The next time you see some poor footballer or manager on TV bemoaning the length and intensity of the English season pay them no heed. The spoilt brats don’t know they’re living.

Suppose one of the big teams, which for argument’s sake includes Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, reaches the Champions League Final, FA Cup Final, no replays, and the Carling Cup Final, again with no replays. They can expect to play 11 games in Europe, 6 in the FA Cup and 6 in the Carling. Add that to 38 league games and you end up with, um, 61 games.

Of course today the big name players won’t deign themselves with the Carling Cup. Given the advances in modern technology there will be a good few injuries, no doubt including the ever ubiquitous metatarsal, and throw in a bit of rotation and you end up with perhaps 45, 50 games in the season.

Now consider Arsenal’s season back in 1979/80. A season that promised much but ended with little reward but a little heralded record of 70 games. And one player, Brian Talbot, played in the whole damned lot. In fact he played 90 minutes in the whole damned lot except for the two occasions he was substituted. Some achievement, unlikely to be repeated.

The season began on a balmy summer’s day in August with the Charity Shield at Wembley where Liverpool tore us apart 3-1. Things didn’t improve in the League as we won just three times in our first 12 League games up to the middle of October.

We were a good cup side though and in the League Cup we managed to score goals, including seven against Leeds, even though we needed replays to beat Leeds in the second round and Brighton in the fourth.

After beating Manchester United in the FA Cup in the previous season, the famous 5 minute final, we were in the European Cup Winners Cup and managed to cope comfortably enough with Fenerbache and Magdeburg despite drawing the away legs.

In the League we continued to be woeful and by year end we had played 23 games and won just 8. Crowds had dipped alarmingly with less than 19,000 turning up for a December fixture at home to Norwich. Still, we did beat Tottenham on Boxing Day!

In December we crashed out of the League Cup to a familiar bogey team. Swindon Town - who had beaten up in the 1969 Final came to Highbury and drew 1-1. The replay at theirs was a hard fought affair, Swindon eventually triumphing 4-3 after extra time. Our first 20 League games had produced 23 goals while our League Cup exploits had netted 18 in seven.

New Years Day saw us beat Southampton thanks to Willie Young at The Dell. FA Cup 3rd round action took us to Wales where we met another Cup bogey of ours Cardiff. This time we triumphed, 2-1 after a replay.

In the League we went on a mini revival winning four on the trot. In the FA Cup we beat Brighton at the first attempt, the fifth time we played them that season, then beat Bolton in a replay at Highbury. In one of those quirks of fate that always transpire we played Bolton twice at home in the manner of four days and the attendances are instructive. 40,000 turned up for the Cup replay while 24,000 bothered to turn up for the League game.

March saw European action and we bashed Swedish side 1.F.K. Gothenburg 5-1 before drawing the second leg. As per the norm. We beat Watford at the first time of asking in the FA Cup while in the League we remained unbeaten, winning three and drawing two.

April was busy. Five League games, three FA Cup Semis against Liverpool and two ECWC Semis against Juventus. 10 games and remarkably just one defeat, at Norwich. After that setback we drew 1-1 with Southampton at home.

On the Monday after the Southampton game we played Tottenham away and manager Terry Neill decided to rotate the team. Reserve keeper Paul Barron made a rare appearance while Paul Davis made his first team debut. Other bit part players like Vaessen, Devine and Walford also played and, much like these days, an under strength Arsenal team beat that lot from up the Seven Sisters Road.

Arsenal’s reward was a two day breather before Juventus came a calling. An own goal from Roberto Bettaga secured a 1-1 draw, this time at Highbury and the odds were against us for the second leg. After all no English team had ever won in Turin and that’s what we had to do to reach the final.

On the 12th of April we played Liverpool in the FA Cup Semi Final at Hillsborough and drew 0-0. In the days of unlimited replays this was soap opera stuff. The first replay, at Villa Park, ended 1-1 after extra time with Alan Sunderland scoring for us. The following Saturday we drew 1-1 again with Liverpool but this was a League fixture up at Anfield. Three times in eight days and it wasn’t over yet!

23rd April saw us go to Turin and, against all the odds, we beat Juventus 1-0 with Paul Vaessen scoring at the death. I remember listening on the radio and going mental and sod school the next day!

We returned from Italy and drew 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion but everyone was focused on the second FA Cup Semi replay at Villa Park. Another 1-1, another Sunderland goal. We had played Liverpool, then at their majestic, boring, best four times in 16 days and nothing could separate us. The FA were getting worried because the Cup Final was slated for 10th May and they had to arrange tickets and programmes. Difficult when half the teams weren’t decided.

The first of May saw the teams meet one more time, this at Highfield Road, Coventry and this time a Brian Talbot header was enough. Little more than a week to the Final and finally we were through.