This week at The Archive we are delighted to welcome brand new Scottish sports paper the Sporting Post to our collection, as we welcome a whopping 417,546 brand new pages in total. Meanwhile, from Belfast to Beverley, from Melton Mowbray to Motherwell, from Selkirk to Sleaford, we’ve updated 44 of our existing titles from across the United Kingdom.

So read on to discover more about our new and updated titles of the week. We also travel back to the year 1986 using pages from the Sporting Post, which is when legendary Scottish football manager Alex Ferguson joined Manchester United, where he would remain in charge for some 27 years and see huge success.

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Our new title this week is the Sporting Post, which was a beloved Saturday night sports paper published in Dundee. Established in the early 1900s, it appeared every Saturday evening at around 5.30pm with the latest sports results, with reports centring on all things football.

With a general focus on sport in Dundee, devoted Dundonian readers would come out of the pubs on a Saturday evening to pick up their copies fresh from the newsagents. However, the Sporting Post looked beyond Dundee to report on football results from across Scotland and England, whilst also covering other sports like cricket, racing and even ice hockey. The newspaper, meanwhile, also reported on youth sports in the area.

True to its position as a member of the DC Thomson publishing family, the Sporting Post featured short stories, something the company is known for to this day. A lively read, this newspaper was filled with quizzes, as well as crosswords, local general news, and even notices of births, marriages and deaths.

The Sporting Post last appeared after the Scottish Cup Final in May 2000, and it now runs as a supplement every Tuesday in the Dundee Evening Telegraph.

We’ll come back to the Sporting Post shortly to look at when Alex Ferguson joined Manchester United as manager, but we wanted to take a quick look at some of our updated titles this week.

With by far and away the largest update of the week is the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, which sees over 76,000 brand new pages join its ranks. Following behind are the Scarborough Evening News with 25,000 brand new pages added over the last seven days, and fellow Yorkshire paper the Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald, with over 21,000 brand new pages. Meanwhile, a duo of Northamptonshire titles, namely the Daventry and District Weekly Express and the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph both see over 19,000 brand new pages uploaded this week.

We’ve also updated seven of our Scottish titles this week, with new pages joining the likes of the Buteman, the Kilsyth Chronicle and the Southern Reporter. Finally, across the Irish Sea, we’ve updated four of our Northern Irish titles, with updates to the Banbridge Chronicle, the Ballymena Observer, the Belfast News-Letter and the Derry Journal.

November 1986 – Alex Ferguson Joins Manchester United

In November 1986 Alex Ferguson joined Manchester United as manager, in what would become a legendary tenure. Scottish sports paper the Sporting Post followed the Scottish manager’s career throughout the tumultuous year of 1986, as Ferguson stepped up to manage the Scottish national team following the tragic death of Jock Stein in September 1985.

Ferguson managed Scotland at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, although the side were eliminated at the group stage. Following Scotland’s elimination, which took place after their 0-0 draw with Uruguay, the Sporting Post quoted manager Alex Ferguson as saying: ‘These people have no dignity at all. If this is world football, then I’m glad to be going home.’

New things were in store, however, for Alex Ferguson. After speculation linking him with Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, on 6 November 1986 he was unveiled as Manchester United’s new manager. However, as the Sporting Post detailed on 8 November 1986, Ferguson’s move got off to the ‘worst possible start,’ as Manchester United suffered an away defeat to Oxford United.

The Sporting Post related how:

Manchester United made the worst possible start to their first match under new manager Alex Ferguson as they fell behind to a 16th-minute penalty. United, looking nervous and hesitant, were left with a battle on their hands after Aldridge drove home his 14th goal of the season after being brought down by Moran.

According to the report, Manchester United ‘offered little in attack in the opening stages,’ with Oxford nearly scoring again in the first half, for the shot to be deflected. As it stood, Oxford led by one goal to nil at half time. With the sides back out after the break, ‘United almost equalised in the opening moments of the second half.’ However, it was Oxford who found the back of the net, Slatter scoring in the 80th minute to make the score 2-0.

However, events would take a happier turn at Alex Ferguson’s first home game at Manchester United. The Sporting Post described how the new manager ‘was given a terrific reception when he was introduced to the fans before the kick-off of his first home game.’ This game was against Queens Park Rangers, who, as the Sporting Post noted, had ‘never earned a point at Old Trafford.’

United went ahead in ‘the 32nd minute with a goal from Danish international Siveback,’ Siveback scoring a direct shot ‘from a 20-yard free-kick.’ The Sporting Post reported how Manchester United were one up at half time, and they ‘remained in control throughout the second half but there was no further scoring and Alex Ferguson saw his team gain their first win under his leadership.’

With this first win under his belt, Ferguson went on to lead his new team to a series of great successes. Find out more about Alex Ferguson, football history, and much more besides, in the pages of our newspaper Archive.

New Titles

Updated Titles

This week we have updated 44 of our existing titles.

You can learn more about each of the titles we add to every week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page, you can read a FREE sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.