Is football the same anymore?

[berkshire seagull]

It has changed as its more about money these days and not enough pride etc.
The withdean is enough to put you right off with its many limits and probs over the years and i guess its just worn through me and can't be arsed like many others.

 

[timseagull]

Have to say I love it more then ever.

Yes this is a crap division? Yes Withdean isn't that great for football and yes the old terraces were great. But we're on the brink of the play offs we might get a brand new stadium which could bring us the success we deserve. How good would Brighton in Europe be?

Whoever said the game is all about money is probably right....but just look at the non league scene in Sussex (although some will probably say this is be driven by money now) Crawley in the conference and Bognor set for the new conference south with Eastbourne and Burgess Hill and possibly Lewes and Worthing (subject to a bizarre play off system) Go to any of these grounds and you can have you terrace a passionate game of football for a few quid.

 

[Zeitgeist]

Only this season have I failed to have any buzz about the Albion and football in general. I can't put my finger on it. Even during the dark Gillingham years I never felt so lethargic. My main dislike of the modern game is the way many clubs have moved from being focal points of the local community, to some kind of corperate brand with lower income fans being priced out of the game. Nope, the game aint the same these days..*sigh*.....

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Nothing to beat the North Stand as mentioned above, that elevated view over the entire ground, the away support on the left..... I've often wondered whether the excitement diminishes with age. For me the late teens/early 20s were the height of Albion passion, not that I'm any less committed to the Albion than I used to be. Even many chants at football in general seem dated and tired today - "Dirty Northern Bastards" "Can you hear (insert team) sing? no-oh" "Same old (insert team) always cheating" and countless others should be consigned to history. Was I the only one who felt that the chant of "6-5, we're gonna win 6-5" at Selhurst was totally naff?

 

[SussexSpur]

But the noise when the ball hits the back of the net and the crowd go wild still makes the hairs on my back (

Been a terrible season personally and can't wait for it to end. . . But, with my season ticket renewal form hitting the doormat just as I'm drowsily waking up with memories of a fresh depressing humiliation still dominating my mind, can't imagine doing anything but. . . renewing. Cos couldn't bear to be somewhere else when we get a scrappy winner against Portsmouth, or a spectacular out-of-nowhere volley at home to Everton or etc etc. . . Obvously part of me reckons football must have been much better, much *purer* 20, 30, 40 years ago (it probably helped that Tottenham, not A***nal, won stuff), but is still all-embracing.
Referees have always been dodgy. Fans have always been unpredictable. Teams erratic.
For me, the one crucial aspect that makes today's football better and more fulfilling than 30 years ago: I'm watching it. And wouldn't give it up for the world.

 

[SussexSpur]

Nothing to beat the North Stand as mentioned above, that elevated view over the entire ground, the away support on the left..... I've often wondered whether the excitement diminishes with age. For me the late teens/early 20s were the height of Albion passion, not that I'm any less committed to the Albion than I used to be. Even many chants at football in general seem dated and tired today - "Dirty Northern Bastards" "Can you hear (insert team) sing? no-oh" "Same old (insert team) always cheating" and countless others should be consigned to history. Was I the only one who felt that the chant of "6-5, we're gonna win 6-5" at Selhurst was totally naff?

Can I interest you in:
"Who's got a big fat wife,
Who's got a big fat wife,
Ian Wright, Ian Wright,
He's got a big fat wife

Who's got a big fat mum,
Who's got a big fat mum,
Shaun Wright-Phillips,
Shaun Wright-Phillips,
He's got a big fat mum

Who's got a lovely wife,
Who's got a lovely wife,
Jamie Redknapp,
Jamie Redknapp,
He's got a lovely wife"

No?

Suit yerself then. . .

 

[Jambo Seagull]

f***ing 'ell jambo how did you get that?

I knew they were promoted about that time and I think I read on some post that you were from that neck of the woods.

For me football has lost some of its magic. When you get an average premiership footballer earning more in a week than what the average fan earns in a year something has gone completely awry.

 

[On the Left Wing]

Just finished reading Gullhanger for the second time - took it off the shelf after my third reading of Parklife ...
to me both books sum up what has happened to football over the past 30 years ...
but at least the passion is still with us.

I would never have thought it the late 1980s, when I had all but given up on the game - for many of the common reasons - that the passion would return with such a vengeance ...