For those old enough to remember - Professional football before SKY and the Premier League

[Arkwright]

When Sky first started live games I rushed out and bought the fully package soon got bored watching too many meaningless games every night of the week. Soon did away with Sky and now the only games I watch are the Albion and highlights on terrestrial TV.

Sorry but I think Sky and all the cash has ruined our National game.

 

[Jim in the West]

Not much to do with Sky, but pre-1991 the pitches were cr*p, the facilities were awful, violence was rife, and the quality of much of the football was pretty average. I loved the Goldstone, but give me the Amex every day. The quality is SO much better nowadays - we have some of the best players in the world in the Premier League (and some bl00dy good ones in the Championship, too). Also, go back to the 80s and you'll find the attendances at most matches were pathetic....Chelsea sometimes got less than 10k, Liverpool would get crowds of 25k or so. Championship footie (i.e., Division 2) was often watched by crowds of 5k or so. Despite the positive impact of standing, the atmosphere at games was often dire. Give me footie in 2014 any day.

 

[kevtherev]

Did someone say Liverpool fans were being charged £98 for the Arsenal game Take the missus and kids and that could be the arse end of £300, that's before you leave the house, get the train, have a pint or two and grab something to eat.....Enough said.....That could be us, very soon!!!!!....Football in 2014

 

[BensGrandad]

The biggest thing in favour of the previous period wss that the only games shown live was the cup final and internstionals so the supporters actually went to the games rather than be armchair experts. The footbsll itself is probably better now but has become
boring at the very top with knowing which clubs will occupy the top 5 or 6 places in the Premier.

 

[Hiney]

...when there was a penalty...few and far between..some little fat bloke with a Ralph Coates comb over ran on the pitch with a bucket of white wash to mark the penalty spot which was in a sea of mud.

[yt]wdFwl11WUAg[/yt]

 

[nicko31]

The football was better back then right up to the moment you watch a full match.

From that point on it was actually sh*te.

- Slow repetitive football play - the ball constantly passed back to the goalie.
- Any player with any kind of ability or skill was physically assaulted.
- The pitches were no better than the park.
- The bulk (in every sense of the word) of the players weren't fit enough for 90 minutes of football.
- Standing aside, the facilities at all grounds were third world, at best.
- Liverpool won everything.
- The game was as bent then as it is today, brown paper bags of cash.

To answer the specific question, Do you prefer football as it was then, or how it is now?

The FOOTBALL is a bazillion times better now.
The game is now sh*t and rotten to the core, but it's sh*t for very different reasons.

Well summed up. Going to some matches in the early 80's as a kid felt like entering the lions den.

 

[portslade seagull]

World of Sport with Dickie Davies waiting for the H/T score as there were no other updates back then

 

[Cappers]

Keepers without gloves
Keepers wearing same colour shorts and socks as their team mates
Keepers running whilst bouncing the ball

Cappers I can't remember you doing any of the above
I do remember you being in the pub after every game tho

Keepers used to catch crosses rather than punch. Of course I could do neither

 

[paul wickens]

Football pre-sky

Football today has it's unpleasant characteristics namely, prices which are too high, ditto for players wages, players diving and trying to get opponents sent off and the pervasive influence of agents but the game itself is infinitely better today. Players are more skillful and a lot fitter. Games are played on better surfaces and the whole experience of going to a game in a modern stadium is much better especially if you go with your kids. However, having said all that, I still remember fondly going to The Goldstone in the 1970s and 80s and probably won't look back at this era of modern Football from a nostalgic viewpoint.

 

[GT49er]

Before Sky for me! (with a bit less crowd trouble)

 

[Questions]

Not much to do with Sky, but pre-1991 the pitches were cr*p, the facilities were awful, violence was rife, and the quality of much of the football was pretty average. I loved the Goldstone, but give me the Amex every day. The quality is SO much better nowadays - we have some of the best players in the world in the Premier League (and some bl00dy good ones in the Championship, too). Also, go back to the 80s and you'll find the attendances at most matches were pathetic....Chelsea sometimes got less than 10k, Liverpool would get crowds of 25k or so. Championship footie (i.e., Division 2) was often watched by crowds of 5k or so. Despite the positive impact of standing, the atmosphere at games was often dire. Give me footie in 2014 any day.

He knows you know. Football in the eighties was grim. Apart from some bits in 1983 of course.

 

[trueblue]

Better in the 80s: the competitiveness of the top division, the prices, the feeling that the players and the spectator inhabited the same world, common sense refereeing.

Better now by a huge distance: the standard of football, the facilities, the lack of violence.

If football had continued as it was, it would have all but died out by now I think. There's a lot of the quirky stuff I miss (and some of the tackling) but overall it's undeniably superb these days compared to the 80s.

 

[Ady1964]

Football in the 70's & 80's for me was fantastic! Like a lot of previous posts, I do not miss the aggro side of it, but that did give the atmosphere that edge that is sadly missing much of the time today.........Palarse games (home or away) are the only games that come within a million miles of the old atmospheres!!
I still love the feeling of being in the minority at away games. And even after 30 years I still cannot help loving the thought that you are on someone else's manor!!
ummmmmm...........maybe I do miss the aggro just a little bit!!!!

 

[Dr. Notthenineo'clocknews]

one thing I miss at the end of the season is the gathering of fans on the touchline when you get promoted, usually about 10 mins before the end it starts, a few stewards/OB try and stop it but while they are down that end, it just occurs at the other, by 90 mins on the clock thousands are standing on the touchline and if the ref blows for offside there's a five min delay while the pitch is cleared, when the ref does finally blow......................oh happy days!

 

[janee]

Better in the 80s: the competitiveness of the top division, the prices, the feeling that the players and the spectator inhabited the same world, common sense refereeing.

Better now by a huge distance: the standard of football, the facilities, the lack of violence.

If football had continued as it was, it would have all but died out by now I think. There's a lot of the quirky stuff I miss (and some of the tackling) but overall it's undeniably superb these days compared to the 80s.

THis - and I like the way you can constantly track what's happening on web/social media etc. (apart from the January transfer window lol)

 

[Danny-Boy]

One thing I really miss is all (or at least the vast majority) of the games being played on a Saturday afternoon, 3pm kick off. Hate it when games are spread all over the weekend (can't wait until we get to the Premier League and have Monday evening matches...).

And yes, the 'quality' of players is now much better, but at what cost? The gulf between the top clubs and the rest is now a gigantic chasm. We will never see teams like Ipswich, Swansea or Watford challenging for the League again. On the plus side, I like having smarter stadiums (although the atmosphere has suffered, mainly because of the all-seater rule) and less aggro.

Agere. I went to see Brentford play the Gills Friday, wet night, slippery pitch but the atmos in the standing home end was pretty good. Also you can move around if someone near gets a bit off-key vocally.

Bees still haven't got final permission for their new stadium at Kew Bridge - which will no doubt be all-seater - so we'll be standing for a while yet. I notice Bomo still have standing. How much longer there?

 

[Danny-Boy]

one thing I miss at the end of the season is the gathering of fans on the touchline when you get promoted, usually about 10 mins before the end it starts, a few stewards/OB try and stop it but while they are down that end, it just occurs at the other, by 90 mins on the clock thousands are standing on the touchline and if the ref blows for offside there's a five min delay while the pitch is cleared, when the ref does finally blow......................oh happy days!

Or if you stay up....

 

[Danny-Boy]

Well summed up. Going to some matches in the early 80's as a kid felt like entering the lions den.

I actually went to the Lions' Den once in the 1970's to see a Palace game. A copper stopped me outside the ground and offered me a ticket someone had given him to sell in the stand. "Take my advice" he said, and "use this". I did and watched the away supporters hemmed in at one corner being assaulted by a hail of bottles and other projectiles..pheww. Never went back.

 

[Gazwag]

I know its not linked to sky but getting to away games was so much easier especially by train. You just went to the railway station and bought your 2cms x 4cms ticket which got you the whole way to the away club and at a reasonable cost. None of this buying three months in advance and being forced to travel on the correct timed train and having twenty different tickets for the journey. I don't think I ever knew what the time of the train home was after the game you just turned up at the station and caught the one that was going the right way.

 

[The Oldman]

All depends how far back you go. For me I have very happy memories of the football in the 50's & 60's. No real live footie on tele apart from the Cup Final. Games always on Saturday with early starts in winter as there were no Floodlights. Very little trouble.

However when we got to the 70's going to a match could be a nightmare what with run down grounds, hooliganism, and poor quality football. The Goldstone was not immune from these problems

After all the terrible disasters things began to change. Gradually improved stadiums, crackdown on the yobs, and I think the quality of football got much better.

Now I quite like on a cold Sunday afternoon settling down to my Sky Super Sunday and I love being a STH at the Amex with the occasional away match. My late Dad and Dad in Law would not believe how things have progressed for us whether as an Albion fan or what is available on TV. We do not know how lucky we are.