New football thread

[eastcoast 4,181]

How quickly we forget, how quickly we become spoiled and soft. Here's me pissed off that we failed to take even a point away to Man U. Oh for the days when there was no time for football and success or failure in sport was down to me or my dogs. Or when not getting relegated was a win  

[WILF 47,393]

12 hours ago, pesky1972 said:

It’s coming! Said on here years ago that I see a day that we see say a Man U v Arsenal league fixture played in Vegas, or Chelsea v Liverpool live from Beijing in the middle of the night. The more that club ownership moves from people who actually support the club, the less football will give a fcuk about the real supporters. 

Fifa exploring impact of playing domestic matches abroad

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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Fifa are examining the impact of moving domestic competitive matches...

 

Do you not think it’s been that way for years though ?……imho the premier league is like having a crush, you love things that don’t really love you.

Its the American sport model and it’s been continuously moving in that direction for decades.

If 70 thousand Man U fans or whatever think they matter more to the club than a gazillion chinkys then I reckon they best think again.

It’s all about the money mate and if you follow a premier league club then you have to accept that’s what they have to follow and indeed will follow. 
 

You just have to listen to old boys at non league, lots of them all say the same “I’m was a lifelong XXXX supporter but we don’t matter to them any more so I’ve been coming down here for a few years because I really do matter and everyone from the chairman to the burger stall bird knows my name” 

Again, jmho, but with the Prem, you know what you are signing up for before you go and if you don’t then you haven’t been paying attention. 

[THE STIFFMEISTER 16,123]

One of the main things that stops football companies from making larger profits is maintaining and running a huge all seater stadium , covid proved that they vast majority can still turn a profit without supporters present . 

imho we will see at the next cycle of huge club stadia upkeeep , smaller venues of 25 - 30 k seats at prices at the very threshold of seating for a 2.4 family. The brand of the clubs is much more important than the fan base . Premier league games playing abroad is the first step in this . They want the history and the brand rights , the local and regular fans aren’t the people the owners want to attract . 

[WILF 47,393]

50 minutes ago, THE STIFFMEISTER said:

One of the main things that stops football companies from making larger profits is maintaining and running a huge all seater stadium , covid proved that they vast majority can still turn a profit without supporters present . 

imho we will see at the next cycle of huge club stadia upkeeep , smaller venues of 25 - 30 k seats at prices at the very threshold of seating for a 2.4 family. The brand of the clubs is much more important than the fan base . Premier league games playing abroad is the first step in this . They want the history and the brand rights , the local and regular fans aren’t the people the owners want to attract . 

Good post that, when you think Inter Miami are valued at a billion quid in a 21,000 seat stadium then you can indeed see how the model may change. 

[jukel123 8,480]

 

[Bakerboy 4,736]

57 minutes ago, WILF said:

 Inter Miami

I thought you meant Milan until I checked

[jukel123 8,480]

10 hours ago, eastcoast said:

How quickly we forget, how quickly we become spoiled and soft. Here's me pissed off that we failed to take even a point away to Man U. Oh for the days when there was no time for football and success or failure in sport was down to me or my dogs. Or when not getting relegated was a win  

You were robbed of a point. The evidence of a foul was there for all to see...Gordon's  exposed Achilles.

Let's all hope VAR is abandoned. Its been a disaster. A lousy,failed example of fixing what ain't broke.

[WILF 47,393]

1 hour ago, jukel123 said:

 

It just felt wrong when they made it all seater mate, obviously none of us could see into the future but I know personally I was “f**k this” when they made it all seater and I know for a fact I wasn’t alone…..now it all makes sense, maybe 15/20 year back I’m sure more then a few went “Ahh, now I get it” 

They didn’t want the ugly face of youth at grotty old grounds, the hooligan element and all that….so they battered it.

Im sure then at some point some clever bloke looked at serie A with all the best names in the world, it’s sponsorships, it’s newspapers devoted just to football, it’s 1000 fans watching training, it’s Nike sponsorships blah blah blah and thought “Hello ?…..we can have some of this” 

Hey presto, Premier League !…..and all the natural progressions that go with it. 
 

Looking back, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it hasn’t been “ours” since all seater came into being….I felt it then and I know it now.

Luckily it didn’t effect me too much because I was still playing so I didn’t have time to go and watch, but I could definitely take it or leave rather than being excited to go football for the day with all my pals.

It was nice to take my little boy because he was small, it was a bit of a right if passage for him but for lads like me non league is where it’s at. 

Over here Premier league is still very much like non league, small grounds, small crowds of only a few thousand or in some cases a few hundred….it’s tidy…..€15/20 to get in, €5/10 for the youngsters, flares being set off, drums playing in the stands, kids running about, teenagers, old duffers like me, familys, disabled all mixing it up and free.

I wonder how many people watching in premier league ground's across the UK would be happy to go down to National League to experience all that again ?…….I bet not many. 

[WILF 47,393]

In retrospect, this was probably the last game I was ever at where I felt really connected to “top flight” football. 
 

 

Edited May 16, 2024 by WILF

[jukel123 8,480]

Couldn't agree more. My tipping point was when they put barriers up. This was supposed to be for safety. But we all know what it led to.

I can remember as a small boy my mother saying to me before a match  " don't get crushed" because occasionally people were hurt when those wooden massive doors would give way because of the sheer pressure of numbers. I remember thinking " how am I going to prevent that?" but telling her I would be careful lol. And then damn me they caged everybody like animals which led to several tragedies. If an idiot like me could see it was going to happen,why couldn't safety personnel?

Most of my schoolmates who still live around Salford have deserted Man U and go instead to Salford City where there are no yuppies.

Edited May 16, 2024 by jukel123

[pesky1972 5,325]

7 hours ago, WILF said:

Do you not think it’s been that way for years though?

I absolutely do, and have debated the state of the EPL on here before. Probably accused clubs of selling their soul, where in reality it’s been slowly pilfered away by people whose only motive is to maximise profit and market share and who give zero fcuks for the man on the terracing or the integrity of the actual sport. The game changed forever with the advent of subscription tv early 90’s. Apparently the EPL is now the ‘best league in the world’. I don’t dispute that it has some of the very best players and managers in the game.., a game which has changed a fair bit tactically and with all the sport science, better playing surfaces, effective removal of the contact element etc. in recent years…, I’m not convinced it’s altogether a better spectacle. And as for the best league.., English teams have won the CL/EC 7 times in the last 30 years.., 8 times in the 30 before that. Measured against the best of the rest has English football really got better? What is clear is that the spread of clubs and leagues which can win the CL is diminishing (4 countries in the last 20 years) and that trend will continue now as the richest clubs and leagues are allowed to monopolise these competitions via their huge revenue streams. That to me is to the detriment of sporting integrity and sport as a whole. If that is lost then the game is fcuked.

[WILF 47,393]

3 minutes ago, pesky1972 said:

I absolutely do, and have debated the state of the EPL on here before. Probably accused clubs of selling their soul, where in reality it’s been slowly pilfered away by people whose only motive is to maximise profit and market share and who give zero fcuks for the man on the terracing or the integrity of the actual sport. The game changed forever with the advent of subscription tv early 90’s. Apparently the EPL is now the ‘best league in the world’. I don’t dispute that it has some of the very best players and managers in the game.., a game which has changed a fair bit tactically and with all the sport science, better playing surfaces, effective removal of the contact element etc. in recent years…, I’m not convinced it’s altogether a better spectacle. And as for the best league.., English teams have won the CL/EC 7 times in the last 30 years.., 8 times in the 30 before that. Measured against the best of the rest has English football really got better? What is clear is that the spread of clubs and leagues which can win the CL is diminishing (4 countries in the last 20 years) and that trend will continue now as the richest clubs and leagues are allowed to monopolise these competitions via their huge revenue streams. That to me is to the detriment of sporting integrity and sport as a whole. If that is lost then the game is fcuked.

Good post that mate.

I suppose watching premier league football is like watching champions league or the World Cup, it’s so far removed from the actual flesh & bones of the game that we are really just watching to see all the best players.

However I think most of us knew years ago the course it’s on won’t be stopping because Fred Bloggs has been going down there 50 year.

I don’t agree that the game is f****d, you know yourself there are hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women out every weekend and a few nights a week helping youngsters fall in love with playing, playing themselves, going and watching the local team or the Sunday morning teams over the park……real football people at real football, they are the lifeblood of the game because the young Ronaldo or Zidane or Rooney or whoever never gets to see the Champions league or the Premier league unless some volunteer somewhere puts them in their first game for their first team at 5 years old.

 

[jukel123 8,480]

Here's a thought. Players are required to retreat 10 yards for a free kick. But 10 yards is never properly measured. The referee walks 10 paces. Or 9.1 metres in Europe. But referees have different lengths of stride. A little fella's stride might only be 2/3 of a big bloke's stride. What the f**k does it matter I hear you say. Well when a wall is created for a free kick the difference of a perhaps a metre in the distance of the wall matters a lot when a player is trying to bend or dip the ball. They could use a laser measurement. Sorted. Some will say ffs we've got enough interfering technology but to me its fairer.

Edited May 16, 2024 by jukel123

[Blackmag 6,103]

Clubs are having a vote on var next month hopefully it goes it's took the life of the game me personally as a fan I hope it goes but I can't see fa wanting it gone 

[WILF 47,393]

51 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

Here's a thought. Players are required to retreat 10 yards for a free kick. But 10 yards is never properly measured. The referee walks 10 paces. Or 9.1 metres in Europe. But referees have different lengths of stride. A little fella's stride might only be 2/3 of a big bloke's stride. What the f**k does it matter I hear you say. Well when a wall is created for a free kick the difference of a perhaps a metre in the distance of the wall matters a lot when a player is trying to bend or dip the ball. They could use a laser measurement. Sorted. Some will say ffs we've got enough interfering technology but to me its fairer.

Go and have a word with yourself young man !