If that sporting feast was not enough then on those rare occasions when there was no cricket or football on the television we had Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds to watch. For the vast majority of people there is absolutely no connection between cricket and Anderson’s marionettes, england shirts but I found a startling link that has remained at the forefront of my mind to this day. The format was first introduced in 1987, after the decision was made to reduce the top flight from 22 to 20 clubs over the next two seasons; initially, the play-offs involved the team finishing immediately above the relegation places in a given division and the three teams who finished immediately below the promotion places in the division below – essentially one team was fighting to keep their place in the higher division while the other three teams were attempting to take it from them.