Football (Matches Mentioned)

(Related page: Football (Guest Reviewers))

Peel was fond of offering his view on (mainly) his team's performances, either post-match or sometimes during his shows.

• Please note that the list below is far from complete and was researched only from the database of this site. Please add further dates and matches if known.

1970s

• 10 March 1972: Chelsea vs Liverpool, Stamford Bridge. Peel looks ahead to the following day's match for a "revitalized" LFC and plays 'Please Don't Hide' for Chelsea fans. The game itself was a goalless draw.
• 19 December 1975: Liverpool vs QPR, Anfield. Peel asks LFC players to win the next day's big match, so the team would be top of the league when his first child is born. They did, 2-0, and eventually beat QPR to the League title by one point.
• 04 October 1977: Arsenal vs Liverpool, Highbury. 0-0 draw: “Sounds like a boring game at Highbury. Useful point, though.”
• 28 December 1977: Chelsea vs Liverpool, Stamford Bridge, FA Cup third round. Peel begs for tickets for the upcoming match. Liverpool lost 4-2.
• 18 August 1978: Liverpool v QPR, Anfield, a 2-1 home win. Peel plans to go to LFC's first game of the new season the following day and looks forward to the return of "a greater reality" by ending the show with You'll Never Walk Alone.
• 22 August 1978: Ipswich v Liverpool, Portman Road, a 3-0 away win. "Do you know, I was feeling really crummy until I heard the football results", he comments. Later in the same programme, Peel looks forward to the weekend fixture of Manchester City vs Liverpool, Maine Road. Before playing Devo's 'Social Fools', which begins with a count of '1, 2, 1, 2', he says, "What sort of score are you boys looking for when Liverpool visit Maine Road on Saturday?" Liverpool won 4-1.
• 29 August 1978: Rotherham United v Arsenal. Commenting on Arsenal's 3-1 defeat in second round of the League Cup, Peel says, "If any Arsenal supporters are listening to the programme, I shouldn't worry about tonight's result."
• 13 October 1978: Liverpool v Derby County, Anfield, 5-0. Peel mentions he will be going to the game the following day before a gig in Preston.
• 03 April 1979: Liverpool vs Manchester United, Goodison Park, FA Cup semi-final replay. Peel claims he swore at an early age never to go to Everton's ground and therefore he didn't try to get a ticket for the big match there the following evening. Liverpool lost 1-0.
• 30 April 1979: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Nottingham Forest. Peel opens the show by thanking Wolves "for their good work tonight" in helping Liverpool toward what would be their 11th league title. They had beaten Nottingham Forest 1-0; Liverpool went on to win the league with an 8 point lead over Forest.
• 08 May 1979: Liverpool vs Aston Villa. Peel starts show with ‘We Are The Champions’ after a 3-0 home win ties up the title.
• 04 September 1979: Liverpool vs Tranmere, Anfield. A 4-0 home win in the second round replay of the League Cup. "Not too bad I suppose, under the circumstances, but both Arsenal and Palace got seven, so Walters, holidaying in the Isle of Wight, will be jolly pleased about that, as a Palace supporter."
• 10 September 1979: Liverpool vs Coventry, Anfield. The 4-0 home win the previous Saturday is mentioned in passing on the show. "I'm beginning, I think, to be not so concerned about that poor start I must confess", comments Peel. Prior to this game, the fourth of the season, Liverpool had won one, drawn one and lost one.
• 25 September 1979: Liverpool v Chesterfield, Anfield, League Cup. “Well, I see we managed to give mighty Chesterfield a bit of a seeing to tonight." The lower league opposition were seen off with a 3-1 home win.
• 08 October 1979: Liverpool vs Bristol City, Anfield, Division One. A 4-0 home win.
• 09 October 1979: Liverpool v Bolton, Burnden Park, 1-1. Peel doesn't think it's a very good result for the Reds.
• 19 November 1979: Liverpool vs Tottenham, Anfield. Liverpool back on top of the First Division following a 2-1 win on Saturday, so Peel starts Monday’s show in a good mood.
• 05 December 1979: Norwich vs Liverpool, Carrow Road, League Cup. Peel opens the show thus: "For those of you who missed the football scores tonight, it's Norwich 1, Liverpool 3. That means Johnson 2, Dalglish 1.". He then plays a recording of young son William chanting, 'Kenny Dalglish is magic'. "Ah, you're right, William.".
• 10 December 1979: Aston Villa vs Liverpool, Villa Park, Division One. A 3-1 away win for Liverpool. Coming out of the ground after the match at the weekend, Peel was involved in a fracas with some home supporters, during which he received a karate kick to the chest.
• 26 December 1979: Liverpool vs Manchester United: JP: "...nor shall I talk about football; a quiet and dignified silence has always been my position, win lose or draw." Liverpool won 2-0 in the big Boxing Day clash.

1980s

• 08 January 1980: Blackburn v Fulham, FA Cup Third Round replay. A 1-1 draw in the FA Cup, mentioned in passing after Peel plays a track by the Stiffs, who come from Blackburn.
• 09 January 1980: Manchester United v Tottenham, FA Cup Third Round replay. A 0-1 away win for Spurs in the FA Cup is mentioned in Peel's opening to the show. "A most remarkable result" in his opinion, since Spurs were forced to play most of the game without a recognised goalkeeper.[1]
• 21 January 1980: Coventry v Liverpool, Highfield Road. Peel claims he's over the weekend's 1-0 away defeat: "After a weekend of tears, we put the Coventry business behind us, I hope, for the rest of the season."
• 19 February 1980: Liverpool v Ipswich, Anfield. Peel says the righteous go to Anfield and looks forward to doing so for the match the coming Saturday.
• 26 February 1980: Wolves v Liverpool, Molineux. Uncle John is not happy "stuck in this miserable studio by meself with a sore throat in the certain knowledge that tomorrow Peter Powell is going to be really obnoxious about the fact that Wolves beat Liverpool this evening." The Reds had gone down 1-0 away.
• 07 April 1980: Manchester United vs Liverpool, Old Trafford. Complains about pretend Man U fans coming out of the woodwork after the weekend result, although for genuine supporters, “a 2-1 home win against the greatest team the world has ever seen is certainly something to be very, very proud of.” Peel is now on the hunt for a ticket for the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal in Sheffield the next weekend.
• 08 April 1980: Liverpool vs Derby County. Show introduction: "Liverpool 3 Derby County nil, that's what you really want to know; Irwin, Johnson and an own goal. And it seems appropriate because Dalglish played a blinder according to our sports desk, that two of the bands featured tonight are from Scotland and the other one comes from Liverpool."
• 10 April 1980: Liverpool vs. Arsenal, FA Cup semi-final, Hillsborough. Show intro: "Just two days to go to the showdown in Sheffield and I still don't have a ticket. Oh well, courage, fatty, courage, there's a show to be done." The result was a 0-0 draw and Liverpool were eventually knocked out after three replays.
• 29 April 1980: Bury v Blackburn, Third Division. A 2-1 away win secured promotion. JP: "Congratulations are due tonight to Blackburn - Rovers, not Tony - up to the Second Division."
• 02 September 1980: Liverpool vs Bradford Ciy, Anfield, League Cup, 2nd round, 2nd leg. LFC won 4-0 over lower league opposition. Perhaps not as eye-catching as Watford 7 Southampton 1 the same night.
• 08 April 1981: Liverpool vs Bayern Munich, Anfield, European Cup (semi-final, 1st leg). A 0-0 draw, displeasing John considerably.
• 09 April 1981: After playing ‘Eve of Destruction’, Peel comments: 'As long as it doesn't come before the second leg in Germany, I don't really mind to be honest.’ (See above date. Liverpool went through to the European Cup final on the away goals rule after a 1-1 draw in Munich on April 22.)
• 22 April 1981: Bayern Munich v Liverpool, Munich, European Cup (semi-final, 2nd leg). A 1-1 draw takes the Reds through to the final on away goals. Cue Gerry & The Pacemakers and Kop Choir! Peel vows to go to the final (he did).
• 28 May 1981: Liverpool vs Real Madrid, European Cup Final, Paris. Alan Kennedy scored the only goal of the match. Peel recalls the trip at length on the show.
• 12 September 1981: Peel recalls the European Cup final win against Real Madrid in May (see above) as "the greatest day of my life" and plays the radio commentary of Alan Kennedy's winning goal.
• 03 May 1982: Spurs vs Liverpool, White Hart Lane. 2-2 draw. Peel happy enough with the result: “Spurs were leading 2-0 at one stage. Himself [Kenny Dalglish] scored a couple of goals so at least we get one point out of that."
• 10 July 1982: Liverpool vs Tottenham, Anfield. 3-1 home win. JP looks forward to new football season with radio commentary extracts of LFC clinching the Championship at the end of the previous season (1982-05-15).
• 23 September 1982: Liverpool vs Southampton, Anfield. After Peel’s departure from the Late Late Breakfast Show, he looks forward to his first match of the season. It was a 5-0 home win.
• 30 May 1984: Liverpool vs Roma, Rome, European Cup final. Liverpool win the European Cup on penalties after drawing 1-1 against Roma, minutes before the show started. Peel is incoherent with joy and David Jensen has to keep things moving until our host can recover his composure a bit.
• 04 December 1984: Liverpool vs Coventry, Anfield. "Evening again, fun seekers. Tonight's big match, the score was Liverpool 3 Coventry 1 all four goals scored by Liverpool - Wark two and Rush for Liverpool and Hansen own goal for Coventry."
• 03 June 1985: JP's first show since the events at Heysel the previous week starts on somber note.
• 17 March 1986: Watford vs Liverpool, FA Cup (6th round replay). Liverpool won 2-1 after extra time, with Peel following the commentary during his show: "Sorry Elton and the rest of you. This is a bit more like it, isn't it, really, frankly. Let's face facts."
• 29 December 1986: Liverpool vs Manchester United, Anfield. Norman Whiteside scored the only goal to defeat the home team, prompting John to grumble, "Affectionate greetings to everyone except Norman Whiteside, again."
• 12 September 1989: Liverpool vs Crystal Palace. A record 9-0 home win at Anfield. "According to the sports room, those nine goals were scored by eight different players which I think is rather impressive."
• 13 September 1989: Rangers v Bayern Munich. Rangers were in action in the European Cup. Match mentioned in passing after a listener telephones the studio and asks Peel not to mention the result on air (which he didn't know anyway). Rangers lost this home leg 3-1.
• 06 November 1989: Liverpool vs Coventry City, Division One. Peel mentions this 0-1 home League defeat in passing.

1990s

• 19 March 1990: Manchester United vs. Liverpool, Old Trafford. JP: "Tonight's programme is dedicated to Ronnie Whelan, scorer of the best own goal I've ever seen." The Liverpool midfield player had scored at the wrong end in a 2-1 away win for Liverpool the previous afternoon.
• 21 March 1990: Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool, Division One. A League match that was shown live on ITV that Wednesday evening, allowing Peel to watch from the studio and comment on the action. Spurs won 1-0.
• 02 December 1991 (Ö3): FC Tirol vs Liverpool, Tirol, UEFA Cup, 3rd round (first leg): Peel recorded his show for an Austrian station on the day of the game (Nov. 27): "If Liverpool lose, it's because of their ludicrous injury problem. If they win, of course, it's because they're superior." LFC won 2-0.
• 08 February 1992: Ipswich vs Portsmouth, Division Two, Portman Road. A match Peel would have liked to have attended, but he states he was too busy working on the programme. A 5-2 home victory, although Peel appears to confuse the opponents with Blackburn Rovers.
• 15 February 1992: Ipswich vs Liverpool, FA Cup, 5th round, Portman Road. All the family except JP and William are going to the match the following day: "Not torn exactly. Obviously I hope that Liverpool will win it, because I hope they will win everything, but I wish it wasn't Ipswich they were going to have to beat." The match ends in a 0-0 draw, but Liverpool win the replay 2-0.
• 20 March 1992: Liverpool vs Genoa, Anfield, UEFA Cup, QF, 2nd leg. The midweek match from 18th March was mentioned on the show. Elimination from the competition with a 2-1 home defeat perhaps explains why it was only mentioned in passing.
• 11 April 1992: Liverpool vs. Portsmouth, FA Cup semi-final, Highbury. Liverpool had grabbed a late equalizer to draw 1-1 against the Second Division side the previous weekend: "Better not mention Portsmouth at the moment, I think." LFC would eventually win through to the final after a penalty shootout in the replay on April 13.
• 18 April 1992: Liverpool vs Leeds, Anfield. A 0-0 draw. JP: "Well, I never thought I'd live to see the day when a goalless draw with Leeds with Anfield was seen as a good result."
• 02 May 1992: Ipswich vs Brighton & Hove Albion. Having already secured promotion to the inaugural Premier League, Ipswich round off their season with a 3-1 home win. Several members of the Peel family were in attendance but not John himself.
• 09 May 1992: Liverpool vs Sunderland, FA Cup final. Liverpool win 2-0 to lift the trophy, but Peel is not happy he had to watch the triumph from a TV in his office.
• 27 November 1992: QPR vs Liverpool, Premier League. A 1-0 away win for Liverpool Monday 23 November, a match that Peel attended. The performance did not impress. "Liverpool's defence was a crime against humanity and yet they still won."
• 19 December 1992: Liverpool vs Coventry City, a 5-1 defeat: "I mean, I know man was born to suffer, but there's got to be a limit."
• 01 January 1993: Ipswich vs Blackburn, Portman Road. Peel went to 2-1 home win over the holiday period and describes it as "a most excellent match".
• 05 March 1993: Ipswich vs Middlesborough, Portman Road. Ipswich lost 1-0, and Peel described it as as the worst match he had seen since Huddersfield vs Crystal Palace ten or twelve years previously.
• 22 May 1993: Port Vale v Stockport, Auto Glass Trophy Final, Wembley. Peel attended the match before his show as a guest of the people who put the Seth Bottomley magazine together. Port Vale won 2 - 1.
• 03 September 1994: Southampton v Liverpool, Premier League. This 2-0 Wednesday night League victory for LFC is mentioned by a disgruntled Jon Beast (a Saints fan) during the on-air telephone conversation he has with Peel a few days later on the Saturday.
• 20 March 1996: Liverpool v Leeds, FA Cup quarter-final replay, which Liverpool win 3-0. Peel promises not to gloat, as his brother-in-law is a Leeds fan.
• 29 December 1996: Southampton vs Liverpool, 1-0 win for LFC: "That's five points clear, in case you missed that." Also refers to the Liverpool v Leicester three days earlier (a 1-1 draw at Anfield): "It shows what a jolly chap I am that I'm even prepared to play a record by somebody called Leicester, under the circumstances."
• 19 February 1997: Liverpool vs Leeds, Anfield. A 4-0 home win: "Stan Collymore scored a couple of goals tonight in less time than it took for that record to play."
• 07 January 1998: Newcastle v Liverpool, St James' Park, League Cup quarter-final. Liverpool won 2-0, but Peel anxiously awaits the result of the Ipswich v Chelsea match, which has gone to penalties after ending 2-2 (Chelsea won the shootout 4-1).
• 20 October 1998: Ipswich Town v Norwich, Portman Road. Wife Sheila and son William have been to see Ipswich lose at home 1-0 against local rivals Norwich and their mobile phone is now switched off.
• 05 September 1999 (BFBS): Ipswich Town vs Barnsley. Show recorded on Peel's 60th birthday (1999-08-30), after attending the match, a 6-1 win for Ipswich. Says a 6-0 score would have been too neat.

2000s

• 15 February 2000: Arsenal vs Liverpool. JP says he won't go about Liverpool's 1-0 away win at the weekend.
• 17 May 2000: Ipswich v Bolton Wanderers. Second leg of the Championship play-off, which Ipswich won 5-3 after extra time to book a place in the final. Sheila Ravenscroft was in attendance.
• 11 April 2001: Ipswich vs Liverpool, Portman Road. Previous night's show pre-recorded with Peel attending the 1-1 draw as a guest of the Ipswich chairman. Fell over in the car park ("not through drink, obviously"), and now claims to be a mass of bruises.
• 19 April 2001: Liverpool v Barcelona, Anfield, UEFA Cup semi-final, second leg. Show starts with commentary of Kenny Dalglish scoring a winner for Liverpool in the European Cup final of 1978, followed by Peel murmuring, 'It could happen again.' LFC win 1-0 to go through to first European final for 16 years.
• 15 May 2001: Liverpool v Arsenal, FA Cup final: "No cup final triumphalism in this programme." Peel went for a six-mile walk for the whole period of the weekend match, to make sure Liverpool won. Wife Sheila phoned him up with the final score (a 2-1 late comeback win) and he says he broke down in floods of tears.
• 16 May 2001: Liverpool vs Alaves. UEFA Cup Final, which Liverpool won 5-4 in extra time while Peel was on air. An emotional Peel is lost for words afterwards: "Liverpool have won... I can't speak."
• 20 September 2001: Ipswich vs Torpedo Moscow, a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the UEFA Cup, round 1. The Pig was in attendance. "Ipswich extremely unlucky not to win."
• 09 October 2001: Liverpool vs Grimsby, a 2-1 defeat in the League Cup. "The most embarrassing result I can remember since Worcester City beat Liverpool sometime probably in the Fifties... just unbelievable." (non-league Worcester City knocked Second Division Liverpool out of the FA Cup in January 1959, the catalyst for Bill Shankly's appointment later that year)
• 16 October 2001: Liverpool vs Leeds, Anfield. JP: “Get well, Gerard,” after Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier suffered a heart attack during the previous Saturday's 1-1 draw.
• 18 October 2001: Ipswich vs Helsingborg: UEFA Cup, second round, 1st leg. Sheila has been to watch the 0-0 draw.
• 23 October 2001: Leicester v Liverpool, a 4-1 away win in the Premier League the previous Saturday, in which Robbie Fowler had scored a hat-trick. Peel says that he spent much of the weekend celebrating it. "That third goal... my god!"
• 24 October 2001: Southampton vs Ipswich, 3-3 draw. JP requests a win by the team for Sheila over West Ham on Sunday, following her birthday on Saturday: “After she was ill a few years ago, it has been Ipswich Town that have contributed a great deal more to her rehabilitation than I certainly did, and I owe the team an enormous debt of gratitude for that.” Unfortunately for Sheila, Ipswich would lose 3-2.
• 01 November 2001: Helsinborg v Ipswich, UEFA Cup second round, second leg. Ipswich win 3-1 to go through.
• 22 November 2001: Peel poses the age-old question: “How can you lose to Bolton and beat Inter Milan?” In a UEFA Cup third round, first leg match at Portman Road that night, with his wife Sheila in attendance, Ipswich had beaten the Italian side 1-0.
• 05 December 2001: Roma v Liverpool, Champions League. 0-0 draw. JP: "Well, it’s a big night on the programme tonight obviously. It’s Louise the producer’s birthday, Liverpool have had a good result in Rome ... Oh, the Pig's in Milan of course” - for the following night's Ipswich match.
• 06 December 2001: Inter Milan vs Ipswich, UEFA Cup, third round, second leg. Inter won 4-1 to go through. JP: "Well, in the end as expected the Tractor Boys couldn’t beat all of those billions of lira, but the Ipswich fans sounded amazing. Very proud to have my wife and daughter there in the San Siro. Whereas I’m in London, on my own…”
• 22 January 2002: Manchester United v Liverpool, Old Trafford. After a 1-0 away win for Liverpool, JP decides against playing 'When The Great Red Dawn Is Shining' (and plays it the following night instead).
• 12 February 2002: Ipswich v Liverpool, Portland Road. LFC won 6-0. JP: "Better not get into football actually. There was a certain amount of tension in our house at the weekend, as you might imagine."
• 30 April 2002: Spurs v Liverpool, White Hart Lane: A “rather grim irony” to hear the Kop singing You'll Never Walk Alone (as part of a Pink Floyd track) after the weekend's 1-0 loss for LFC.
• 14 May 2002: Liverpool v Ipswich. JP: “A bizarre and in some ways terrible weekend for football obviously as far as we were concerned in our house.” Liverpool won 5-0 and Ipswich were relegated.
• 30 October 2002: Liverpool v Valencia, Champions League group stage, Anfield. JP (roughly in time with music): "I'm John, I'm furious, my team just lost in Europe." Valencia, who won 1-0, were managed at the time by subsequent Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez.
• 04 December 2002: While Sheila and Alexandra were at Anfield watching Liverpool vs Ipswich compete for a quarter-final place in the Worthington Cup, JP was following the game whilst on air. His team's poor performance drew despairing criticism, i.e. "Do you know what I'd do? I'd say, you've got to earn the right to wear those red shirts, and until you do, then you can play in grey, or some other colour." Liverpool eventually won 5-4 on penalties.
• 25 February 2003: Very upset about the poor form of Liverpool: "It's so depressing." Says recent Liverpool vs Birmingham and Liverpool vs Crystal Palace matches made him feel ill.
• 21 May 2003: Celtic v Porto, UEFA Cup final. Appearance of Mogwai at Maida Vale is delayed while the band watch extra time. Celtic lose 3-2, but JP is full of praise for their eventual set: "Mogwai's always been a good band; I think you'd now have to say they're a great band. A bad night for football, but a great night for music."
• 16 July 2003: FC Cologne v Liverpool. A 1-3 away victory in this pre-season friendly. "A good win for our lads in Cologne, actually. Emile Heskey scored, which I'm always pleased to see cos I like him, I think he's a good lad. And two for Michael Owen."
• 26 August 2003: Aston Villa v Liverpool. Peel was less than impressed with the weekend's match, a 0-0 draw away at Villa. Liverpool's early season form was a source of concern: "It's an interesting policy, signing great players and turning them into ordinary players, but I think it would be better to do it the other way around. Call me old-fashioned if you like."
• 01 October 2003: Sunderland v Ipswich, 3-2. The Futureheads, from Sunderland, are in session and their city's team beat Sheila's favourites the previous night.

Internationals

European Championship

• 19 December 1979: Scotland 1 - 3 Belgium. Peel expresses his sympathies to his Scottish listeners for this result in a European Championship qualifier.
• 22 June 1996: England 0 Spain 0 (England win 4-2 on penalties): Peel is pushed to the emotional limits by extra time and penalties in the Euro 96 quarter-final at Wembley.  "I just want to say that if I drop dead with stress in the course of this programme/football match, anyone who says that's the way he would have wanted to go gets haunted."
• 16 October 2002: England vs Macedonia. A 2-2 home draw at Southampton in England's qualifying campaign for Euro 2004 did not impress Peel. "Was that the worst performance by an England team in about twenty years? I'd say it very possibly could have been." He was more impressed with Wales, who managed a 2-1 victory over Italy on the same evening.
• 24 June 2004: Portugal vs England. England crash out of the European Championship on penalties following a 2-2 draw with Portugal. Peel gave The Fall's 'Kicker Conspiracy' back to back plays in the hope that it would lead to another England goal. "This has been a painful night. I really thought that we had a chance of winning it."

World Cup

• 18 November 1981: USSR 3 - 0 Wales. A defeat in their final qualifying match meant that Wales missed out on a place at the 1982 World Cup finals on goal difference only. JP: I felt very sorry for the Welsh after the defeat in Russia, and particularly for Ian Rush.
• 11 June 1990: Scotland lose 1-0 against Costa Rica and England draw 1-1 with Ireland in opening group matches. Peel less than impressed with Jimmy Greaves' shirt and national stereotyping by commentators.
• Possibly 04 July 1990: Peel commenting that he cannot take any more and wondering whether Nicky Campbell should take over, which may be a reference to England's well-documented semi-final against West Germany (lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw), now often seen as transformative for the game in England which (along with Ireland and Cameroon) is virtually the only place where that World Cup is remembered fondly.
• 05 September 2001: England vs Albania (World Cup qualifier). Peel makes several references to England's 2-0 victory at St James' Park. Goals from Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. "I'm 62 years old. Why do I cry when Robbie scores? Madness."

Friendlies

• 12 May 1981: England vs Brazil, Wembley. Peel bemoans the failure of the news to give the final score. Later learns England lost 1-0.

• 12 October 1999: England vs Belgium, Stadium of Light, Sunderland, 1999-10-10. Peel praises Jamie Redknapp's goal in the 2-1 home win two days earlier.