The future of football ... from 40 years ago

[Yorkshire-Seagull]

I've never heard of Foul magazine, nor can I find anything about it online. Do you know how long it ran for?

 

[Gwylan]

I've never heard of Foul magazine, nor can I find anything about it online. Do you know how long it ran for?

According to Wikipedia it ran from 1972 to 1976. It was pretty widely available - it occasionally used to be sold outside the Goldstone on match days. I had loads of copies, wish I hadn't thrown out all my issues.

According to this article, it's one of the 10 most influential British magazines of all time
http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/the_ten_most_influential_madeinbritain_magazines.aspx

Looking back on it, there's an air of casual sexism that wouldn't be acceptable today - a cartoon strip of women footballers has one leaving the field with a broken bra strap, while another has nails that are too long.

Its main theme was that dirty play was killing football (hence the title). The writers also bemoaned the lack of attractive football (Don Revie was a big bogeyman for the mag) and plotted the decline in attendances. All three of these issues were dealt with so Foul in its original form would be irrelevant today.

It also ran some pieces critical of the way that clubs were run and were less scared about naming players - there's a hatchet job on Peter Osgood that would have had libel lawyers trembling. Could be the reason it didn't last so long

Some of the writers went on to bigger and better things: Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds wrote for TV; Chris Lightbown joined the Sunday Times and Steve Tongue is now with the Independent. It was fun while it lasted

 

[topbanana36]

I wonder how people afford football now. What is the average cost on a Saturday 60 quid for a home game at the AMEX by the time you have bought beer, food and travel. I think watching the Albion for me will be a once a season treat.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

For us growing up in the 70's, that was all we knew. Open terraces, crash barriers, bodies pressed tightly together ( steady! ) The proximity of body odour, the surging back and forth, a sort of dangerous excitement. It was an initiation. We all went through it. Some went looking for trouble, most tried to avoid it. Trouble was lurking round every corner. Sometimes it would find you when you least expected it.
Not many families went to football. A father might take his son but mums rarely went. As schoolboys, we would ' bunk off ' to watch big games in London. Crowds of 50-60,000 commonplace. Seething, surging, swaying. Feet off the ground, carried like a bottle on the tide. Scared and excited in equal measure. Camaraderie amongst mates. Stick together, look out for each other, don't get seperated. Hot sweat, cold sweat and brown pants sometimes.
Girls avoided it. Too macho, too ugly, too violent.
So now, as I sit in my padded seat at the Amex I think ....' would I want to go back to those days...no. Am I glad I grew up then and experienced it...yes. But, if I could go back just once, for a little peek....packed in the North Stand...singing, swaying...leaving exhausted but happy...hitting the Old Shoreham Road on a high....yes please.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Then............I loved the North Stand.

Now ...........I love the WSU.

Then...........I could turn up and pay to get in.

Now...........I need a ticket or forget it.


I thought a season ticket was expensive, but my wife bought me one in the WSU as a gift. Pity was....

Then...........Saturday at three.

Now............Open days, Pride, Sky.

Then..........20 min walk to the ground.

Now............4 1/2 hours each way on the train.


Oh well. Sigh.

 

[Baldseagull]

Really? Brighton's attendances now are getting for treble what they were then (10,864 in 73/74) - not many signs of people getting priced out down here

Some people are priced out, a full house doesn't mean that everyone who wants to go can afford to. The wage status of the average football follower has changed, wether that is good or bad for the club is another matter.

 

[AZ Gull]

I've never heard of Foul magazine, nor can I find anything about it online. Do you know how long it ran for?

According to Wikipedia it ran from 1972 to 1976. It was pretty widely available - it occasionally used to be sold outside the Goldstone on match days. I had loads of copies, wish I hadn't thrown out all my issues.

According to this article, it's one of the 10 most influential British magazines of all time
http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/the_ten_most_influential_madeinbritain_magazines.aspx

Looking back on it, there's an air of casual sexism that wouldn't be acceptable today - a cartoon strip of women footballers has one leaving the field with a broken bra strap, while another has nails that are too long.

Its main theme was that dirty play was killing football (hence the title). The writers also bemoaned the lack of attractive football (Don Revie was a big bogeyman for the mag) and plotted the decline in attendances. All three of these issues were dealt with so Foul in its original form would be irrelevant today.

It also ran some pieces critical of the way that clubs were run and were less scared about naming players - there's a hatchet job on Peter Osgood that would have had libel lawyers trembling. Could be the reason it didn't last so long

Some of the writers went on to bigger and better things: Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds wrote for TV; Chris Lightbown joined the Sunday Times and Steve Tongue is now with the Independent. It was fun while it lasted

The first issue appeared in October 1972. It appeared monthly, pretty consistently, until June 1975 (issue 30); there weren't issues during July and August.

There was then a Christmas Special, but the next edition didn't appear until April 1976. The penultimate issue appeared in May/June 1976, and the final issue, number 34, was October 76.

 

[severnside gull]

For us growing up in the 70's, that was all we knew. Open terraces, crash barriers, bodies pressed tightly together ( steady! ) The proximity of body odour, the surging back and forth, a sort of dangerous excitement. It was an initiation. We all went through it. Some went looking for trouble, most tried to avoid it. Trouble was lurking round every corner. Sometimes it would find you when you least expected it.
Not many families went to football. A father might take his son but mums rarely went. As schoolboys, we would ' bunk off ' to watch big games in London. Crowds of 50-60,000 commonplace. Seething, surging, swaying. Feet off the ground, carried like a bottle on the tide. Scared and excited in equal measure. Camaraderie amongst mates. Stick together, look out for each other, don't get seperated. Hot sweat, cold sweat and brown pants sometimes.
Girls avoided it. Too macho, too ugly, too violent.
So now, as I sit in my padded seat at the Amex I think ....' would I want to go back to those days...no. Am I glad I grew up then and experienced it...yes. But, if I could go back just once, for a little peek....packed in the North Stand...singing, swaying...leaving exhausted but happy...hitting the Old Shoreham Road on a high....yes please.

just for a minute I was back there with you

 

[severnside gull]

For us growing up in the 70's, that was all we knew. Open terraces, crash barriers, bodies pressed tightly together ( steady! ) The proximity of body odour, the surging back and forth, a sort of dangerous excitement. It was an initiation. We all went through it. Some went looking for trouble, most tried to avoid it. Trouble was lurking round every corner. Sometimes it would find you when you least expected it.
Not many families went to football. A father might take his son but mums rarely went. As schoolboys, we would ' bunk off ' to watch big games in London. Crowds of 50-60,000 commonplace. Seething, surging, swaying. Feet off the ground, carried like a bottle on the tide. Scared and excited in equal measure. Camaraderie amongst mates. Stick together, look out for each other, don't get seperated. Hot sweat, cold sweat and brown pants sometimes.
Girls avoided it. Too macho, too ugly, too violent.
So now, as I sit in my padded seat at the Amex I think ....' would I want to go back to those days...no. Am I glad I grew up then and experienced it...yes. But, if I could go back just once, for a little peek....packed in the North Stand...singing, swaying...leaving exhausted but happy...hitting the Old Shoreham Road on a high....yes please.

just for a minute I was back there with you

 

[The Birdman]

Spoke to Alan Mullery started him talking about Spurs vrs Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 60,000 + pouring with rain he scored late and spurs nicked the game 0-2 my feet didn't touch the ground on the way out fans punching anyone they thought supported the other team the tube was a frighting place to be.i am now glad things have improved. I now walk pass the away end to the coach park at The Amex apart from one or two ********s I don't feel intimidated at all. Well done Brighton for creating a friendly club.its great to make friends rather than enemies.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Spoke to Alan Mullery started him talking about Spurs vrs Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 60,000 + pouring with rain he scored late and spurs nicked the game 0-2 my feet didn't touch the ground on the way out fans punching anyone they thought supported the other team the tube was a frighting place to be.i am now glad things have improved. I now walk pass the away end to the coach park at The Amex apart from one or two ********s I don't feel intimidated at all. Well done Brighton for creating a friendly club.its great to make friends rather than enemies.

:safeway:

 

[The Birdman]

:safeway:

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I'm another who enjoyed the 70's & 80's but maybe it was because I was at that age. I also find it better now. WSU is fantastic, the season ticket, paid over 12 months, is not too bad (£40.00 for 3 games this month) and I love being there with my kids and sometimes g'kids too.

 

[e77]

It was alright while attendances were high but by the late 80s the game was on it's knees with crumbling stadia, fans being treated as criminals and dwindling attendances before finally reaching it's low point at Hillsborough.

The game had to move on or it would have been a niche sport by now.

 

[Taybha]

My dad took me to one game at the goldstone and swore he would never take me again , he kept that promise , so i started going on my own around 11 years old , i know this much, looking back i would not have taken my kids to the goldstone , middle upper or whatever class you happen to be , modern day football is a whole lot safer for the kids and if you need proof just look at the youngsters decked out in the stripes on a saturday at the Amex .

Which do i prefer ? god the goldstone was fun but i prefer the seat next to me to be filled by my lad who can watch the game in relative comfort without the nagging fear that any moment he will have to duck and cover from a hail of coins or worse .

Football had to change , it has for the better in many respects , and for the worse in others , i reckon us old farts have had the best of both worlds .

 

[stripeyshark]

It was alright while attendances were high but by the late 80s the game was on it's knees with crumbling stadia, fans being treated as criminals and dwindling attendances before finally reaching it's low point at Hillsborough.

The game had to move on or it would have been a niche sport by now.

Still are treated as criminals.

 

[Plastic-Fantastic]

Not a dig or anything but isn't it a bit dated to link someone's class with their income ? I know some very wealthy plumbers and builders who would class themselves as working class.

Exactly, it's really about culture and upbringing. I know loads of right 'geezers' who drive to their 1901 seats in their Bentleys, but would consider themselves working class.