Something For Us Fans Aged 40 And Above

[glynriley]

Can probably guess the answer from most !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22314015

[myol'man]

I would think there is a huge difference in opinion of fans of clubs inside the Premier bubble looking out (Stoke, WBA, Fulham etc) and those on the outside looking in (Us, Leeds, both Sheffield clubs etc.) and also those who have tasted the glory days and paid the price (Coventry, Pompey)

I very rarely watch a Premier league game cos It's filled with mercenary Carlos Kickaball's and Juan(It don't) Mata's

Shrewsbury on a wet Tuesday night is what it's all about!

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

I'm in my mid 30's but I remember football grounds in the late 80's and early 90's.

As a kid, being taken into the Eastend against Chelsea in the FA Cup was worrying because of rumours that had been circulating IN SCHOOL that Chelsea fans were going to be in there with knives. Post Hillsborough I remember going to places like Filbert Street and nervously looking for and making sure I could get to the nearest exit, just in case.

I can also remember the unbelievable racism directed at fans of teams like Leicester (stuff which makes 'you're just a small town in Asia' sound very trivial) as well as players on the pitch including our own.

The grounds were ******* filthy (but cheap to enter) and often located in absolute sh1tholes.

As a kid I wouldve felt far safer in the modern stadiums we have been visiting in recent years.

However, as I've got older those grounds with the intimidating atmospheres (minus any racism), in the middle of sh1tholes with the reasonable entrance fee are exactly what I would love to experience again. I miss grounds like Ninian Park, Victoria Ground, Saltergate, Filbert Street etc.

[biggythecity]

Some things have got better but atmospheres and cost have going to watch and overpaid players are what makes the game what it is now.I still love to go but its not as enjoyable as it used to be,i would love to be able to afford to take my kids like my dad used to but its hard enough to afford my own season ticket,food petrol,etc and see more good old fashioned passion from the players to win each game

[SecretSam]

Better:

- Grounds far more pleasant, AG now a bit of a relic

- Racism, crowd trouble, etc now much less common (but still around)

- Humour's still there

- Better view

- Not having to stand in the freezing cold with numb feet

- Quality of pitches and football is much, much better

Worse:

- Cost. First game as a kid on my own: 1984, £2.10...

- Atmosphere - not quite as mental as it used to be, and goal celebrations are less insane now we're all sat down

- The Premier League's power

- Lack of money coming out from the top division and filtering down

No change:

- City's spectacular ability to drive me utterly, utterly nuts

[Aizoon]

Simply not the same "experience". At least, watching home in front of the TV, I can stand up and shout "Get the fxxk in!" without being menaced by Rentathug.

[i hate rovers]

yes good old days,elm park,ayresome park,aldershot,hereford,and good old walsall,to name a few .proper old school day outs. with proper old school lads ah those where the days....

[i hate rovers]

I'm in my mid 30's but I remember football grounds in the late 80's and early 90's.

As a kid, being taken into the Eastend against Chelsea in the FA Cup was worrying because of rumours that had been circulating IN SCHOOL that Chelsea fans were going to be in there with knives. Post Hillsborough I remember going to places like Filbert Street and nervously looking for and making sure I could get to the nearest exit, just in case.

I can also remember the unbelievable racism directed at fans of teams like Leicester (stuff which makes 'you're just a small town in Asia' sound very trivial) as well as players on the pitch including our own.

The grounds were ******* filthy (but cheap to enter) and often located in absolute sh1tholes.

As a kid I wouldve felt far safer in the modern stadiums we have been visiting in recent years.

However, as I've got older those grounds with the intimidating atmospheres (minus any racism), in the middle of sh1tholes with the reasonable entrance fee are exactly what I would love to experience again. I miss grounds like Ninian Park, Victoria Ground, Saltergate, Filbert Street etc.

use to go with dave bateman r.i.p on ,the maple flyer those where the days....

[Robbored]

Personally I love the PL and watch matches on Sky most weekends. Its usually exciting,full of pace and played with tremendous skill. Skills you don't see lower down the leagues.

I've never actually attended a PL match largely because there isn't a decent PL team within easy reach and I'm not sure I'd want to pay £50 or so for a ticket.

As for City now and then. No change other than I don't go to as many away games as I use to. That's largely because I can't be arsed.

[welldonejames]

good old away day trip to notts county on a st trinnians style coach stopped at the blackhorse bemmy already full about another 20 got on sat in the isles or where ever u could squeeze in herded into ground treated like prisoners, got beat,no beer, window fell out of coach on way home driver wouldnt stop for a p*ss break

ah those where the days

[NOTR]

good old away day trip to notts county on a st trinnians style coach stopped at the blackhorse bemmy already full about another 20 got on sat in the isles or where ever u could squeeze in herded into ground treated like prisoners, got beat,no beer, window fell out of coach on way home driver wouldnt stop for a p*ss break

ah those where the days

Same here,coach had about 3 empty seats got to the centre and were greeted by a further 30 lads,bit cramped but hey!.Counted every one off the coach and there were 83 of us.

[Spike]

Nostalgia has a big effect on what people remember.

So many gamers remember various games as being amazing games that they could play for hours on end, play that same game now and they are god awful and haven't aged well. Same goes for football, we'll all have fond memories of the game, I miss good old tackles when men took the tackle, got up and played on but that's a thing of the past as much as I hate to admit it. The game these days is not better nor worse, it's just different and what we may not like now may be a generations fondest memories of the game as it'll keep on changing.

No matter how you look at the game the simple fact is you can't really say it's got worse or better, it's just like everything else, including cost. A wham bar used to cost 5p, now it costs 25p, a packet of crisps used to cost 20p, now for the same brand it's 60p... it's not just football that's changed financially, the whole country has.

City haven't really changed, we still seem to have an overpowering view that we should be a "big" club when in fact we're just the biggest club in a very small area of England.

[ralphindevon]

Can you imagine the stewards and police having debrief at the end of the season late 70's early 80's.

"Right what was the worse incident we had in the ground this season"

" Well we had to eject quite a few when a dozen or so came in the ground with the F word on their T-shirts"

Although holliganism did get on my nerves at times and I was glad when it all but ended, at least ridiculous embarrassing incidents like Saturday would never of happened.

[ooRya]

Surprised no-one has mentioned the turnstiles pic on the BBC article is the eastend entrance.

Anyhoo.......

When I started going as a kid, I could go to 3 games from what I earned doing a paperround in a week.

Terraces, chanting, surging, edginess, smoking, banter (politically incorrect!).........yes it was better back in the day.

[glynriley]

Surprised no-one has mentioned the turnstiles pic on the BBC article is the eastend entrance.

Anyhoo.......

When I started going as a kid, I could go to 3 games from what I earned doing a paperround in a week.

Terraces, chanting, surging, edginess, smoking, banter (politically incorrect!).........yes it was better back in the day.

Dont think it is. Even though I haven't been through those turnstyles for a good few years , surely they've taken down the 'Terraces' sign by now ?

[ooRya]

Dont think it is. Even though I haven't been through those turnstyles for a good few years , surely they've taken down the 'Terraces' sign by now ?

I'm sure it is....just an old picture

[glynriley]

I'm sure it is....just an old picture

Definitley not.

For 1 , there would not have been No Smoking signs when the terracing was there and 2 , it says £18 on the left hand door , even City woulldn't have charged that much back then !!

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

I'm sure it is....just an old picture

It's not mate.

[ooRya]

Well I guess that's the downside of being in the over 40's club.......your mind starts going!

Perhaps football wasn't as good as I remember it either then :-S

[Toblerone]

I'm sure it is....just an old picture

Sorry, it's not. The EE had "Covered End" signs and the turnstiles were a design piloted at Ashton and made by Brecknell Dolman and Rogers.

[havanatopia]

Surprised no-one has mentioned the turnstiles pic on the BBC article is the eastend entrance.

Anyhoo.......

When I started going as a kid, I could go to 3 games from what I earned doing a paperround in a week.

Terraces, chanting, surging, edginess, smoking, banter (politically incorrect!).........yes it was better back in the day.

I just read the article and was about to.. looks like it to me. The font on the door looks like what we use too.

'clapped out old relics' next to that precious photo too.. he's got some neck that bond bloke.

mind you... it could also be swindle or stoke's old Victoria Ground. verdict still out.

[Aizoon]

I just read the article and was about to.. looks like it to me. The font on the door looks like what we use too.

'clapped out old relics' next to that precious photo too.. he's got some neck that bond bloke.

mind you... it could also be swindle or stoke's old Victoria Ground. verdict still out.

It does look very like it, but the sky's the wrong colour. It always used to rain in the East End in those days

[Drew Peacock]

It also looks as if you turn immediately left after you have gone in, to get to the terracing. And that white structure above the corrugated tin roof isn't Ashton Gate.

[Busterrimes]

My guess is that terrace is either Ayresome Park or Roker Park

[ciderup]

It's Brisbane Rd isn't it? I'm sure there are flats behind the main stand at BR.

[Guest]

Was 60 a few weeks back but if I had the choice of going in 2013/14 season or any between 68/78 then there would be no contest. Not just for the Atmosphere freedom etc but for the passion and pride on the pitch ala G.Gow and co.

[Night84]

I don't think there's been a better competition than The Champions League, some of the games and teams are breathtaking and now the holy grail of every team in Europe.

But it breeds bad practices and everything turns in to Money, Money, Money. Teams getting investment from hugely wealthy overseas investors that put more emphasis on foreign markets in Asia and America than connecting with the fans that live in the shadow of the ground.

The worst thing about modern football is the growing distance between players/clubs and Fans. Fans are alienated and unable to relate with the modern game. It is now just a spectacle at the highest level.

[sglosbcfc]

I think the cost is a big issue, I know you have to allow for inflation etc, but a good comparison is the cinema, football tickets used to be similar to the cinema. Now it is a tenner to get into the cinema and thirty quid to get into your average football ground.

The other thing I really miss is tackling. I guess the players are so fit, fast and strong today that they had to clamp down on tackles to a degree, but in Europe and the Prem you can't even make a tackle without being booked, all you can do is try and jockey the forwards or nip it off their toes.

Final moan, European competition was better when teams were made up of their own countrymen. It felt like a European adventure, now you could play a Russian side who would be full of Africans and Brazilians and an English team full of Spaniards, it doesn't feel right.

[Cunnyfunt]

I think the cost is a big issue, I know you have to allow for inflation etc, but a good comparison is the cinema, football tickets used to be similar to the cinema. Now it is a tenner to get into the cinema and thirty quid to get into your average football ground.

The other thing I really miss is tackling. I guess the players are so fit, fast and strong today that they had to clamp down on tackles to a degree, but in Europe and the Prem you can't even make a tackle without being booked, all you can do is try and jockey the forwards or nip it off their toes.

Final moan, European competition was better when teams were made up of their own countrymen. It felt like a European adventure, now you could play a Russian side who would be full of Africans and Brazilians and an English team full of Spaniards, it doesn't feel right.

That's the way of the world now. People from all different countries plying their trade (or scrounging off the government) in any one country, in what ever walk of life.

As for tackling.. Maybe it's gone soft due to Platini being the top man at UEFA. I'm too young to remember him as a player (apologies for invading this thread) but from what I gather he was hardly renowned for his hard hits and physical style and more of an artist of the beautiful game.