Barwick - 39th overseas game a "fantastic idea"

[Rangdo]

Doesn't bother me really. I can't see as it will alter my current interest in the Premiership which is none. I've watched one match in the last two seasons and that was only because a mate wanted to watch a Liverpool game in the pub. None of it holds any interest to me whatsoever. The whole sorry spectacle is so far removed from reality that they may as well play the extra game on another planet.

 

[Tooting Gull]

The whole sorry spectacle is so far removed from reality that they may as well play the extra game on another planet.

Well, I'm sure if Jupiter and Saturn want to fight it out for the rights, that can be arranged. Man Utd will probably get theirs on the moon, much closer, better recovery time, cue whining from Benitez about always having an away game at the far end of the galaxy after an England game.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

My prediction ...

Barwick will say "Listen to the FANS. We must give them what they want. And what they want is ...

 

[beorhthelm]

Barwick is a football man and will do what's best for supporters and the football world in general.

thats a good one. he's interested in money. no fan wants this and the FA should only have one answer - f*** off. time they put the Premiership back in their place.

if they support this it is time for a new football association to be formed. i actually hope he and the current FA is for this proposal, so that there is a good chance of a complete overhaul of the organisation once the current incumbants are kicked out.

 

[Easy 10]

when negotiations have taken place and we are clearer about the F.A's position on this would be a wiser time to judge although I have no doubt that you and many others will lambast the F.A. for whatever they do.

This is a crossroads.

If the FA come out and denounce this for the PATHETIC money-driven farce this plan so blatantly is, and say they will fight it all the way, then they will go up a hundred-fold in my estimations. I will renounce all criticism of Barwick and recognise that for whatever his faults, he is after all truley on the fans side, and ultimately just wants whats best for the english game.

Going from the quotes though, it would appear Barwick and his cronies are going to be in favour of this, and do absolutely NOTHING to stop it. In which case, they will have RICHLY earned and deserved the utter withering contempt I haver built up for them over the course of my adult life.

 

[Seasider78]

The premier league have no care for the game in this country and the fans have become less and less of a priority as the seasons go on. With the outrageous sums of TV revenue available this latest idea will be seen as a way of maximising TV rights for the PL outside of England.

Scudamore represents everything that is wrong about the game today and continues to press on with his greedy campaign with little or no regard for the rest of the football league. As for this b*llocks about generating more money for the grass routes, we have heard this all before when the PL was first created and has money filtered down NO.

More and more clubs in the lower reaches face administration with some PL players earning more in 1 year than some clubs do in a season. A line has to be drawn and the only thing that stands in the way of this money monster is the FA.

Will the FA stand up for the common fan and protect the gulf between the PL and the football league getting any greater?

I doubt it and it worries me that an organisation that has been tasked with sorting the problems with the English game can be so shortsighted with the further damage this move will cause to the game in this country

 

[withdeanwombat]

Come on NSC.This is the premiership.It's flooded with dosh,and Barwick would like some of it,thus it's a good idea.

A better idea is to play ALL premiership games in the US of A,and let us concentrate on English football.

Or all admit that for once M.Platini has got it right.

An idea for plonkers.

 

[Easy 10]

A line has to be drawn and the only thing that stands in the way of this money monster is the FA.

Will the FA stand up for the common fan and protect the gulf between the PL and the football league getting any greater?

I doubt it and it worries me that an organisation that has been tasked with sorting the problems with the English game can be so shortsighted with the further damage this move will cause to the game in this country

I'm surprised the FA havn't actually come out with an official statement yet on these plans - Scudamore confirmed he HAS met and discussed this with Barwick and gained his support, yet the FA have been conspicuously silent since this story broke (unless I've missed something).

Come on FA - you've got a real chance to win back some respect here by booting this fiasco into touch.

 

[Questions]

There are too many people in life who are resistant to change.
Bring back terracing, Standing for hours with pay on the gate,
Bring back the good old days of one substitute and play continuing even when players have sustained head injuries.
Bring back goalkeepers who can pick up back passes and waste time.
Bring back the Anglo Italian cup and get rid of the Champions league in its present format.
Bring back stadiums that stunk of piss with crumbling facilities (ok ok I know there is still Selhurst Park )
Kick Sky and their filthy Murdoch money into touch and kick out these Johhny foriegners with all their fancy skills.
Stop selling replica kits and ripping off those poor unfortunate kids.

I`m all for the new ideas.

 

[Easy 10]

Questions, do you HONESTLY prefer the football nowadays to the football we had 15-20 years ago ? I would donate my scrotum to medical science just to get terraces back.

 

[Simster]

Questions, do you HONESTLY prefer the football nowadays to the football we had 15-20 years ago ? I would donate my scrotum to medical science just to get terraces back.

20 years ago it was acceptable for players to get hammered after training. So you weren't watching people who were behaving very professionally. Racism was rife from the terraces to the training ground, I couldn't have taken my 6 y/o boy in case some tosser threw a coin that cut his head open, rioting happened a few times a season, the laws of the game have been improved (the backpass rule changed the game forever). And lets not forget the wank World Cup rules (round robin stages featuring THREE teams per group) and the fact they let in teams who didn't even know the rules!

Nope, it's miles better now, despite the Premiership doing its best to f*** things up in their relentless persuit of money. They are ripping the soul out of the game and killing the goose that laid the golden egg. i.e. fan passion.

 

[Easy 10]

20 years ago it was acceptable for players to get hammered after training. So you weren't watching people who were behaving very professionally. Racism was rife from the terraces to the training ground, I couldn't have taken my 6 y/o boy in case some tosser threw a coin that cut his head open, rioting happened a few times a season, the laws of the game have been improved (the backpass rule changed the game forever). And lets not forget the wank World Cup rules (round robin stages featuring THREE teams per group) and the fact they let in teams who didn't even know the rules!

Nope, it's miles better now, despite the Premiership doing its best to f*** things up in their relentless persuit of money. They are ripping the soul out of the game and killing the goose that laid the golden egg. i.e. fan passion.

I totally disagree.
For all these "super athletes" we are now so priveliged to watch (in the top flight at least), is the football actually any more ENTERTAINING these days ? I don't think so. Frank Worthington probably took to the pitch half-cut and couldn't run 50 yards without wheezing, but are you telling me because he didn't live on a diet of chicken and rice he wasn't great to watch ? There were some fantastic games back then and there were some shit games back then, just like there is now.

I'd agree the backpass rule has generally improved the game, but not to the extent that its now BRILLIANT whereas before it was CRAP. And perhaps I've led a sheltered life, but not once was I caught up in any trouble at the Goldstone. Problems such as rascism come and go and yes, thankfully it is less of an issue in this country then it used to be these days, but its not something that I noticed as being overly prevalent in my younger days attending football at the Goldstone anyway.

I can't believe you think going to football is "miles better" now. For me, one single factor has RUINED football forever, and that is all-seater. Having to buy a ticket days or weeks in advance, losing the spontenaity of deciding on the day and rolling up to the turnstile, edging your way through the crowd to find all your mates and standing with them behind the goal, or wherever you fancied. Taking a newbie along with you at the drop of a hat. All that GONE. Now its a case of sit down, in your allotted seat, and shut up.

Sorry, but the football experience as a whole these days is SHIT compared to how it used to be. I only keep going because (a) I love the Albion and (b) its still a chance to meet up with half a dozen mates before kickoff every other week. If they stopped going, I think I probably would as well.

 

[Pevenseagull]

I'm in the Easy 10 camp here.


Personally i'd prefer to watch kids play in the park rather than the Premiership.

And I would if it wasn't for that pesky restraining order.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Barwick made his career out of televised sport, particularly football, so it's only to be expected that he would cave in pathetically to any means of generating further money via TV rights to these rotten games.

Although it was apparently he that fired Ron Atkinson after the Desailly remarks, so I guess he has performed some service to sports broadcasting.

 

[ack]

More money grapping from them that have it. Thought all the pre season tours/tournaments in far off places covered the mass world interest.
Totally agree with Easy.
As a kid going with me dad,stool in hand,or later in the North Stand with mates,never once did I see or get into trouble. Finishing work and deciding with a few mates to go to a game was all part of it,not this ordering tickets in advance to sit here or there only to be told to sit down or shut up etc has killed the fun of going.
Although living in the mids means I cant see as many Albion games as I'd like,I have the choice of watching Derby,Leicester,any of the Brum teams week in week out,all suposed better quality in higher divisions,but I prefer to watch Burton with me work mates,coz of the laid back no planning,always get in on the day and no Hitler stewards.

 

[Hannibal smith]

Sorry, but the football experience as a whole these days is SHIT compared to how it used to be. I only keep going because (a) I love the Albion and (b) its still a chance to meet up with half a dozen mates before kickoff every other week. If they stopped going, I think I probably would as well.

Personally, I think the truth is halfway between you and Simster. Having a piss in a football ground is no longer a single trough, concrete isn’t coming away from beneath your feet & bananas and monkey chants are a thing of the past. The game is quicker, the rules more suited towards the skilful players and in 1980 the best player on view was Mick Channon. Give me and Henry or a Bergkamp any day of the week on a Sunday afternoon in front of the box.

On the flip side football has now given rise to celebrity wankers such as Ashley Cole & El Hadj Diouf as well as the tedious rolling and diving of the Ronaldo’s and Drogba’s. I’d rather chop off my toes and fry them up and place them between 2 slices of mouldy bread to make a nice toe sandwich than spend a second in any of their company. It pains me to think that my Sky sports subscription goes some way to lining their pockets. Throw in reserved seating and the lack of atmosphere that can sometimes be generated and I can’t be the only one who sometimes wonders why I bother (and often don’t this season to the extent I have seen one albion game).

We can all agree standing was better. It would be a bitter irony if the 39th game of the season in Beijing had terracing as they lacked all seater stadia.

 

[Ernest]

I don't know what the fuss is, there are only about 4 or 5 fixtures that would sell to FOREIGNERS and those clubs will want the money for themselves.
Bolton v Pompey and Sunderland v Wigan couldn't even ATTRACT a half full crowd in their own towns so what will they attract OVERSEAS ?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

In terms of whether football now is better than in the 70s or 80s, there are arguments for both sides. There's always a danger that we look back with rose tinted spectacles on life as it was, and ignore the negative points.

-black and other ethnic minority people can now attend games without fear of being singled out for 90 minutes of non-stop abuse

-the grounds have better facilities, some even have more than two toilet cubicles for female supporters (except Brisbane Road, which is still woefully stuck in the Dark Ages)

-there's less likelihood that moronic groups of grown men are hanging around on street corners, looking to slash the next bunch of away fans they see

-as away fans, there's rarely a need to be kept behind after games like we used to be

-no perimeter fencing, caging people in like animals


But on the other hand I really miss the informality of just deciding to turn up for games. I never had a season ticket at the Goldstone. Granted, I went to pretty much every game anyway, but there's very little in the way of floating support any more, because of the whole charade of having to book tickets in advance

-football now is shockingly expensive. Lord Justice Taylor in his report suggested that six quid was a reasonable price for a seat, once all seater stadia came in, and even allowing for inflation, what we pay now is way above that, surely.

-many top level footballers just take the piss these days. I can't blame them for taking the money they're offered, but to then hear them whining about too many games, demanding transfers the second they're dropped, or flashing the cash around crappy pretentious nightspots, it smacks of ingratitude.

-there seems to be little connection between Premier League clubs and their fans. Supporters who attend games aren't valued, until the team starts playing shit and the manager complains about a lack of atmosphere. How about you do something to actually engage the fans then, dear Chairmen, rather than squeezing them for every last penny?

-Terracing was not the cause of the Hillsborough disaster: it was a factor in the number of casualties, but it was not the cause of the event itself, which was the culmination of a catastrophic series of circumstances and poor decision making. The removal of all terraces has undoubtedly had a negative impact on atmospheres within modern grounds.

Edits: Hannibal, exactly what I was going to say!

 

[Hannibal smith]

As a kid going with me dad,stool in hand,or later in the North Stand with mates,never once did I see or get into trouble. .

Off the top of my head.

Portsmouth at home cup – Portsmouth fans in North stand, fights on the way home after we had won 1-0 to a Matthew Edwards goal. Fights in the North Stand.
Leeds at Home. Fights in Brighton town centre, pitch invasion at the end with Leeds fans running towards the North Stand. Don’t know what happened after that – I legged it.
Chelsea at home, pitch invasion, destroyed the cross bar.

People also forget that away support in numbers is a relatively new phenomenon. In the 80’s it was small numbers who went and most of those were there for a fight as much as the football.

No doubt about it. Football WAS more violent, dangerous and racist 20 years ago.

 

[crodonilson]

Off the top of my head.

Portsmouth at home cup – Portsmouth fans in North stand, fights on the way home after we had won 1-0 to a Matthew Edwards goal. Fights in the North Stand.
Leeds at Home. Fights in Brighton town centre, pitch invasion at the end with Leeds fans running towards the North Stand. Don’t know what happened after that – I legged it.
Chelsea at home, pitch invasion, destroyed the cross bar.

People also forget that away support in numbers is a relatively new phenomenon. In the 80’s it was small numbers who went and most of those were there for a fight as much as the football.

No doubt about it. Football WAS more violent, dangerous and racist 20 years ago.

Agreed, just look at attendances in the early/mid eighties, Liverpool got crowds as low as 25,000 and Man Utd often got less than 30,000.