China can't or won't pay

[Newmarket]

And that is where your atmosphere goes. Football supporters in this country have no emotional buy in to borefests like PSG v Bayern but they always did to FA cup games. And second XIs really only started being used in earnest when teams saved their first XIs for other tournaments like the bore a minute Champions league which is not a Champions League or even worse, the Europa League.

PSG v Bayern was shit. Some games at least have great defending but the fact of the matter was that there was little that had to be done. The CL .....A load of rich clubs playing each other every season.....why not call it a European Super league, be done with it, fuck them off with their TV deal for all the Armchair viewers and Chinese viewers and create a league here where there is at least some competition. There is little now.

As for the KO times on a Sunday, again,. you miss the point as it is not the last minute changes I object to, it is a majority of football not being on a Saturday afternoon all at the same time. It made for a better match day when almost all teams were playing at the same time.

I know most on here will not agree with me because many only have TV football and I respect that but Saturday afternoons were a lot more exciting when football was still a sport and not an entertainment spectacle.

We have seen borefests in F A Cup finals too have we not ? Whether watching a game live or on T V if someone has an emotional attachment to one of the teams the quality of football on offer becomes irrelevant. You have said yourself you do not go to football to be entertained. But if one is not invested in one of the teams involved a boring, sterile match is just that. A boring sterile match.

As a 17 year old I watched my first F A Cup final live in 1975 and thoroughly enjoyed my day. But, having watched a recording of the game later I had to agree with the general consensus of the time that it was an utterly crap game of football for the neutral to watch. I would however suggest the 2006 F A Cup final was an enjoyable watch for neutrals because of the entertainment on offer. It is possible, at least for me, to enjoy a game of football even if I have no specific interest in either team. And I suspect many others can also enjoy a game in that way.

When I was a gambling man , in other words till recently, I watched a LOT of football on the telly .
Jay will tell you , Belgium , Polish , Bundesliga, you name it , if I saw an opportunity then the footy would be on and I’d watch every kick.

But without that Buzz , unless it’s West Ham I’m not in the least interested in ANY football on the telly.

And now I’ve discovered the players will STILL be taking the fucking knee I won’t be watching that either. Still.

[palerider]

And that is where your atmosphere goes. Football supporters in this country have no emotional buy in to borefests like PSG v Bayern but they always did to FA cup games. And second XIs really only started being used in earnest when teams saved their first XIs for other tournaments like the bore a minute Champions league which is not a Champions League or even worse, the Europa League.

PSG v Bayern was shit. Some games at least have great defending but the fact of the matter was that there was little that had to be done. The CL .....A load of rich clubs playing each other every season.....why not call it a European Super league, be done with it, fuck them off with their TV deal for all the Armchair viewers and Chinese viewers and create a league here where there is at least some competition. There is little now.

As for the KO times on a Sunday, again,. you miss the point as it is not the last minute changes I object to, it is a majority of football not being on a Saturday afternoon all at the same time. It made for a better match day when almost all teams were playing at the same time.

I know most on here will not agree with me because many only have TV football and I respect that but Saturday afternoons were a lot more exciting when football was still a sport and not an entertainment spectacle.

Just a quick reply to say that I agree with every word you say there.

Especially your last 2 paragraphs. Watching the classifieds come in through the tv repair shop window in the Barking Road , crowding around somebody’s transistor radio on the football special on awaydays .... or sitting watching on the tv . Saturdays ruled

Ah yes. Small boys in the park. Jumpers for goalposts. Isn't it ? wasn't it ? Marvellous.

But I agree Tim. Football can never be the same again. It wasn't even before covid. Sky ruined the game. And without the fans it's not really football. As Karren Brady proves, you can dress a pig up in a nice frock and give it some lippy but it's still a pig.

And taking the knee is now optional I believe. Which of course means they'll all do it as if just one white player doesn't, Sky and the Beeb will be all over it like the herpes rash.

I'll probably watch on Saturday, at least until the second Toon goal goes in, so I'll have time to kill until I watch something at 8.30, but that will be it I would imagine.

Although yesterday I read that the PL, in desperation, again, to avoid paying Sky back a fortune, have ordered that the league will go ahead pretty much at all costs, and as long as any club has 14 players that have played just one minute of first-team football, postponement of a game is not allowed.

Yet late last night, Bojo, fresh from his duties in the channel welcoming undocumented ragheads to our green and sceptered isle, reversed easing restrictions by declaring that no gathering of more than six people could meet inside or outside due to the quickly escalating rate of new coronavirus infections. Schools, weddings and funerals are exempt. Also organised sports like football.

Which is immaterial as what's on offer won't be football.


The shit, however, will be hitting the fan before Christmas. Sky and BT will again be ordering our spineless government to roll over and have it's tummy tickled as the Premier League is, in their opinion, an emergency service.

[JayK]

We have seen borefests in F A Cup finals too have we not ? Whether watching a game live or on T V if someone has an emotional attachment to one of the teams the quality of football on offer becomes irrelevant. You have said yourself you do not go to football to be entertained. But if one is not invested in one of the teams involved a boring, sterile match is just that. A boring sterile match.

As a 17 year old I watched my first F A Cup final live in 1975 and thoroughly enjoyed my day. But, having watched a recording of the game later I had to agree with the general consensus of the time that it was an utterly crap game of football for the neutral to watch. I would however suggest the 2006 F A Cup final was an enjoyable watch for neutrals because of the entertainment on offer. It is possible, at least for me, to enjoy a game of football even if I have no specific interest in either team. And I suspect many others can also enjoy a game in that way.

When I was a gambling man , in other words till recently, I watched a LOT of football on the telly .
Jay will tell you , Belgium , Polish , Bundesliga, you name it , if I saw an opportunity then the footy would be on and I’d watch every kick.

But without that Buzz , unless it’s West Ham I’m not in the least interested in ANY football on the telly.

And now I’ve discovered the players will STILL be taking the fucking knee I won’t be watching that either. Still.

Confirmed fact. Nutter

[Whiskyman]

When I was a gambling man , in other words till recently, I watched a LOT of football on the telly .
Jay will tell you , Belgium , Polish , Bundesliga, you name it , if I saw an opportunity then the footy would be on and I’d watch every kick.

But without that Buzz , unless it’s West Ham I’m not in the least interested in ANY football on the telly.

And now I’ve discovered the players will STILL be taking the fucking knee I won’t be watching that either. Still.

I completely get that, apart from not watching because of the knee taking mullarkey.

The buzz is obviously more when your own team is in action but when watching most games, and I confess to watching quite a few, I tend to be favouring one side or the other. I suppose this season, because of sheer greedy financial interests, I shall be cursing loudly every time Timo Werner misses a decent scoring chance or Reece James and Ben Chilwell attempt their impersonations of Messrs Fredericks and Cresswell.

[h69]

And that is where your atmosphere goes. Football supporters in this country have no emotional buy in to borefests like PSG v Bayern but they always did to FA cup games. And second XIs really only started being used in earnest when teams saved their first XIs for other tournaments like the bore a minute Champions league which is not a Champions League or even worse, the Europa League.

PSG v Bayern was shit. Some games at least have great defending but the fact of the matter was that there was little that had to be done. The CL .....A load of rich clubs playing each other every season.....why not call it a European Super league, be done with it, fuck them off with their TV deal for all the Armchair viewers and Chinese viewers and create a league here where there is at least some competition. There is little now.

As for the KO times on a Sunday, again,. you miss the point as it is not the last minute changes I object to, it is a majority of football not being on a Saturday afternoon all at the same time. It made for a better match day when almost all teams were playing at the same time.

I know most on here will not agree with me because many only have TV football and I respect that but Saturday afternoons were a lot more exciting when football was still a sport and not an entertainment spectacle.

Just a quick reply to say that I agree with every word you say there.

Especially your last 2 paragraphs. Watching the classifieds come in through the tv repair shop window in the Barking Road , crowding around somebody’s transistor radio on the football special on awaydays .... or sitting watching on the tv . Saturdays ruled

Exactly what I miss....the Specials especially.

Its geared towards TV audiences now and I get that but it will never be the same

[Newmarket]

Just a quick reply to say that I agree with every word you say there.

Especially your last 2 paragraphs. Watching the classifieds come in through the tv repair shop window in the Barking Road , crowding around somebody’s transistor radio on the football special on awaydays .... or sitting watching on the tv . Saturdays ruled

Exactly what I miss....the Specials especially.

Its geared towards TV audiences now and I get that but it will never be the same

Irons Travel Club , Lacey’s coaches ahhh you couldn’t beat it

[Whiskyman]

Exactly what I miss....the Specials especially.

Its geared towards TV audiences now and I get that but it will never be the same

Irons Travel Club , Lacey’s coaches ahhh you couldn’t beat it

Fucking coaches !!! Best away trips were the ones organised by a bloke called Dennis who worked in the commercial department. I used to sell the club's fund raising bingo cards at work and in the pub and used to get freebie tickets depending on how many you shifted. Dennis also booked blocks of tickets on scheduled trains to go to most away games. Well cheap and when we got to wherever we were going there was none of the route marching bollocks to the ground.

Advantage of being on a train is that you can go for a piss whenever you feel the need. Nothing worse that being gridlocked 2 miles from a service station on the motorway when your fucking bladder is screaming for relief.

[h69]

Irons Travel Club , Lacey’s coaches ahhh you couldn’t beat it

Fucking coaches !!! Best away trips were the ones organised by a bloke called Dennis who worked in the commercial department. I used to sell the club's fund raising bingo cards at work and in the pub and used to get freebie tickets depending on how many you shifted. Dennis also booked blocks of tickets on scheduled trains to go to most away games. Well cheap and when we got to wherever we were going there was none of the route marching bollocks to the ground.

Advantage of being on a train is that you can go for a piss whenever you feel the need. Nothing worse that being gridlocked 2 miles from a service station on the motorway when your fucking bladder is screaming for relief.

I used the train and specifically the specials....clapped out pieces of shit stock that British Rail used to reserve for us.

Great fun and choc full of beer normally. The only downside was that you got escorted to the ground but they were cheap and sometimes would stop at the small halt near the ground and pack into the terracing for peanuts....did not usually need a ticket for away games....just a bit of change.

I remember the morning of the 1991 FA Cup Semi coming up into Euston Station into a sea of hundreds of West Ham fans catching 5 or 6 separate specials to Whitton near Villa Park all singing vociferously in the station. Gallons of beer on the train....shame the game was ruined by the ref

Despite that, I enjoyed those times....no luxury, cheap train tickets, entrance money being a few coins for terracing and lots of beer. I met a lot of great people travelling to away games on the specials. I imagine it was the same on the buses.

Its all too corporate and TV biased now. Completely understandable commercial model and I dont have an issue with people who want to watch it on TV either here or in China but I dont find it that enjoyable myself and dont watch a lot on TV anyway..and even going live is more like the theatre than a sport nowadays.

UP was never the same after the terracing was taken away IMO....I miss the peanut man at the back of the south bank though I then moved to the chicken run when I got a bit more sensible.

[Whiskyman]

Fucking coaches !!! Best away trips were the ones organised by a bloke called Dennis who worked in the commercial department. I used to sell the club's fund raising bingo cards at work and in the pub and used to get freebie tickets depending on how many you shifted. Dennis also booked blocks of tickets on scheduled trains to go to most away games. Well cheap and when we got to wherever we were going there was none of the route marching bollocks to the ground.

Advantage of being on a train is that you can go for a piss whenever you feel the need. Nothing worse that being gridlocked 2 miles from a service station on the motorway when your fucking bladder is screaming for relief.

I used the train and specifically the specials....clapped out pieces of shit stock that British Rail used to reserve for us.

Great fun and choc full of beer normally. The only downside was that you got escorted to the ground but they were cheap and sometimes would stop at the small halt near the ground and pack into the terracing for peanuts....did not usually need a ticket for away games....just a bit of change.

I remember the morning of the 1991 FA Cup Semi coming up into Euston Station into a sea of hundreds of West Ham fans catching 5 or 6 separate specials to Whitton near Villa Park all singing vociferously in the station. Gallons of beer on the train....shame the game was ruined by the ref

Despite that, I enjoyed those times....no luxury, cheap train tickets, entrance money being a few coins for terracing and lots of beer. I met a lot of great people travelling to away games on the specials. I imagine it was the same on the buses.

Its all too corporate and TV biased now. Completely understandable commercial model and I dont have an issue with people who want to watch it on TV either here or in China but I dont find it that enjoyable myself and dont watch a lot on TV anyway..and even going live is more like the theatre than a sport nowadays.

UP was never the same after the terracing was taken away IMO....I miss the peanut man at the back of the south bank though I then moved to the chicken run when I got a bit more sensible.

Only ever went on one actual "football special". That was up to Sunderland at Roker Park. As you say we went through the main Sunderland station and left the train at Seaham, or Seaforth I think it was called and made the 15/20 minute walk to the ground, complete with attendant police chaperones.

We won the game 2-0 and, a sign of the times, we were told to pull the window blinds down as it was expected the train would get bombarded until we were clear of Sunderland itself. But the journey back passed off without incident.

[h69]

I used the train and specifically the specials....clapped out pieces of shit stock that British Rail used to reserve for us.

Great fun and choc full of beer normally. The only downside was that you got escorted to the ground but they were cheap and sometimes would stop at the small halt near the ground and pack into the terracing for peanuts....did not usually need a ticket for away games....just a bit of change.

I remember the morning of the 1991 FA Cup Semi coming up into Euston Station into a sea of hundreds of West Ham fans catching 5 or 6 separate specials to Whitton near Villa Park all singing vociferously in the station. Gallons of beer on the train....shame the game was ruined by the ref

Despite that, I enjoyed those times....no luxury, cheap train tickets, entrance money being a few coins for terracing and lots of beer. I met a lot of great people travelling to away games on the specials. I imagine it was the same on the buses.

Its all too corporate and TV biased now. Completely understandable commercial model and I dont have an issue with people who want to watch it on TV either here or in China but I dont find it that enjoyable myself and dont watch a lot on TV anyway..and even going live is more like the theatre than a sport nowadays.

UP was never the same after the terracing was taken away IMO....I miss the peanut man at the back of the south bank though I then moved to the chicken run when I got a bit more sensible.

Only ever went on one actual "football special". That was up to Sunderland at Roker Park. As you say we went through the main Sunderland station and left the train at Seaham, or Seaforth I think it was called and made the 15/20 minute walk to the ground, complete with attendant police chaperones.

We won the game 2-0 and, a sign of the times, we were told to pull the window blinds down as it was expected the train would get bombarded until we were clear of Sunderland itself. But the journey back passed off without incident.

Seaburn. That must have been a posh train because I dont remember that many with blinds