendall (Everton) - 23 Steve McMahon (Liverpool) - 22 Gordon Strachan (Manchester United, Leeds United) - 22 Ian Callaghan (Liverpool) - 21 Trevor Steven (Everton) - 21 Terry Hibbitt (Newcastle United) - 19 Neil McNab (Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City) - 19 Alan Devonshire (West Ham United) - 18 Dennis Mortimer (Aston Villa) - 18 Ray Houghton (Oxford United, Liverpool) - 17 Jimmy Case (Southampton) - 16 Kevin Sheedy (Everton) - 16 David Batty (Leeds United) - 15 Billy Bonds (West Ham United) - 15 Paul Bracewell (Everton) - 15 Ray Kennedy (Liverpool) - 15 Neil Webb (Nottingham Forest) - 15 Ronnie Whelan (Liverpool) - 14 Steve Hunt (Coventry City, Aston Villa) - 12 Stuart McCall (Everton) - 11 Terry Hurlock (Milwall) - 10 David Platt (Aston Villa) - 10 Frans Thijssen (Ipswich Town) - 10 Gerry Gow (Bristol City, Manchester City) - 9 Asa Hartford (Manchester City) - 9 Glenn Cockerill (Southampton) - 9 Jan Molby (Liverpool) - 9 Stewart Robson (Coventry City) - 9 Gary Shelton (Sheffield Wednesday) - 9 Brian Talbot (Ipswich Town) - 9 Mickey Thomas (Stoke City) - 9 Terry Yorath (Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur) - 9 Billy Bremner (Leeds United) - 8 Craig Johnston (Liverpool) - 8 Lou Macari (Manchester United) - 8 Arnold Muhren (Ipswich Town) - 8 Martin Peters (Norwich City) - 8 Paul Stewart (Tottenham Hotspur) - 8 Steve Williams (Southampton) - 8 Sammy Lee (Liverpool) - 7 Terry McDermott (Liverpool) - 7 Terry Paine (Southampton) - 7 Tony Towers (Sunderland) - 7 Mark Ward (West Ham United) - 7 Dennis Wise (Wimbledon) - 7 Gordon Cowans (Aston Villa) - 6 Tommy Craig (Newcastle United) - 6 Trevor Francis (Birmingham City) - 6 Brian Horton (Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town) - 6 Emlyn Hughes (Liverpool) - 6 Tommy Hutchison (Manchester City) - 6 Johnny Metgod (Nottingham Forest) - 6 Paul Merson (Arsenal) - 6 Gary Owen (West Bromwich Albion) - 6 David Preece (Luton Town) - 6 Geraint Williams (Derby County) - 6 Les Briley (Milwall) - 5 Kevin Dillon (Birmingham City) - 5 Andy Gray (Crystal Palace) - 5 Don Masson (Queens Park Rangers) - 5 Paul Madeley (Leeds United) - 5 Gary McAllister (Leeds United) - 5 Steve Perryman (Tottenham Hotspur) - 5 David Rocastle (Arsenal) - 5 Norman Whiteside (Manchester United) - 5 Remi Moses (Manchester United) - 4 Kevin MacDonald (Leicester City) - 4 Jimmy Smith (Newcastle United) - 4 David Speedie (Coventry City) - 4 Colin Viljoen (Ipswich Town) - 4 Paul Allen (West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur) - 3 Doug Collins (Burnley) - 3 Ruel Fox (Norwich City) - 3 Colin Suggett (Norwich City) - 3 Ricardo Villa (Tottenham Hotspur) - 3 Tony Brown (West Bromwich Albion) - 2 Steve Coppell (Manchester United) - 2 Brian Flynn (Leeds United) - 2 John Gregory (Queens Park Rangers) - 2 Ricky Hill (Luton Town) - 2 Steve Hodge (Nottingham Forest) - 2 Paul McGrath (Aston Villa) - 2 Steve McKenzie (Charlton Athletic) - 2 Jesper Olsen (Manchester United) - 2 Michael Thomas (Arsenal) - 2 Andy Blair (Sheffield Wednesday)? - 1 Gerry Daly (Coventry City) - 1 Sammy McIlroy (Manchester United) - 1 Mick Mills (Ipswich Town) - 1 Martin O'Neill (Norwich City) - 1 Les Taylor (Watford) - 1 Forwards John Barnes (Watford, Liverpool) - 60 Kevin Keegan (Liverpool, Southampton) - 56 Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool) - 52 Trevor Francis (Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest) - 44 Peter Beardsley (Newcastle United, Liverpool) - 40 Paul Mariner (Ipswich Town) - 29 Dean Saunders (Derby County) - 27 Mike Channon (Southampton) - 25 Mark Hughes (Manchester United) - 25 Ian Rush (Liverpool) - 25 Ian Wright (Crystal Palace, Arsenal) - 23 Alan Brazil (Ipswich Town) - 22 Cyrille Regis (West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City) - 22 Brian Kidd (Arsenal, Manchester City) - 20 Chris Waddle (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur) - 19 Garry Birtles (Nottingham Forest) - 17 Nigel Clough (Nottingham Forest) - 16 Allan Clarke (Leeds United) - 15 Laurie Cunningham (West Bromwich Albion) - 15 John Robertson (Nottingham Forest) - 15 Tony Woodcock (Nottingham Forest, Arsenal) - 15 Tony Cottee (West Ham United) - 14 Eric Gates (Ipswich Town) - 14 Kevin Hector (Derby County) - 14 Peter Withe (Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa) - 14 Brian Marwood (Sheffield Wednesday) - 13 David Speedie (Chelsea) - 13 Gordon Hill (Manchester United) - 12 Gary Lineker (Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur) - 12 Stan Bowles (Queens Park Rangers) - 11 John Fashanu (Wimbledon) - 11 Leighton James (Burnley) - 11 Matt Le Tissier (Southampton) - 11 Malcolm MacDonald (Newcastle United, Arsenal) - 11 Pat Nevin (Chelsea) - 11 Alan Smith (Arsenal) - 11 Frank Worthington (Bolton Wanderers, Leeds United) - 11 Clive Allen (Tottenham Hotspur) - 10 David Johnson (Ipswich Town, Liverpool) - 10 Peter Osgood (Chelsea) - 10 Luthar Blissett (Watford) - 9 Kevin Campbell (Arsenal) - 9 Garth Crooks (Stoke City) - 9 Andy Gray (Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 9 Tommy Hutchison (Coventry City) - 9 Willie Johnston (West Bromwich Albion) - 9 Joe Jordan (Manchester United) - 9 Steve Kindon (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 9 Frank McAvennie (West Ham United) - 9 Mike Summerbee (Manchester City) - 9 Nigel Callaghan (Watford) - 8 Jimmy Greenhoff (Stoke City, Manchester United) - 8 Mick Jones (Leeds United) - 8 Niall Quinn (Manchester City) - 8 Mark Chamberlain (Stoke City) - 7 Alan Curtis (Swansea City) - 7 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) - 7 Anders Limpar (Arsenal) - 7 John Richards (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 7 Rodney Wallace (Southampton) - 7 Paul Williams (Charlton Athletic) - 7 Dave Bennett (Coventry City) - 6 John Byrne (Queens Park Rangers) - 6 Andrei Kanchelskis (Manchester United) - 6 Duncan McKenzie (Leeds United) - 6 Mirandinha (Newcastle United) - 6 Frank Stapleton (Arsenal) - 6 Ian Wallace (Coventry City) - 6 Mick Ferguson (Coventry City) - 5 Sammy McIlroy (Manchester United) - 5 Dave Thomas (Queens Park Rangers) - 5 Dennis Tueart (Manchester City) - 5 John Chiedozie (Notts County) - 4 Brian McClair (Manchester United) - 4 John Radford (Arsenal) - 4 Brian Stein (Luton Town) - 4 Danny Wallace (Southampton) - 4 Paul Walsh (Luton Town) - 4 Keith Weller (Leicester City) - 4 George Armstrong (Arsenal) - 3 Dalian Atkinson (Sheffield Wednesday) - 3 Tony Cascarino (Milwall) - 3 Stan Cummins (Sunderland) - 3 Kevin Drinkell (Norwich City) - 3 Paul Goddard (Newcastle United) - 3 Adrian Heath (Everton) - 3 Stuart Pearson (Manchester United) - 3 Pop Robson (West Ham United) - 3 Imre Varadi (Sheffield Wednesday) - 3 Steve Archibald (Tottenham Hotspur) - 2 Phil Boyer (Norwich City) - 2 Peter Lorimer (Leeds United) - 2 Andy Sinton (Queens Park Rangers) - 2 Roy Wegerle (Queens Park Rangers) - 2 Graeme Sharp (Everton) - 1 Kingsley Black (Luton Town) - 1 Ali Brown (West Bromwich Albion) - 1 Lee Chapman (Sheffield Wednesday) - 1 Peter Eastoe (Everton) - 1 Steve Heighway (Liverpool) - 1 James Melrose (Charlton Athletic) - 1 Paul Merson (Arsenal) - 1 Steve Moran (Southampton) - 1 Colin Stein (Coventry City) - 1 Mark Stuart (Charlton Athletic) - 1 Norman Whiteside (Manchester United) - 1 I switched Ardiles and Trevor Francis between midfield and attack again, and also put Dalglish as forward for every season (The People did have him among midfielders for 1983/84 but it seemed best to allocate the points towards his overall fowards total).
Hopefully that's basically all pretty much correct above (it took a bit longer to finish than I thought, and I wasn't using a spreadsheet, just adjusting the totals for each season!). I did forget to update Coton's points total clearly, and didn't merge the totals for Tom McAllister in the goalkeeper section, plus I should have added Manchester City as a club for Trevor Francis and Arsenal as a club for Paul Mariner I think. Another random clarification: looking back at the Match half-term report Pavlin posted for 1980/81 Craig Johnston did have the top average there (so it makes sense he ended with the top DBS Calcio average from that perspective too) - albeit cup games were being included in Match average ratings in that season (Dalglish also already has a particularly high average in that half-term report too and probably it's bumped up a bit by cup games I think; I suppose Johnston didn't have enough games to qualify for their final report anyway so we don't know if he'd still have been top of that in terms of average rating).
Here is that 'Star Spotter' piece on Mel Sterland (Leeds United) from the Match 1990 Yearbook (who is said to be an outstanding defender with great attacking qualities in the intro): 1) Centres accurately at full speed when on an upfield run, 2) Times his tackles well - when he goes in for the ball he gets it, 3) Never shirks responsibility in front of goal - always willing to try a shot, 4) Good in the air. Sterland can climb above tall players and displays courage and determination when clearing his line or heading at goal, 5) Skilled at disguising his intention, possibly by a feint, so drawing opponents away and increasing the value of his pass, 6) Adept at jockeying an opponent in possession, forcing them to change direction, or play the ball away from the immediate danger area.