1979 Cup Final

Can’t help but notice two things:

The fans sing throughout most of the game. unlike nowadays
You can hear the Manu fans’ Manc accent. Ditto.

😆

In those days players only went down when they were injured, how times have changed.

Completely

Was reading an article about the last time Liverpool won the title, 30 years ago, John Barnes was saying that his team would beat today’s Liverpool team so long as it was played under the 1990 rules, because they fall over too easy nowadays and get given the free kick. Why I wonder are refs too easily conned, or are they instructed by the powers that be to eradicate contact?

That comment from Barnes is debatable...so they fall down easier, but the pace then was slower so those massive tackles wouldn’t land because the players would be gone before they got there.

Diving, cheating, whatever anyone wants to call it is merely part of the game now whether folk like it or not. The stakes are high therefore people will do what they can to win. Simples.

As for atmosphere, that has sadly diminished from English football, particularly at the higher levels. They blow smoke up the bottom of geordies or scousers but in reality it’s only loud because there’s 50k of them. Atmosphere is poor generally across professional games for numerous reasons.

I’ve seen people actively common about people standing up and singing, we’ve seen season ticket holders of top clubs have their tickets suspended because they swore or persistently stood up. We’ve seen folk have their tickets removed for petty things. We’ve seen an increase in moronic stadium safety managers, fans are regularly made to feel unimportant or are held in contempt. As I say, plenty of reasons why...

Conversely, on the continent, whilst I’m not advocating that ultras groups take control of stadiums etc but fan groups are recognised abroad and clubs work in tandem. In Italy, if you wanna sing, drink, stand, shout, protest etc then stand on the curva, if you wanna sit down and enjoy the game without those things, sit elsewhere. Don’t moan if you end up in the wrong place is generally the attitude of the clubs and fans.

Quoted from aldi_01

That comment from Barnes is debatable...so they fall down easier, but the pace then was slower so those massive tackles wouldn’t land because the players would be gone before they got there.

Diving, cheating, whatever anyone wants to call it is merely part of the game now whether folk like it or not. The stakes are high therefore people will do what they can to win. Simples.

As for atmosphere, that has sadly diminished from English football, particularly at the higher levels. They blow smoke up the bottom of geordies or scousers but in reality it’s only loud because there’s 50k of them. Atmosphere is poor generally across professional games for numerous reasons.

I’ve seen people actively common about people standing up and singing, we’ve seen season ticket holders of top clubs have their tickets suspended because they swore or persistently stood up. We’ve seen folk have their tickets removed for petty things. We’ve seen an increase in moronic stadium safety managers, fans are regularly made to feel unimportant or are held in contempt. As I say, plenty of reasons why...

Conversely, on the continent, whilst I’m not advocating that ultras groups take control of stadiums etc but fan groups are recognised abroad and clubs work in tandem. In Italy, if you wanna sing, drink, stand, shout, protest etc then stand on the curva, if you wanna sit down and enjoy the game without those things, sit elsewhere. Don’t moan if you end up in the wrong place is generally the attitude of the clubs and fans.

Moronic stadium safety managers......🤔🤔🤔🤔. Nope, can’t think of any 😉