Footy lost it's sparkle?

I thought I was seeing this but no it's true, Blackburn had 8600 for their FA cup quater final with Millwall tonight at Ewood. Football has lost it big time!

Hardly a glamour tie is it...

Helluva chance to get to the final with Wigan waiting though.

I've fallen out of love with football if im being honest.

High ticket prices, over policed matches, jobsworth stewards, lack of atmosphere etc

German footbal is where its at, we should do anything we can to replicate what theyve got going on on & off the pitch over there.

Jaytex2012 wrote:

I thought I was seeing this but no it's true, Blackburn had 8600 for their FA cup quater final with Millwall tonight at Ewood. Football has lost it big time!

8,000 was pretty much always Blackburns core support before Jack Walkers £££'s got them the Prem dream. Didn't they go one way, and we went the other after they beat us at HP on the last day of the season 20 odd years ago?

That was the match that Speedie got a hat-trick and ran over to the Lyndhurst and calmy held both arms aloft. He would have been ripped from limb to limb if the fences weren't there.

Football has lost its sparkle or is that just us being old gits. I was surprised at the attendance for sure.

One of the reasons I believe is the lack of mobility between the leagues and the lowering of most teams loftiest ambitions. For anyone outside the top 6-7 teams you are effectively playing each season to get 40 points and maybe a run in the cup as long as you don't draw any of the top 6-7.

The first game for Stoke City this season was live on sky at 12.45pm away to Chelsea. Stoke took less than 500 fans. Why?£50 a ticket for a game that's on the telly and a departure time of before 7am for a fixture at which the aggregate score in the past three seasons was 11-1. What's the point...?

When you don't have competitiveness what's the point of sport?

Good points from all there and maybe Blackburn have come down from that Walker artificial ceiling that he created. Remember the game up there when we lost 3-1 the season we both went up, was impressed by the noise created by that home end, I think we went ahead and they just wacked us and powered to 3 points? Brain hurts now so perhaps it was all a dream. Whatever you say though it was a quater final and 8600 is a disgrace!

8600 for an FA Cup quarter-final is shit and negates the home advantage Blackburn had. It should've been double that.

I know what pokesdown means as well. I have a mate who supports Charlton and years ago I asked him was he happy being mid table in the premier league every season under Curbishley and he said he preferred being nearer the bottom or in the championship.

Swansea fans will be loving it at the moment. First time in the premier league, league cup winners with European football next season, but I doubt that will happen again for them. They probably state publicly they don't want Cardiff promoted but inside it's giving them two more cup finals every season if Cardiff do go up.

Villa probably yearn for Birmingham derbies again now they're a spent force, tragedy with their potential, but Birmingham won't be going up anytime soon. They're paying Zigic £55k a week right now and in his contract it goes up to £65k next season and they're struggling in the CCC.

Clubs have to sort out these crazy contracts and have relegation clauses in them before more administrations happen.

High ticket prices, The Premier league being over exposed so all the kids see on TV is the "Bug Guys". Just two reasons for a shit attendance last night. But before Jack Walker came in with his millions 8000+ fans were the norm and they bounced between what is now L1 and the Championship.

Football outside the Premier League is just not a great draw for people, Plus with the lack of money around, Paying £20-£30+ for a ticket is not seen as good value, Imagine if you and you had kids who wanted to go? Possibly £100+ for a game, Wish i could afford to waste money like that.

The people in football tell us that is it just the same as going to a theme park or theatre and represents the same sort of value, Well that's crap, You go to a theatre or theme park and you know you will enjoy yourself and have a great time, In football in depends on the result and performance, If both are crap its a wasted day and you go home thinking what a waste of money.

Germany have got it right, A good balance and crowds are up. A friend of mine went to Holland and saw Ajax play at the weekend and paid £18 for a cracking good ticket, he said great time, atmosphere brilliant and we have to pay £20+ for L2 shit, Says it all really

I don't believe football can continue for much longer without some serious casualty's due to grossly inflated wages along with falling crowds.

Until then players wages will continue to rise and therefore ticket prices go up and as a result down go the gates.

I fell out of love with football a long time ago. Greed, Sky TV and red-tape have all but finished the game off imho in this country.

The last time I was completely addicted to the game was when.......

Buster Philips was legging it down the wing.
I could stand on terraces.
90% of all games kicked-off at 15:00 on a Saturday.
You could have a fag whilst watching the game (don't smoke anymore mind you.)
Greedy agents didn't thrash-out rediculous pay structure's for their player.
HP was a rock-solid impenetrable fortress.
Pasties were bleddy ansome at HP.
Independant fans websites where you could say what you want. Thank god for ATD.
No butt-licking wanna be director superfans up the boards arse. (get back on the terraces you complete false wanne be w*nkers, claw back some respect)..Sorry, went off on one then

As a fan base we were united.
Cherry Tree Packed, The Brit Packed and singing, The Embassy club....errr, rioting
Oh, did I mention superfans and insidious, serruptitious,, lying conniving devious c*nts with their tounge up Brents arse trying to be something they're not, and never ever will?

As you can see - I don't love footy anymore. Will I ever feel like the above ever again? Not anytime soon I fear.

Come on you greee.....................ahh forget it. I'm off out with my doggy. Much more productive and enjoyable............and free.


PS: Having a good read are we Ponty, PL? eh?

Taken from the Aviva fest
"Football...Football..Football isnt what it used to be"

Enemy Of The State wrote:

I fell out of love with football a long time ago. Greed, Sky TV and red-tape have all but finished the game off imho in this country.

The last time I was completely addicted to the game was when.......

Buster Philips was legging it down the wing.
I could stand on terraces.
90% of all games kicked-off at 15:00 on a Saturday.
You could have a fag whilst watching the game (don't smoke anymore mind you.)
Greedy agents didn't thrash-out rediculous pay structure's for their player.
HP was a rock-solid impenetrable fortress.
Pasties were bleddy ansome at HP.
Independant fans websites where you could say what you want. Thank god for ATD.
No butt-licking wanna be director superfans up the boards arse. (get back on the terraces you complete false wanne be w*nkers, claw back some respect)..Sorry, went off on one then

As a fan base we were united.
Cherry Tree Packed, The Brit Packed and singing, The Embassy club....errr, rioting
Oh, did I mention superfans and insidious, serruptitious,, lying conniving devious c*nts with their tounge up Brents arse trying to be something they're not, and never ever will?

As you can see - I don't love footy anymore. Will I ever feel like the above ever again? Not anytime soon I fear.

Come on you greee.....................ahh forget it. I'm off out with my doggy. Much more productive and enjoyable............and free.


PS: Having a good read are we Ponty, PL? eh?

With you all the way bro!

[quote="Enemy Of The State"]I fell out of love with football a long time ago. Greed, Sky TV and red-tape have all but finished the game off imho in this country.

The last time I was completely addicted to the game was when.......

Buster Philips was legging it down the wing.
I could stand on terraces.
90% of all games kicked-off at 15:00 on a Saturday.
You could have a fag whilst watching the game (don't smoke anymore mind you.)
Greedy agents didn't thrash-out rediculous pay structure's for their player.
HP was a rock-solid impenetrable fortress.
Pasties were bleddy ansome at HP.
Independant fans websites where you could say what you want. Thank god for ATD.
No butt-licking wanna be director superfans up the boards arse. (get back on the terraces you complete false wanne be w*nkers, claw back some respect)..Sorry, went off on one then

As a fan base we were united.
Cherry Tree Packed, The Brit Packed and singing, The Embassy club....errr, rioting
Oh, did I mention superfans and insidious, serruptitious,, lying conniving devious c*nts with their tounge up Brents arse trying to be something they're not, and never ever will?

As you can see - I don't love footy anymore. Will I ever feel like the above ever again? Not anytime soon I fear.

Come on you greee.....................ahh forget it. I'm off out with my doggy. Much more productive and enjoyable............and free.


PS: Having a good read are we Ponty, PL? eh?


[/quotetop post,totally agree with you

It's going to be fun.

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Greenjock wrote:

It's going to be fun.

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Can't argue with any of that, Jock. I agree - it should be fun...............IF I fall in love with the game again, but as I said in my post, I'm now enjoying going out and doing things that are enjoyable, productive, free and worry free.

Take today; It's a lovely day- I'm just getting my camera equipment ready, packing up some regulation Dartmoor sarnies (corn beef & pickle ), grabbing the doggy by the scruff of the neck, throwing him in the car and getting out on Dartmoor for a good 4/5 hours, probably drive out to the north moor.

Scenery, photography, doggy, scrummy food, sun shine and fresh air, and not a f*cking football in sight.

Enemy Of The State wrote:

......
Can't argue with any of that, Jock. I agree - it should be fun...............IF I fall in love with the game again, but as I said in my post, I'm now enjoying going out and doing things that are enjoyable, productive, free and worry free.

Take today; It's a lovely day- I'm just getting my camera equipment ready, packing up some regulation Dartmoor sarnies (corn beef & pickle ), grabbing the doggy by the scruff of the neck, throwing him in the car and getting out on Dartmoor for a good 4/5 hours, probably drive out to the north moor.

Scenery, photography, doggy, scrummy food, sun shine and fresh air, and not a f*cking football in sight.

I guess you won't be going anywhere near Brentor?

Ban players from wearing anything other than black football boots. Normality will quickly resume. Pink boots I ask you.... storms off to find old copies of Shoot magazine in the loft.

Southborne wrote:

The people in football tell us that is it just the same as going to a theme park or theatre and represents the same sort of value, Well that's crap, You go to a theatre or theme park and you know you will enjoy yourself and have a great time, In football in depends on the result and performance, If both are crap its a wasted day and you go home thinking what a waste of money.

It's more basic than that. Most people almost never go to the theatre. You only tend to go to a theme park once or twice, not 23 times a season. A better comparison is going to see a film, which costs £7/£8 and lasts approximately the same time as a match. If match tickets were an equivalent price attendances would soon pick up. At some point teams, at least those round the lower leagues are going to have to just stop paying exorbitant wages, and cut prices to get more people through the door.

Flat_Track_Bully wrote:

Southborne wrote:

The people in football tell us that is it just the same as going to a theme park or theatre and represents the same sort of value, Well that's crap, You go to a theatre or theme park and you know you will enjoy yourself and have a great time, In football in depends on the result and performance, If both are crap its a wasted day and you go home thinking what a waste of money.

It's more basic than that. Most people almost never go to the theatre. You only tend to go to a theme park once or twice, not 23 times a season. A better comparison is going to see a film, which costs £7/£8 and lasts approximately the same time as a match. If match tickets were an equivalent price attendances would soon pick up. At some point teams, at least those round the lower leagues are going to have to just stop paying exorbitant wages, and cut prices to get more people through the door.

Trouble is, 6,000 people paying say £15 on average equates to 12,000 at £7/£8.

Argyle know that the 6,000 will turn up no matter how crap the product is.

There's no guarantee that halving the price will double the gate - as shown by the Barnet game - so it's gonna be high prices & small crowds until the product improves dramatically.

The FA cup has sadly lost its appeal as a major competition in comparison to the riches of the premier and champions league.20 years ago you could have virtually guaranteed a sell out for that fixture last night-on ITV4 the other morning,they showed an FA cup quarter final from 1979 between Wolves and Shrewsbury-Molyneux absolutely packed to the rafters [Billy Rafferty scored a cracker for Wolves,inducing more misty eyed nostalgia].Awful shame IMHO,people like Wenger and Ferguson have a lot to answer for,swanning off to Brazil instead of playing in the FA cup,fielding weakened teams etc.Old cnuts.

If the hardcore of people who revel in their 'loyalty' and travel all over the country to support their club, despite the ever escalating costs, plastic restrictive stadia , vastly overpriced merchandise,overpaid staff showing no return loyalty to the fans , the tv companies dictating fixture dates and kick off times etc etc,. were not so stupid [and in Argyle's case self promoting], the game would not continue to abuse them.

that was a bit of a mouthful, even for me

This thread just about sums it up for me as far as football and Argyle are concerned.

Argyle lost it's sparkle for me when Holloway left.

Since then it's been 5 years of relentless crap.

GreenWhiteBlack wrote:

I've fallen out of love with football if im being honest.

High ticket prices, over policed matches, jobsworth stewards, lack of atmosphere etc

German footbal is where its at, we should do anything we can to replicate what theyve got going on on & off the pitch over there.

Join the club....