Introducing our brand new magazine series: Anthology. In it, we cover various competitions from each year of a decade, starting, naturally, with the 1990s. 

Football in 1989/90 paints a vastly different picture to what we see today. For us, it was just better. The depth of quality, the litany of world-class talents, the magical far-flung adventures in competitions like the Cup Winners' Cup. It was a time before we knew everything about everyone, when the wonder of little-known players and teams still sparked the imagination. 

As football entered the 90s, a new world was taking shape, both within the game and outside. Germany was about to reunify, a new-look World Cup was set against the romance of calcio, minnows would shock South America in the Copa Libertadores, and teams like Liverpool and Napoli would lift their final titles for decades. 

New heroes were born: Schillaci, McInally, Gascoigne; old powers played host to all-time legends: Sánchez, Barnes, Bergkamp; while the names across Europe and beyond reads like a who's who of greats: Romário, Baggio, Maradona. It was glorious. 

It reminds us of Andy Bernard's famous line: “I wish there was a way to tell you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”

Welcome to Anthology: 1989/90. 

Please note: this issue is not included in the subscription and must be ordered separately. A new year will be released alongside each new magazine, taking the place of reprints for the next ten issues.

Projected dispatch by 29 May