| MACHIN | Mel ___, former midfielder who led Manchester City to promotion out of the Second Division in 1988?89 as manager |
| ALLANEVANS | Aston Villa club captain when they were promoted to the First Division in 1988 |
| SUBCASTE | English coach upset about players in 2nd division in India? |
| SUBSIDE | Peter out of the second team? |
| BARRY | Gareth, English former midfielder who made a record 653 appearances in the Premier League (5) |
| LAMPARD | Frank, English former midfielder who has managed Derby County, Chelsea and Everton FCs (7) |
| GRAEMESOUNESS | Football pundit and former midfielder who won 54 caps for Scotland (6,7) |
| OLGA | Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", who was the inaugural inductee to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1988? (4,6) |
| KORBUT | Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", who was the inaugural inductee to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1988? (4,6) |
| NEWTESTAMENT | Collection of Christian texts written by various authors, the second division of the Christian biblical canon (3,9) |
| NAYSMITH | Gary ___, former Scottish international footballer who became Stenhousemuir manager in January 2023 and led them to promotion in the 2023/24 season |
| GREG | Who is the only male athlete to win diving gold medals in successive Olympics - in Los Angeles 1984 and in Seoul 1988? (4) |
| GEMARA | Valuable thing found by American artist in the second division of the Talmud (6) |
| MARESCA | Enzo, coach who guided Leicester City FC to promotion to the Premier League in 2024 (7) |
| PENNINES | North -; region of heather moorland and wooded valleys in northern England, designated an AONB in 1988 (8) |
| KYLIEMINOGUE | Which Australian had the biggest selling single in the UK in 1988? (5,7) |
| SPINKS | Undefeated in all his 32 earlier fights, which boxer (Michael ___) was demolished by Mike Tyson in 91 seconds in 1988? (6) |
| KIERAN | ___ McKenna, coach who guided Ipswich Town to promotion to the Premier League in 2026 (6) |
| MANCINI | Roberto, Italian football manager who guided Manchester City to the 2012 Premier League title (7) |
| ACAPULCO | Loco In ____, song by the Four Tops released in 1988 (8) |
