I know from emails that I receive - and I don't mean the ones offering viagra or penis extensions - that a lot of you are not UK based and have come to football only since Year Zero, when the Pol Pot of the FA came up with that brilliant concept of the Premiership.

Many of you, therefore, will be unaware of 'The Big Match', the flagship ITV equivalent of 'Match of the Day' from the Seventies that used to show about 2pm on Sunday afternoons in the UK; just after you'd returned from your 10 - 0 thrashing on Wansted Flats (what?....oh... Only me then..) and an hour before you passed out in a lunchtime post match stupor over your roast potatoes, cooked for you, of course, by your hot-panted girlfriend with a bubble perm. (what?...oh...Only me again then...)

This show was hosted regionally and, depending on where you were watching, would feature a major game from your area and highlights of matches from other ITV regions. Often the only time you might actually see a Newcastle or Burnley unless they were playing on your particular patch. Heady days.... But now, thanks to the wonders of ITV's four channels, you can watch these old games from the '70's again on Sunday morning.

Last Sunday I caught Bolton v Ipswich from some time when men were men and women were grateful and I was, frankly, astonished by many aspects of the match. Now it's likely that an obscure game featuring two such disparate sides might not have lingered long in the memory had it not been for the fact that this match featured a very special goal that went on to form the title credits of 'The Big Match' for many years to come and became, for that reason, a bit of a Cause célèbre.
So, as a homage to those days, here are some observations from a thirty-minute trip down memory lane:

1/ Sam Allardyce was a thin, rangy centre back.

2/ Frank Worthington's (Bolton) goal. Back to the area and 20 yards out, chests down a cross, drops it onto foot, flicks it up three times before lobbing over his head, turning and striking into bottom corner with his other foot. Stunning! It won the goal of the year competition and it was this strike that made this match so memorable enshrined as it was on 'The Big Match' credits for years after. This game was watched by then England manager Ron Greenwood.

3/ It was Worthington's 25th goal that season but his career was still thought to be over and he moved to the U.S. to play for Dallas. Today he'd be called up for England and knighted!

4/ Alan Brazil's frizzy perm - bigger than anything the Jackson’s could produce. Now look at him! (Brazil, I mean not any of the Jackson’s)

5/ Short shorts and skinny vests. Did no one weigh over 9st?

6/ Back pass to goalkeeper to pick up and throw out.

7/ Aimless passes forward for people to chase.

8/ One substitute

9/ Elsewhere, West Brom challenging Liverpool for the league title

10/ Pitches that make the 'disgraceful' Wembley pitch look like a billiard table.

11/ Pre-match interviews with the fans in which Bolton supporters sounded like clichéd Northerners with cloth caps and Whippets while the Ipswich faithful looked to be chewing cud and contemplating inbreeding. When did we break these barriers down? And was it such a good thing?

12/ Football stadiums that resembled cattle sheds but created an atmosphere you could cut with a knife.

Now, I'm not claiming things were better - or at least don't push me on it! - but I'm just observing that, for what is basically a simple game, things sure have changed.

Feel free to email in with your own thoughts.