Fed up with football

[Chris Smith]

I can remember my old man and his mates going on sbout players being paid too much and that football wasn't like it was when they were kids. As for the long hair and kissing when they scored...

[gsbrn68]

i really do feel sorry for the latest generation of fans as
being of a certain age i have been at all of our great days in the last 40 years
man utd semi 69
spurs wembley 70
taking over whole towns in the third division
4 league cup wins
blackpool in the promotion season
liverpool 76
anderlecht
rotterdam
these were all great occasions to be a villa fan but i cant find anything to excite me about football anymore
i refuse to watch villa on tv anymore because i feel so helpless, at least when im at the game i feel involved even if i am shouting at the team rather than encouraging
i cant see the day when i will not renew my season ticket (work permitting) but the feeling amongst us is the football ruins a good day out
finally can we forget about Oneill he has gone and did us no favours the way he did it, we support Aston Villa and whoever is here we should support, because i am sure some people supported him rather than the club

[N'ZMAV]

I'm bored of it all. Seriously thinking of sacking off my ST and everything next year. Might even see if I can knock the missus up instead to keep me occupied

[lordmcgrath5]

What I find most concerning is the relatively small number of young kids you see at the games these days.

Football is so short term these days, you have to wonder where the next generation of paying fans will come from (especially as the younger generation are more used to the wide availability of football on telly or the internet versus paying).

When we were kids we'd stand on the Holte and the cost of the ticket wasn't even worth thinking about, it was that cheap. Kids today don't have that luxury.

This is by no means a new or ground-breaking point but it cannot be made often enough in my view. The Premier League, despite constantly telling us how it's got the best football in the world, has got to be one of the most blinkered, short-termist organisations in the country. I must admit I've been saying this for at least 15 years without the chickens really coming home to roost to the extent I predicted, but falling attendances and the general dissatisfaction/lack of interest illustrated by Deano's post do suggest that people are getting fed up. So the old gits that have always been there  start to disappear, and clubs might soon start to realise that where there would previously have been a young generation there to replace them, their greedy, short-term attitudes have long ago priced this next generation out of the game. I hope it's still not too late to reverse this trend.

[lordmcgrath5]

I can remember my old man and his mates going on sbout players being paid too much and that football wasn't like it was when they were kids. As for the long hair and kissing when they scored...

Yes, but it's all relative isn't it? Surely you can see a difference between the 20 to 25 years after the maximum wage was abolished and the telephone number wages that have become the norm (and kept on rising out of any proportion to the "talent" on display) since the early 90s?

[NeilH]

I'm bored of it all. Seriously thinking of sacking off my ST and everything next year. Might even see if I can knock the missus up instead to keep me occupied

That's the spirit you old romantic.

[Chris Smith]

It's daft money but the amount earned by bands and film stars ( and bankers, while we're at it) has similarly gone through the roof. It's the world we live in.

[Simon Ward]

It's a bit like a Dickens novel at the moment! You start the season with Great Expectations, then fall on Hard Times, leading to an atmosphere in the ground akin to Bleak House! I just hope we don't end up being in The Old Curiosity Shop at the end of the season.

[lordmcgrath5]

I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.

Of course it wasn't pure. It was indeed a lot dirtier. But it also had plenty of "hard but fair" tackles which rightly went unpunished because the ball was played and there was no intent to injure the opponent.

There were clearly some differences between the money teams had to spend back then, but there really is no comparison with the situation we have now. Leeds were not successful because of money. The Man City and Chelsea stories of recent years simply did not happen back then, it was a far more level playing field. Just as well, too -- teams like Villa, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Watford, Everton (the list goes on) could - with the right management and the players giving 110% - actually end up winning things because they made the most of resources that were broadly similar to those of most other clubs. As was mentioned on another thread here recently, success on that scale from outside the big money top four or five is almost inconceivable.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

I find myself either suffering from impotent fury and anger at what is happening on and off the field, or being completely apathetic (there have been a couple of times when I've forgotten fixture dates and who our next opponents are).

I suspect the latter is my brain's way of protecting me from the former.

[5ft811st2 Durham]

I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.

Revie and Leeds (you might say perversely) are exactly what I was thinking about when I said the game was essentially pure and egalitarian.

What chance now of a club at the bottom of the championship appointing a player from within the club as player manager and 4 years later coming within an ace of the league and cup double with only having sufficient funds to buy crocks and has beens ,as Leeds did between 61 and 65.?
This was a time when all supporters had hope because success was always just one great managerial appointment away.

Revie himself may ultimately have been corrupt,   but that's a different point. The game itself wasn't   and Leeds rise to prominence in the 60's came about purely as a result of Revie's hard work and managerial genius. These virtues would get him nowhere today and that says it all.

[lordmcgrath5]

I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.

What chance now of a club at the bottom of the championship appointing a player from within the club as player manager and 4 years later coming within an ace of the league and cup double with only having sufficient funds to buy crocks and has beens ,as Leeds did between 61 and 65.?
This was a time when all supporters had hope because success was always just one great managerial appointment away.

Yes, that's a nice summary.

[not3bad]

It's daft money but the amount earned by bands and film stars ( and bankers, while we're at it) has similarly gone through the roof. It's the world we live in.

How about an "Occupy Villa Park" protest?

[frank]

The players. Most of them are so out of touch with the supporters its unbelievable. I hate watching England as 90% of the squad are players we would detest during your average league games. And they earn so much now it doesnt matter if they dont make the first team or even worry about under performing on  the pitch because they are raking it in either way. And going back to Villa, i dont remember a squad where there's been such a lack of empathy between players and supporters. You remember that 1992-94 side, there were characters in it, there were cult heroes. Take Gabby out of it, how many players do you feel an affinity with?

Rant over. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same.

As ever, you've made a number of very good points, Mat, and I agree with most of your sentiments. But your final comment, above, is an illustration of how quickly things can change and of how this great game can still surprise us. After the Liverpool game we were angry/disgusted/depressed. I remember wondering how on earth they could possibly pick a man of the match (wisely, they didn't try). Yet just a few days later, in last night's game, the team's efforts were rewarded with applause all round the ground at half time, when we were behind, and at the end, when we'd lost. The support was greater and the noise louder than at any time this season and most of last season, and there was certainly none of the lack of empathy that you refer to. It just goes to show that that the support, though often critical, will quickly get behind the players when they show desire and commitment. Look at Albrighton's goal celebration and you'll see how much it mattered to him.

[Ad@m]

It's daft money but the amount earned by bands and film stars ( and bankers, while we're at it) has similarly gone through the roof. It's the world we live in.

It's pretty rare I post anything in support of a Chris Smith point but take a look at the list of the highest earning sports stars in the world.  The highest footballer, Beckham, comes in 6th whilst there are only 6 footballers in the top 30.

If nothing else it shows how much worse it could get!!!

I was recently in New York and whilst there went to a New York Rangers ice hockey game at Madison Square Garden.  Massive arena and I got tickets at the 3rd lowest price category (because the lower prices had sold out!).  The tickets cost me and Mrs Ad@m £70 each and the arena was full.  This was on a Tuesday night after New York had been at home, again in front of a full house, on the Sunday two days before.  Both in the run up to Christmas.  The game I saw was one of 41 home games New York Rangers play in a season!!!!  Buying match day tickets at £70 a game would cost almost £3,000 a season!

Maybe this gives us an idea of why our (and other club's) American owners don't see £40 match tickets or £500 season tickets as particularly expensive.

(P.S.  And the game I saw ended 1-0 to the away team so it was worse than Sunday against Liverpool!!!!)