Match of the Day - Season 23

First aired: 9/21/1986 14 episodes

With highlights out of fashion there were only 14 editions of Match of the Day all season and the only League action came in the seven live games on Sunday afternoons.

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Episodes

1. 21st September 1986: Everton v Manchester United

Aired: 9/21/1986

For the first of the season's Football League fixtures to be shown live, a visit to Goodison Park for a match featuring two of the game's foremost clubs.

2. 2nd November 1986: West Ham United v Everton

Aired: 11/2/1986

The new strike partnership of Frank McAvennie and Tony Cottee formed last season helped West Ham into third position in the league, their highest finish. Between them the two young internationals scored 54 goals for the Hammers, and they are on target again this season, with Cottee well on schedule to reach the tally of 30 he has set himself. Everton's treatment room has been filled by this season's most celebrated injury list. It is a measure of their squad strength that, though permanently below full compliment - and with last season's 40-goal Gary Lineker now exiled in Spain - they stayed unbeaten longer than any other First Division team at the start of 1986-87.

3. 23rd November 1986: Everton v Liverpool

Aired: 11/23/1986

Live soccer action at one of the classic 'derby' matches of the season: Merseyside's 135th League derby, all of them in the First Division, kicks off with honours exactly even: 47 wins for Everton, 47 wins for Liverpool and 40 games drawn. Only in goals scored do Liverpool have the edge -184 to 171. But in terms of Championship success, the men of Anfield stand head and shoulders above everyone. They have won the title 16 times, with Everton and Arsenal sharing second place at eight apiece.

4. 7th December 1986: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur

Aired: 12/7/1986

Television's first full-length examination of two of the game's glamour clubs since they came under new management. United's troubled start to the season led to Ron Atkinson being replaced a month ago by Alex Ferguson from Aberdeen. Tottenham changed their manager in the summer, David Pleat moving in to the big city spotlight after an eight-year spell with Luton Town.

5. 14th December 1986: Liverpool v Chelsea

Aired: 12/14/1986

When it comes to contention for the League Championship, little or nothing changes at Anfield. Liverpool have won it 16 times and as this season's halfway stage approaches they are in their familiar position as one of the foremost challengers. This time last year, Chelsea were in the shake-up too, but they faded in the second half of the season and are still trying to find themselves. The Kop, no doubt, expects three points this afternoon from a fixture that Liverpool have not lost for 51 years. Chelsea manager John Hollins' response to such a statistic would be that all bad things must come to an end. After all, Chelsea did get a draw at Anfield last season.

6. 4th January 1987: Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal

Aired: 1/4/1987

New Year soccer live on TV starts with a cracker in prospect and the supremacy of north London at stake as Tottenham and Arsenal meet for the 100th time in the Football League. They kick off with the record exactly level: 39 wins a piece, followed by a draw for the 21st time when they clashed at Highbury in September.

7. 11th January 1987: FA Cup Third Round: Luton Town v Liverpool

Aired: 1/11/1987

The ingredients are heaped upon each other to make this one of the most enthralling third-round ties for years.

8. 31st January 1987: FA Cup Fourth Round

Aired: 1/31/1987

Action highlights from three matches in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Manchester United v Coventry City Wimbledon v Portsmouth Bradford City v Everton

9. 22nd February 1987: FA Cup Fifth Round: Wimbledon v Everton

Aired: 2/22/1987

Ten years ago Wimbledon were non-league nobodies. Now they're not only rubbing shoulders with the elite in the championship, but they have knocked over quite a few too. Not Everton though - they have taken the full six points off 'the Dons' this season. But this is the Cup, which for Everton represents one leg of the double that was achieved last year by the Red half of Merseyside. It's a tie with a whiff of Cup history about it, whoever wins. Everton have played in the last three finals and now go for a record fourth in a row. Wimbledon's target is to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. This same fifth round two years ago is the furthest they have gone.

10. 1st March 1987: League Cup Semi-final Second leg: Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal

Aired: 3/1/1987

This is more than a north London derby - they are playing for a place in the Littlewoods Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday 5 April, which you will be able to watch live on BBCtv.

11. 8th March 1987: Watford v Everton

Aired: 3/8/1987

The final coverage of live League football this season comes from Vicarage Road, and Watford's fine home form will demand that Everton be at their Sunday best in pursuit of their ninth Championship success.

12. 14th March 1987: FA Cup Sixth Round

Aired: 3/14/1987

Action highlights from this afternoon's games, plus all the atmosphere and tension that surrounds the Cup. Arsenal v Watford Sheffield Wednesday v Coventry City

13. 5th April 1987: League Cup Final: Arsenal v Liverpool

Aired: 4/5/1987

The first Littlewoods Cup Final is the 27th in the history of the League Cup competition, and Liverpool head the honours list with four triumphs (1981-4). It is eight years since silverware went to Highbury, and some of the youngsters in today's side were not even in their teens when Arsenal last stepped out at Wembley.

14. 16th May 1987: FA Cup Final: Coventry City v Tottenham Hotspur

Aired: 5/16/1987

Highlights of this afternoon's FA Cup Final from Wembley Stadium between Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur.