10 Footballing Icons of the 1980s You Should Really Know About

Football in the 1980s was a much different prospect than it is today. The shorts were shorter, the tackles were heavier and Liverpool were odds-on favorites to win the league every season.

But much like these days, the game of 30-something years ago featured an amazing cast of iconic characters. One such player, Arsenal legend Michael Thomas, marks his 48th birthday on Monday, which inspired this list of 10 footballing icons from the 1980s.

Keep reading to see if your favorite icon made the list.

Nearly any Arsenal—or Liverpool—supporter of any age has probably memorized Brian Moore's famous commentary from the final day of the 1988-89 First Division season.

"Thomas, charging through the midfield. It’s up for grabs now. Thomas! Right at the end!"

Arsenal, trying to win the league for the first time since 1970-71, had to beat Liverpool at Anfield by two clear goals in order to claim the title. Leading 1-0 in the closing minutes, the Gunners grabbed their crucial second strike in the closing moments.

Lee Dixon started the sequence with a long ball forward to Alan Smith, who had scored Arsenal's first goal. Smith turned and lifted a pass to Thomas, who finished past Bruce Grobbelaar to give the Gunners the title.

Thomas would make 208 total appearances for Arsenal, scoring 30 goals. None, of course, were nearly as memorable as the goal against Liverpool, whom he later joined. Before retiring in 2001, the midfielder had won two league titles, two league cups and one FA Cup.

But he's an icon for that one decisive moment for Arsenal against Liverpool.

Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, a Brazilian attacking midfielder better known as Socrates, was no ordinary footballer. 

On the field, he was a brilliant playmaker who could pick apart any defense with his right foot or left. Famous for taking penalties while wearing his trademark headband and full beard, he stood as a "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters," in the words of BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko.

Off the field, he earned a doctorate in medicine, yet he smoked two packs a day, according to Jon Henderson at the Guardian, long after the practice was known to be harmful. In addition, he was a political activist and philosopher, as his Greek namesake would suggest.

"As a player, there is not much to say; he was one of the best that I ever played with," said Zico, an international teammate, via BBC Sport. "His intelligence was unique."

At the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Socrates captained the greatest Brazil side that did not claim football's ultimate prize. After winning all three games in the first round, Brazil crashed out in the second group stage following a 3-2 loss to Italy—a game widely considered one of the best in the sport's history.

Socrates netted his side's first goal but wasn't able to guide them to glory. Both player and nation endured further World Cup disappointment four years later as the Selecao bowed out at the quarterfinal stage after losing to France on penalties. 

But Socrates—who died in 2011 at age 57—was already a legend, renowned for his unique brilliance both on and off the field.

As noted in the previous slide, the match between Italy and Brazil at the 1982 World Cup is widely noted as one of the best football matches of all time. But according to Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian, it was also "the day that a certain naivety in football died."

As Wilson writes:

It was a game, moreover, that lay on a fault-line of history. ... (I)t was the day after which it was no longer possible simply to pick the best players and allow them to get on with it; it was the day that system won. There was still a place for great individual attacking talents, but they had to be incorporated into something knowing, had to be protected and covered for.

Brazil might have earned more admirers for their beautiful football that summer, but Italy were more organized and eventually took home the trophy. Not coincidentally, the Azzurri also won the match when the two met, with forward Paolo Rossi notching a memorable hat-trick.

Scoreless in the tournament before that day, Rossi netted the game's opening goal with a fifth-minute header. After Socrates had pulled back a goal for Brazil, Rossi pounced on a mistake before restoring the Azzurri's lead midway through the first half.

Brazil equalized a second time, and the Selecao were on the verge of qualifying for the semifinals because of their superior goal differential. But, needing a goal to advance, Italy found the winner in the 74th minute as Rossi turned in from close range after Brazil were unable to clear a corner.

It was a ruthless display of finishing, and it catapulted Italy—who had started the World Cup slowly—onto the course that would produce the trophy. Rossi finished with six goals and was named best player and the tournament's top goalscorer.

Rossi also enjoyed a successful career at the club level, winning Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the European Cup with Juventus, but his most iconic moments came in Spain during the summer of 1982.

The leader of Italy's defense at the 1982 World Cup was Claudio Gentile, a player widely known as one of the toughest in the history of football.

After the Azzurri lifted the trophy, the ironically named Gentile was named to the team of the tournament. And after man-marking Diego Maradona out of the game between Italy and Argentina, the defender famously quipped: "Football is not for ballerinas."

Coventry City have won exactly one major trophy since being founded as Singers FC in 1883. The lone senior title came in 1987, when the Sky Blues lifted the FA Cup following a 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the final at Wembley.

The most memorable of the five goals that day belonged to Keith Houchen, a journeyman striker who had joined the club a year earlier from Scunthorpe United. With Spurs leading 2-1 in the second half, Houchen held up play outside the box before passing to Dave Bennett on the right. Bennett promptly crossed back into the middle, where Houchen directed a diving header past Ray Clemence and into the net.

Coventry eventually won in extra time, with Houchen forever sealing his place in FA Cup lore.

Manchester United's history is full of trophies and icons, and the 1985 FA Cup final produced one of each for the Red Devils.

After 90 scoreless minutes against Everton at Wembley, United claimed a sixth FA Cup title in extra time, thanks to Norman Whiteside's brilliant strike. Taking possession of the ball on the right, Whiteside advanced toward the box before curling the ball into the bottom corner at the far post for the winner.

It was a classic goal that showcased the player's vision, intelligence and technique. In addition, the timing had to be perfect to curl the ball around both the defender and goalkeeper. Whiteside—who had become the youngest goalscorer in FA Cup final history two years before—would immediately become an FA Cup final icon.

Andoni Goikoetxea, a Spanish center-back who plied his trade mostly for Athletic Bilbao at the club level, earned the fearsome, unique nickname of "the Butcher of Bilbao" following a horrifying tackle on Diego Maradona in 1983.

If you dare, you can watch the tackle in the video that accompanies this slide.

One might think that Goikoetxea would have felt some remorse for injuring a player of Maradona's caliber. But one would be wrong. According to the Independent, Goikoetxea still keeps the boot he was wearing that day in a glass case at home.

Soviet goalkeeper Rinat Dasaev was perhaps the best goalkeeper of the 1980s. Known alternately as "the Cat" and "the Iron Curtain," Dasaev's nicknames should provide some clues to his shot-stopping abilities.

Dasaev experienced success at the club level with Spartak Moscow and led the USSR to second place at Euro 1988. Despite being beaten by Marco van Basten's superb volley for the Netherlands in the final, Dasaev was named the top goalkeeper in the world by IFFHS that year.

After helping Argentina win the World Cup on home soil in 1978, Ricardo "Ricky" Villa moved abroad to join Tottenham ahead of the 1978-79 season. A club icon by the time he left the club five seasons later, Villa secured his place in Spurs history with a memorable goal in the 1981 FA Cup final replay.

Villa put Tottenham ahead in the eighth minute, but Manchester City scored the next two goals to take a 2-1 lead. Garth Crooks drew Spurs level in the 70th minute, setting up Villa for his spectacular moment.

Accepting a pass from Tony Galvin well outside the box, Villa advanced into the area before beating several Man City defenders with superb ball control. He then slotted past Joe Corrigan for the winner.

Spurs went on to claim a sixth FA Cup title, and Villa's goal was later named the Wembley Goal of the Century.

Hugo Sanchez is one of the greatest Mexican players of all time, if not the greatest. In describing "Hugol" as his country's best-ever player, FIFA.com noted:

There are few centre-forwards in the history of the game who can match Hugo Sanchez’s record. The top scorer in the Spanish league in five separate seasons and the leading marksman in Mexico once, he also won a European Golden Shoe, represented his country at three FIFA World Cup finals, and was named in Real Madrid’s all-time greatest XI. And as if that were not enough, his unique version of the overhead-kick also has its very own name.

He was a star in Spain for Atletico Madrid and then Real Madrid, winning five straight league titles and leading the league in scoring four times with the latter. Though he scored hatfuls of goals in a variety of ways, Sanchez was best known for "the Huguina," his trademark overhead kick. 

With such perfect technique and unbelievable acrobatic ability, Sanchez at his best was nearly impossible to stop.