What's Ruining Football?

[Red-Robbo]

Gingers

Awww c'mon. Ryan Taylor does try...

[RedRock]

Obscene Salaries

Foreign Owners

R*vers

[Roger Red Hat]

Health and Safety COMMON SENSE not senseless rules.

SO what are the H&S issues that are spoiling the game?

[cheese]

Other teams not allowing us to win.

[You Do The Dziekanowski]

SO what are the H&S issues that are spoiling the game?

Not being allowed to take a plastic bottle into the ground, Seated at all times, Not being allowed to stand in the gangways (if there is a fire I'm pretty sure they're not going to just stand there) Not sure if you class as health and safety but stewards taking Health and safety so far they wouldn't be pleased if you turned up wrapped in bubble wrap!

[Flaxbourton Red]

Sky. What was once free now costs £50 a month.

Hopefully their days are numbered with the onset of better broadband. Internet TV will replace the need for a sat dish

[cider-manc]

Player Agents.

Their greed has rubbed off on the players and their constant whispering in the players ear/in the press has given these new millionaires an exaggerated sense of self worth, importance and arrogance.

Gone are the days when players felt lucky to play for a club, as they now believe the clubs are lucky that they play for them at all.

[downendcity]

I think the beginning of the end was when they stopped putting up the halftime scores around the pitch perimeter.

[chalky]

1) ticket prices

2) all seater stadiums

3) Booking players for celebrating/interacting with fans (wtf is that all about!!)

[JM91]

Nothing is ruining football,

throughout history people have ALWAYS moaned about "the state of the game"

simply put, everyone's vision of the past is clouded in nostalgia, much like the way in 30 years or so the 9 year olds of today will reminisce about the current state of football.

the only difference is that now with all the advancements in communications that all the miserable sods who go to football have a voice strong enough to produce a viscous circle of moaning muppets.

misery loves company, and the internet provides so many with company. lets face it if the 40 odd negative replies were genuine then people would lose interest in the game, at least to the extent where they don't spend their Monday afternoons on a bleeding football forum.

[chalky]

Nothing is ruining football,

throughout history people have ALWAYS moaned about "the state of the game"

simply put, everyone's vision of the past is clouded in nostalgia, much like the way in 30 years or so the 9 year olds of today will reminisce about the current state of football.

the only difference is that now with all the advancements in communications that all the miserable sods who go to football have a voice strong enough to produce a viscous circle of moaning muppets.

misery loves company, and the internet provides so many with company. lets face it if the 40 odd negative replies were genuine then people would lose interest in the game, at least to the extent where they don't spend their Monday afternoons on a bleeding football forum.

What about the thousands who have lost interest in the modern game and don't attend on a Saturday, let alone come on otib on a monday afternoon?

[chipdawg]

Not being allowed to take a plastic bottle into the ground, Seated at all times, Not being allowed to stand in the gangways (if there is a fire I'm pretty sure they're not going to just stand there) Not sure if you class as health and safety but stewards taking Health and safety so far they wouldn't be pleased if you turned up wrapped in bubble wrap!

They're all licensing/common sense issues. I agree that steps should be taking to reintroduce standing at football grounds, but that's an issue for central legislation. Why is it such an issue that you can't stand in a gangway? It's hardly 'helf n safety gawn maaad!' is it?

The reasons for stewards enforcing such rules so strictly is not because they care very much for your well-being or because they're assholes (though some of them undoubtedly are), it's because if you fall over or slip or bang your head both the club and the events management company can be sued on your behalf by one of those 'no win, no fee' lawyers. They're what's driving 'health and safety' culture in this country, not political correctness or the EU

[You Do The Dziekanowski]

What about the thousands who have lost interest in the modern game and don't attend on a Saturday, let alone come on otib on a monday afternoon?

Exactly, Football IMO is slowly getting run by plastic fans who will do anything to play in the prem, I'm not old enough to witness the days of bottom div football but, If we were in the bottom division now we would only sell around 6,000 tickets per game, As it's not WHO you support but quality of football and who would have the most success, Cut ticket prices and agents to get all this money out of the game, I can handle Sky paying clubs for coverage and that as long as the game stays on a Saturday, but Greedy Agents sucking money out of clubs is a no no, What do they even do?

[JM91]

What about the thousands who have lost interest in the modern game and don't attend on a Saturday, let alone come on otib on a monday afternoon?

attendances are no longer growing, doesnt mean theyre declining.

Exactly, Football IMO is slowly getting run by plastic fans who will do anything to play in the prem, I'm not old enough to witness the days of bottom div football but, If we were in the bottom division now we would only sell around 6,000 tickets per game, As it's not WHO you support but quality of football and who would have the most success, Cut ticket prices and agents to get all this money out of the game, I can handle Sky paying clubs for coverage and that, but Greedy Agents sucking money out of clubs is a no no, What do they even do?

plastic fans? I love how so many people try to qualify themselves as more important than other fans, through means of overused terms which arent fully understood, beggars belief. pure garbage. Why are you any more important than anyone else?

lets go through a brief simplistic history lesson

sport started as mass recreation on annual days off

stadiums were built when sport was commodified, in order to sell it

t.v came about in the 1930's, an alternative form of entertainment that pushed attendances down (theyve not since reached the heights they had shown)

sport in britain had horrendous amounts of racism in the 1970's (often forgotten by the good old days brigade)

sky tv and the growth of capitalism meant more ways to sell sport. society changed, shifts and free time became less rigid, sport was less dependent on saturday 3pm's.

​alternative forms of media have accommodated sport in a global context.

the point being, sport reflects society in every single way. we live in a global world, many forms of media, everything is easily accessible, public institutions like education and healthcare are not appreciated because every fat lazy kid in england takes it for granted, consoles and games are more popular than excercise. all those things considered, football is doing exceedingly well.

[You Do The Dziekanowski]

attendances are no longer growing, doesnt mean theyre declining.

plastic fans? I love how so many people try to qualify themselves as more important than other fans, through means of overused terms which arent fully understood, beggars belief. pure garbage. Why are you any more important than anyone else?

lets go through a brief simplistic history lesson

sport started as mass recreation on annual days off

stadiums were built when sport was commodified, in order to sell it

t.v came about in the 1930's, an alternative form of entertainment that pushed attendances down (theyve not since reached the heights they had shown)

sport in britain had horrendous amounts of racism in the 1970's (often forgotten by the good old days brigade)

sky tv and the growth of capitalism meant more ways to sell sport. society changed, shifts and free time became less rigid, sport was less dependent on saturday 3pm's.

​alternative forms of media have accommodated sport in a global context.

the point being, sport reflects society in every single way. we live in a global world, many forms of media, everything is easily accessible, public institutions like education and healthcare are not appreciated because every fat lazy kid in england takes it for granted, consoles and games are more popular than excercise. all those things considered, football is doing exceedingly well.

Plastic fans such as Man City fans, Where were they when they had no money and scrapping in a relegation battle?

Now, Money has come in and they sold out almost every game last season!

A fan who only watches a team win when they lose there nowhere to be seen, until they start winning again

[054123]

Nothing is ruining football,

throughout history people have ALWAYS moaned about "the state of the game"

simply put, everyone's vision of the past is clouded in nostalgia, much like the way in 30 years or so the 9 year olds of today will reminisce about the current state of football.

the only difference is that now with all the advancements in communications that all the miserable sods who go to football have a voice strong enough to produce a viscous circle of moaning muppets.

misery loves company, and the internet provides so many with company. lets face it if the 40 odd negative replies were genuine then people would lose interest in the game, at least to the extent where they don't spend their Monday afternoons on a bleeding football forum.

Football has alaways changed, but it was more the physical game itself that changed. You have to admit that the last 20 years has seen many different aspects change none really football related.

As for the interest, i think football has done wonders in increasing the interest of the floating, armchair fan but sadly stuntted the growth of the passionate loyal supporter.

As per my other post, I have lost most of my intererst in Football as a whole, it's just a blind faith in City that keeps me interested.

[glynriley]

Plastic fans such as Man City fans, Where were they when they had no money and scrapping in a relegation battle?

Now, Money has come in and they sold out almost every game last season!

A fan who only watches a team win when they lose there nowhere to be seen, until they start winning again

Not sure Man City are a good example of Glory Hunters. Even when they dropped into League 1 (Div 3 in old money) they still averaged 28K +

[Gazred]

Same could be said for the Gaming world. It used to be the domain of geeks and teenage boys in their bedrooms then along came Sony and the PS1 and made it "cool" to game. Society has not looked back since.

Look at it now....multi billion dollar industry. It suffers the same way of football, all quantity and little quality since the Sky money came in and attracted hoards of overseas players. Some amazing ones out there but also some rather average garbage thats not worth the money.

[Guest]

Plastic fans such as Man City fans, Where were they when they had no money and scrapping in a relegation battle?

Now, Money has come in and they sold out almost every game last season!

A fan who only watches a team win when they lose there nowhere to be seen, until they start winning again

They were getting 25-30k in division one for christ sake.

You don't think for a minute if we won promotion and were up near the top 4 we wouldn't suddenly attract 20'000 extra fans wanting tickets each week? Of course we would and so would 80% of FL teams.

[054123]

Same could be said for the Gaming world. It used to be the domain of geeks and teenage boys in their bedrooms then along came Sony and the PS1 and made it "cool" to game. Society has not looked back since.

Look at it now....multi billion dollar industry. It suffers the same way of football, all quantity and little quality since the Sky money came in and attracted hoards of overseas players. Some amazing ones out there but also some rather average garbage thats not worth the money.

I also think that my generation just grew up and where as before the only people who bought games were parents for kids at Christmas, suddenly there was a generation earning and buying games whenever they wanted.

Sony offered a brilliant product at exactley the right time.

[054123]

I don't think i am bitter or resentful of how footbal has changed, it's just that the higher end of the professional game offers nothing of interest for myself personally.

The 'matchday' experience is one i dont really enjoy anymore.

It appeals to some though, which is fair enough. I just worry that who it appeals to now won't be there through thick and thin.

Man City getting 25k in the third division in 1998 was made up largely of that very large loyal support that had been there for the previous 30 years and longer.

[mjallen]

The European Court of Justice

[I Wurzel I]

All-seater stadiums. Atmosphere use to be amazing in the eastend, surging forward when we scored and generally going mental and getting lifted off your feet..... Apart from that I can't say I dislike football more, and I enjoy watching MOTD and live games on Sky that I couldn't watch before.

[Flaxbourton Red]

Plastic fans such as Man City fans, Where were they when they had no money and scrapping in a relegation battle?

Now, Money has come in and they sold out almost every game last season!

A fan who only watches a team win when they lose there nowhere to be seen, until they start winning again

Behave, man city fans are not plastic. When they were in the third attendances at main road were comparable to the first division save for fewer away fans. Ok now they are champions average attendance has risen but only by a few thousand.

[cider-manc]

They were getting 25-30k in division one for christ sake.

You don't think for a minute if we won promotion and were up near the top 4 we wouldn't suddenly attract 20'000 extra fans wanting tickets each week? Of course we would and so would 80% of FL teams.

You speak to a lot of them around here and they hold the 1999 play off final in the same regards as the Augeroooooo! moment. They are, it has got to be said, a very loyal bunch in the blue half of Manchester.

I get the feeling that JakeBCFC cannot remember Manchester City being in the division below us, but I do understand the point he was trying to make (albeit with a bad choice of team as an example). I wouldn't call them plastic fans though but fair weather supporters, its very easy to support your team when their winning, and it's easier for a team to be successful with a lot of money.

[Guest]

You speak to a lot of them around here and they hold the 1999 play off final in the same regards as the Augeroooooo! moment. They are, it has got to be said, a very loyal bunch in the blue half of Manchester.

I get the feeling that JakeBCFC cannot remember Manchester City being in the division below us, but I do understand the point he was trying to make (albeit with a bad choice of team as an example). I wouldn't call them plastic fans though but fair weather supporters, its very easy to support your team when their winning, and it's easier for a team to be successful with a lot of money.

Yes, probably best example is the plastic flag wavers at Stamford Bridge who come from far and wide.

[Cambridge Batch Red]

Back to OP - it depends what you mean by ruin. Certainly nothing has ruined the spectacular perfomances put in by Suarez, Michu and monkey faced bale this season. But can the man on the clapham omnibus afford a ticket to watch the above players? Can he walk up to highbury and buy a ticket on matchday?

Probably not.

Can the average 15 year old go and watch the above players independantly of his parents and stand with his mates - meet new mates?

Again probably not.

Can I afford to watch a random match if city are not playing - I could - but I choose not to because of the high cost. If somebody lives in Bristol but is not from Bristol - do they think the same about Ashton Gate? Probably.

[Cambridge Batch Red]

Yes, probably best example is the plastic flag wavers at Stamford Bridge who come from far and wide.

They have got to pay a lot to get there though - astronomical prices for seats in a small ground (*small for the size of the club in wages and spending etc).

[Aizoon]

The European Court of Justice

Bosman?

[Guest]

They have got to pay a lot to get there though - astronomical prices for seats in a small ground (*small for the size of the club in wages and spending etc).

True but my sympathy dwindles when they travel from likes of Swindon, Bristol etc.