I hate football

[wehatepalace]

Totally agree with this, I don't watch any other football except the Albion, I've got no interest in it at all anymore. Not even internationals.
If footballs on the tv I'll turn it over.
I get far more excited by a rugby international.

 

[Steve in Japan]

Bit of a tangent, but with grass roots football in England in decline you do start to wonder if future generations will be as enthusiastic about ploughing their hard-earned into the sport as we have been.

 

[1234andcounting]

I became totally disenchanted with football as part of the entertainment business years ago and like most of the rest of the posters it is only my support for the Albion that keeps me going. The low level cheating (time wasting, shirt pulling, stealing yards at throw ins and free kicks) that pervades the professional game irritates me beyond belief. As an away fan you are more likely to be treated as a potential terrorist that a paying customer attending a public entertainment. As for the obscene wages paid to even the most mediocre of talents.....

 

[withdeanwombat]

No, no.................I cannot fully engage with this thread. I can only manage thirty words a minute, and I've only got a three hour break.

But Albion,...YES.

 

[Stat Brother]

Not to mention the hyperbole that surrounds top flight football.

Stoke 0 - 0 WBA is not a good game.

It doesn't need highlights, because there weren't any.
It doesn't need newspaper coverage, because there's nothing to write.
It doesn't need a phone in or podcast, because there's nothing to say.

The whole footballing world knows a wrong'un when it sees a score line like that.

Yet all those with their snouts in the trough have to 'spin' this dog into 'The Greatest League in the World', for fear of being left on the outside looking in.

 

[Hamilton]

Newspaper coverage! Don't get me started on newspaper coverage.

Even The Grauniad - surely the defender of all things fair and right - often devotes more column inches to what is happening in La Liga than to what is happening in other national sports.

Open a newspaper and you'll find a full page spread on the heroics of the Stoke 0 WBA 0 game and nothing on sporting issues that might actually matter.

Two week's ago England were due to take on Ireland in Dublin. What was the BBC Sports homepage in the morning? Arsenal v Everton in the PL. England didn't reach the sports homepage until around 12.00pm.

 

[jimhigham]

Agreed. The Albion is an addiction and one I have no intention of quitting but over the last year I have enjoyed dipping into non-league football quite a bit to get a much needed dose of reality.

 

[Triggaaar]

The only problem with football is FIFA. If FIFA wasn't corrupt, and was capable of governing the game properly, there'd be no problem.

 

[drew]

The same with power the refs have. Look how long it's taken to arm them with a can of shaving foam. Can you see a time in the near future where fans can hear their audio (like rugby), or possess the authority to completely have the respect of the players (again, like rugby)? I certainly can't.

Maybe the size of the professional football world is the problem - given it is so large, compared with rugby, cricket, etc, there are probably a lot of hurdles to getting these measures in place. Unnecessary red tape, possibly.

I've said it on another thread but the respect for refs is in their hands. If they applied the existing laws better then they would earn the respect.

 

[willyfantastic]

I've said it on another thread but the respect for refs is in their hands. If they applied the existing laws better then they would earn the respect.

I'm sorry but if I were the ref I'd tell the captains at the beginning of the game that I'm not gonna take any funny business - any moaning at me and they get a yellow

onces the red cards come flying out they might chagne their tune - i'd never ref again but it would be worth it

 

[seagullmouse]

That Chelsea game last night was horrific for the neutral. I fell a bit further out of love after that.

There was nothing to like at all in 120 minutes. Only enjoyment was laughing at players for being diving and shouty idiots. Laughing at them wears thin after a while.

I prefer watching athletics and snooker.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

The only problem with football is FIFA. If FIFA wasn't corrupt, and was capable of governing the game properly, there'd be no problem.

Spot on. The culture of an organisation is dictated by the behaviour of those at the top. The behaviour of FIFA make the IOC look like saints (and the IOC can hardly be held up as being 'whiter than white' ).

If football is ever going to change, it will be the Governing body forcing that change through. No-one else has the power. FIFA under Sepp Blatter will never force through any change, because people like Blatter are blind to any form of corruption.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

There will never be a will within football to rid itself of its culture of greed and the ever rumbling gravy train picking up its outcasts along the rails to oblivion. Football has changed so much since I started watching it but I have gone along with the flow - change can be good - and enjoyed following my team through about half of its existence. However, it has got to the stage where I am not prepared to pay £1300 a year for me and my missus to have season tickets - a serious amount of money. 2015/16 will be a year of change for me as I certainly won't be going to all matches. Sadly I have had to miss several games this year because of the number of evening kick offs, but the list of reasons to be disillusioned with the current state of football is endless.

 

[maltaseagull]

That Chelsea game last night was horrific for the neutral. I fell a bit further out of love after that.

There was nothing to like at all in 120 minutes. Only enjoyment was laughing at players for being diving and shouty idiots. Laughing at them wears thin after a while.

I prefer watching athletics and snooker.

Agreed. Chelsea seemed to be playing for 0-0 most of the time! So many players on that pitch cheating for every challenge they received. I usually support English teams in Euro competitions but really don't think of them as English any more. The better team went through !

 

[Triggaaar]

people like Blatter are blind to any form of corruption.

Is he blind to it, or are his eyes wide open and his pockets exceptionally deep?

 

[Hamilton]

Yeah - we all know it, it's all so blatantly obvious, but why aren't football fans doing anything about it?

Football fans are extremely passionate, brilliant at protesting, massive in number - yet they are all just bending over and taking it, while handing over their wallets to Sky and the overpaid prima donnas of the Premier League who turn the beautiful game into an embarrassing pantomime.

I suppose maybe football just isn't that important in the grand scheme of things.

Well, people say that football is a religion. So perhaps, as Marx said, it's just become the opium of the masses. We're all hooked for all the wrong reasons. Time for a bit of cold Turkey.

I don't want to get rid of football, but if only it would try and appeal to me on a level above my natural affiliation for my club, then perhaps we might get on again.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

Is he blind to it, or are his eyes wide open and his pockets exceptionally deep?

He's on the gravy train, that's for sure. All expenses paid, free tickets to the best games etc. At least HM The Queen has to declare all 'gifts in kind' recieved when she makes her gladhanding state visits. Under Blatter's oversight, FIFA is open to any number of conflicts of interest.

 

[Sweeney Todd]

I think that Albion flatter to deceive in the modern game because we are too nice, on and off the field.

Recently, the only time when we have looked like reaching the so-called Promised Land was when we were a touch nasty and cynical under Gus and Tanno’s stewardship, two archetypal exponents of gamesmanship.

 

[Triggaaar]

He's on the gravy train, that's for sure. All expenses paid, free tickets to the best games etc.

If that's all he gets I'd be amazed and impressed. You're suggesting he doesn't take MASSIVE bribes. I'm shocked that possibility even crossed your mind.

 

[brakespear]

But I love the Albion. If I didn't, I'd be out of football for good.

Have a great deal of empathy with this - have always preferred cricket as a sport and sometimes feel it's just the Albion plus the fact that I can occasionally see football matches on TV (unlike cricket) which keep me interested.