Has something reminded you this week why you fell in love with the game of football ? Goals ! Passionate Fans ! Comradeship !
Do you know what ! I may have nearly had 4 heart attacks in half an hour celebrating goals on that terrace behind the goal at Peterborough yesterday but I loved every ****ing minute of it !!!!!! And I felt alive once again at football, for the second time in 4 days ! I'm not gonna be told that its wrong to sing, shout, jump around, engage in friendly banter........because its the reason i fell in love with Charlton Athletic and the game of football ! So ****ocks to anyone who doesnt like it, if id fallen in love with a prawn sandwich id go and sit in Marks and Spencer at 3pm on Saturday afternoons !
What is football to me ? Football is a working mans game, about Dad going to work all week and on a Friday after handing over the housekeeping having enough pounds left over to go to the match on Saturday with his mates and one day to introduce the nipper to this man-made experience of having a beer with some good pals and to experience 90 mins of comradeship on the terraces, to sing...to shout...to buy peanuts from the east terrace, to see the numbers go up against the alphabetical scoreboard at half time and ultimately hope to let off some steam from the trials and tribulations of the working week by celebrating the winning goal against your rivals at the other end of the ground. To play your part and be a hero for an afternoon !
Is that too much too ask ? Seemingly yes....
I resent being forced to try and forget the reasons why I love football because of the failings of The Football League & the horrible creation called "Sky Television".
Contrary to the popular belief of the "sheltered life football supporter" football is not giving domino's pizza a call and settling down in your reclining armchair unless its England playing in the World Cup Final and you couldn't get a ticket - nor is football about going to the pub to watch the game because its a bloody SKY TV match with the little pint glass in the bottom corner of the screen unless its England playing in the World Cup Final........and you couldn't get a ticket.
As soon as SKY Tv got their dirty mitts on the game in the 90s and the 1st Division became The Premiership the game changed due to the money involved. Sky don't have a clue what being a proper football supporter is all about. There's too much football on SKY TV simple.....football is unnappreciated....there is no intrigue about the game any more...because there is too much of it! Its all too convenient ! All you have to do these days is pay £30 a month and "whoooppppeeee doooooo" you can be a Chelsea fan living in Manchester or a Manchester United fan living in Greenwich, its so easy isn't it ! What heroes you all are, you don't even have to step outside your front door ! you don't have to get cold ! get up at 5am to travel ! you don't even have to open your mouth ! as long as you pay your £30 a month then your a real football fan ! And even better still when your plastic football team 250 miles away loses you can change your club. Better still...make the future of football an even better place and buy your nipper the full kit or a lunchbox from Sports Direct and corrupt his little mind even further because after all he will be able to run around his private boarding schools playground proudly announcing his "love" and undying support for Chelsea or Man U......I blame SKY TV for this also...and all thanks to the hype of SKY TV who know nothing about the roots of real football. YOU ARE KILLING OUR GAME ! Football is not about SKY SPORTS 1, 2, 3, Jeff "bloody" Stelling (who gives a sh** what he thinks anyway) or about annoying adverts from greedy bookmakers trying to get you to blow your mortgage money on in-play betting by flashing up the latest odds during the adverts. GREED ! GREED ! GREED ! MONEY ! MONEY ! MONEY ! STOP RUINING THE WORKING MANS GAME YOU GREEDY SWINES ALL OF YOU ! I don't care about Matthew Le Tissier, Andy "I Scored A Goal At Wembley" Gray, Paul "Sodding" Jewell, Phil "Nostrils" Thompson, Iain "******" Dowie or any of your other cringworthy ex footballers. I dont give a damn about your betting odds ! your SKY talk, broadband service, dog walking service or any other crap you are going to offer in the future. THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND SKY TV !!!! I also hate Steve "I played for some crap clubs" Claridge and corrupt betting syndicates trying to ruin the game we fell in love with and corrupting the minds of genuine characters like Bruce Grobbelaar. All I want to do is go and watch my club Charlton Athletic, read a match report in the newspaper on Sunday and if im lucky enough we will be the chosen Third Division match on The Big Match Sunday afternoon. Thats all i want !
To the Football League - YOU sold out to SKY in the first place - ITS YOUR FAULT ! I dont want the Premiership, I dont want the Championship or any other elaborate named league in order to try and make more money out the game. The game is what it is, you cant manufacture it, its either in your blood or it isn't. I want the First Division, Second Division, Third Division and Fourth Division ! I want 3 up 3 down ! I don't want TV technology ! I don't want referees assistants, I want linesmen ! I want the old Wembley not the new Wembley ! I want the English manager to be English, nor do I want Arteta to be English or Vinnie Jones to be Welsh ! I want at least one section of terracing at every ground because I want the option to stand and experience football the way it was intended ! I want an outdoor area where I have the option to smoke ! I want to see the floodlights when I approach a football ground and see them lit up when I leave ! I dont want to be treated like a criminal by a steward because I want to show emotion and I don't want to see my mates being kicked out for celebrating a goal ! I want football to kick off at 3pm on Saturday not at 1230, 515 or 4pm on a Sunday ! I dont want the bloody Champions League...I want the European Cup ! I don't want to see Arsenal in the European Cup when they have finished 2nd, 3rd or 4th ! I dont want football at my fingertips and to press the red button, nor do i want HD or 3D !! I dont want to sit through the Play Offs just so you can make yet more money from football fans by dragging out the season and selling the TV rights so SKY TV can make yet more money and I dont want to see 500 games on TV per season ! I want the Football League to be run by individuals with a genuine love for the national game ! and run it with the best intentions the way it was intended to be experienced !
I have shed god knows how much money into football over the last 30 years, my opinion should count ! All seater stadiums are a smokescreen for the failings of the authorities that policed Hillsborough on FA Cup Semi Final day - not because the slabs of concrete on the floor are unsafe. If thats the case then i had better repave my driveway with some seats shall I ?
If Charlton had of sold 3,000 terrace tickets for the game at Peterborough is someone telling me that we might have been putting our lives in danger - if so why are we still standing at football.....regardless of whether its the Premiership, Championship, League 1 or 2 ? Is somebody telling us that its ok to be unsafe at a lower league ground ? If terraces were considered unsafe then The Football League would and should have granted every club the money to turn their stadiums into all seater LONG LONG LONG before now ! Have the Football League ever seen the atmosphere at some of these European venues, Turkey springs to mind ! If terraces were so dangerous then why havnt Fifa made a worldwide decision to ban terracing throughout the world. Take away our terraces - and fans will either stand anyway or stand on the seat ! And you think thats safer do you ? WAKE UP !
Anyone here ever been to the theatre to see a musical ? Bores the hell out of me to be honest but do you know what ? The audience get on their feet during segments of the show, will even get out their seats shock horror and sing, dance and generally embarrass themselves. Why would they do that when a seat is provided ? But i guess thats the theatre for you and thats what people traditionally do at the theatre, ITS WHAT YOU DO THERE ! I don't like it so i don't go !
Why are some people so hell bent on killing the traditions of our working mans game ? To make money and to save face thats why !
Do you remember why you fell in love with football as a kid ? I do - because do you remember when you used to see goal highlights on television of the Holt End at Villa Park when they split that terrace between the two sets of fans on semi final day? How about Goodison Parks low level narrow terrace or maybe The Kop at Anfield. Do you remember what it used to look like when fans on those terraces used to celebrate a goal? Do you realise now how PATHETIC football fans celebrating goals on TV look like these days in comparison....CLAP CLAP SQUIRE TALLY HO WELL DONE MY LOVELIES! I WANT to celebrate Charlton goals on rubbish terraces like the old away end at Gay Meadow, on a freezing cold day at Portsmouth, Ayresome Park, Filbert Street or get drenched at The Hawthornes on a Tuesday night !
So I thank you all the Charlton Athletic supporters whoever you are and whatever your age....YOU took me back to old skool football this week with great support, banter, toilet rolls whatever...It was GREAT !!!
As Martin Luther King once said "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Comments
No beating about the bush - you tell it like it is.
One of these days, I'll get a call from the Club inviting me and Mr F to join the Directors in "The Box" to partake of their matchday hospitality as a "Thank You" for raiding our piggy bank for the VIP season ticket scheme. Naturally, I'll accept the offer and enjoy a somewhat different experience on matchday.
But I KNOW it won't come close to sitting in my usual seat in the East, shouting my head off and screaming like a banshee when we score amongst like minded Addicks I've called my neighbours since the stand was opened. It may not be a terrace but it's become home every other Saturday from August to May. For me, whether it be the Hollywood Bowl experience that is Brighton, or the seat I warmed at Peterborough yesterday, it's about BEING THERE which I know I am fortunate enough to do. It's about being a part of that matchday experience ; shivering for 90 mins in January , "glowing" ( as we ladies do !) in August , bursting with pride when we win and exiting tight lipped when we don't. It's a unique rollercoaster of emotion which the armchair viewer can only glimpse and wish they could be a part of.
For my 83yr old Dad, now sadly departed , the chance to watch live matches on Sky for a few years, was the highlight of his week. And for that, I won't condemn the service it provides. But Choice makes some relevant points with which I cannot disagree. If you are alive and kicking, and fanatical about your team, there's nothing that comes anywhere near playing your part on matchday because that's what you do - you ARE that 12th man, albeit in the seats or on the terraces. And it's good to have the choice (?) when you find yourself shuffling to the letterbox each November, looking for that Winter Fuel Payment to arrive !
Yes, football should remain the working "man's " game and be affordable to all who wish to take up their important role. For me, there's nothing like it and I'm proud to be a member of the banter swapping, name chanting, communal singing , fanatical family of Charlton Athletic.
Oh and thanks to whoever wrote the words of that Addicks' "favourite" and felt I deserved a mention....
Altogether now " Oh South London......"
Great article, spot on.
Thanks for envoking the memories Choice - but I suppose what happens nowadays is due to the 24 hour way we all live our lives - still we all can keep our memories, Sky cant take that away!!
Choice, you've got a talent. Somebody should sponsor you with better equipment to make your videos, because actually they capture what you've been talking about here. The way you captured Kyel Reid's winner at Southend last season, it was the very essence.
Just one tiny little gripe. Jeff Stelling's alright. He's one of us at heart. And his team did us a favour yesterday.
As stated in original post...terracing was/is being abolished to save face because of the policing & stewarding at Hillsborough on that particular day. If there were death trap terraces that came to light as a result of that disaster then by all means bulldoze the terrace or the ground...but then you rebuild a safe ground or terrace just like Morecombe have done. A brand new ground with......SAFE STANDING ! Well done Morecombe !
You can trace the "Class" - ification (sorry but you know what I mean) back to Italia 90 - The year that Football became a commodity and became "trendy". Murdoch saw an opportunity when the Premiership was formed and grabbed it with both hands. As much as I hate Murdoch and everything he stands for, I've got Sky TV, so have many others. If you like sport and can't get to the venues, then Sky is probably the only alternative.
We all know safe standing works - look at Germany. In fact i'd rather see our top league based on the German model. It's cheaper, they have to bring young players through and it's competitive.
Haven't heard anything about London road becoming all seater, they don't legally have to.
Football Licensing Authority
I disagree with the above link so so much. The stupidest regulation of them all is
I've heard their owner giving plans to make the ground all-seater at the end of last season if they survived up there, and their fans mentioned it too yesterday. Can't find a link.
So if Morecombe achieve Championship status they will have 3 years to convert their safe standing into seats despite the fact they have a brand new ground with safe standing, is that right? How ridiculous ! Is the value of a supporters safety less important in the two lower leagues then ? I should think not, its because they know there is no issue with standing or they would never have been able to build it to that spec.
How about lets have all seater tube stations or all seater firework displays then, they both represent an element of overcrowding and danger to a certain degree !
It is such a miserable sight like at Plymouth last month to see an empty unused piece of terracing. If there are concerns for overcrowding then put a series of turnstiles in place so that they shut down after the terrace has filled to the desirable capacity.
If it is a genuine safety issue, why are other European and Worldwide clubs not having to conform to it ? Why isn't is a general Fifa regulation ? Or is it a bit like prison sentances in punishments not being equal across the whole playing field.
Sorry, I couldn't find a link apart from the one which states that they have to make it all-seater if they want to be in the Championship or higher long term
First paragraph
They wanted to build a new ground
He makes a lot of statements, this Mr MacAnthony
Posh in the Premier League?
Well said, Choice.
And BTW, my Dad first took me down The Valley in 1964 - and I relate to just about everything you say in your article.
It's not just about hankering after the good days, it's about the essance of what really matters to real fans during a matchday.
Even if Scunthorpe get relegated back to League 2 they'll still have to have an all-seater ground. You can't go "backwards".
If memory serves, Darlington have a massive all-seater ground that probably brought with it their financial difficulties and relegation out of the league
Great article Choice
It ain't gonna happen.
You'll never hear me say this again, I wish we were German.
we used to have 4k at the valley for 2nd tier fixtures in the 80's
thru tv the game is more accessible than ever before
most people have a choice whether to watch it or not
the price of footy has gone up but are sky to blame(so so much cheaper in the bundesliga) when they pump money into the game or is it the greedy egotistical chairman who chase the buck and are willing to get themselves into stupid amounts of debt by paying over the top fees and wages for the game and most of the doughnuts are paying for it now
football is one of the most ridiculously run things ever
i have mates who got to liverpool 6-7 times a season before football became trendy and still do but they're well pleased they can see their team on telly as well
there are plenty of times grounds are sold out for live fixtures and fans must be well pleased they can see the game live on tv , for example our sell out at mkdons recently ;-)
as for standing well the germans have it so why haven't we got that choice , probably the panic measures that came in early
those surges were the greatest parts of football as a kid and the looping and voguing that took place after any goal we got!
the play offs are great and st.andrews was pre sky and we had 1800 fans for that cos it was a friday night 745pm game, i'm sure loads of others would have loved the opportunity to have seen that match but sky wasn't about back then
jeff stelling's score round up is great for those who have family commitments and can't get to all the games ......
A return to standing? I will back you there no problem, I manage to stand up several times each day without falling over and I am pretty sure I am not in a minority so we should be able to do it safely.
What else though? You can criticise Sky all you like but they have marketed the English top flight worldwide and made a hell of a lot of money from it. A lot of that cash has then been passed to the clubs. The standard of stadia (seated or otherwise) is light years away from what it was in the 70's and 80's (which quite frankly was pretty universally awful). That clubs are now handing the majority of that money to the players is not Sky's fault.
People moan about the amount of football on TV but in England you still cannot see the 3pm Saturday kick-offs live. Although the number of posts I see looking for online feeds of these 3pm games when Charlton are available suggests that moans about the amount of games on TV is a case of 'The lady doth protest too much'.
I will admit I don't enjoy watching games as much as when I was younger, but as a child you enjoy virtually everything more than you do as an adult, simply because with more experiences the chances of seeing something new, something different are diminished.
You can blame sky, you can blame seats but in reality you should just blame the fact that you are older.
It was intended to trigger memories pre SKY and ask the question is football really that enjoyable these days in comparison ? how it is for me & how it is for you ?
Personally I dont want to sit in sqeaky clean stadia with over zealous stewards trying to make a name for themselves. I want to experience football the way it was intended, if god had intended football to be watched from seats then they would have been installed from the start.
You also mention its not SKYs fault that the clubs are handing the money over to the players ! Well im afraid it is their fault because they give it to the clubs in the first place and SKY Tv changed the face of football in 1992 with the intention of making money and stripping the game of everything that used to make it a working mans sport and a release of adreneline at the end of the working mans week. Pre SKY - agents wernt calling the shots to the degree they are now ! Players wernt calling the shots to the managers the way the do now ! Players honoured contracts ! Players loved their clubs ! Expectancy levels were realistic and managers kept their jobs for longer than 5 games ! You could go on and on - the list is endless !
In answer to this quote - your off the mark with this. Yes its true that as a child you enjoy everything a lot more but I enjoyed Saturday on the terrace just like i would have done 25 years ago so age is not a factor. The post was merely my thoughts when i woke up on Sunday morning and realised that football can still have the impact on me the way it did when i was younger and that was because......of the ground and the fans and that was triggered by.....a terrace.
Not much to ask is it ? - To make you remember when football was an enjoyable working mans game ?
Who wins and who loses at the top of the game is decided on bank balance alone and the consequences of falling off the gravy train are so dire that clubs have no option but to over commit themselves financially just to keep in touch. Chairmen and chief executives are now nearly as famous as the managers they employ. Sky has played a major part in this.
To give you an example, close to home, of the sorry state the game is in, this very message board has been frequently dominated over the last two years by excited speculation about the possibility of this club being taken over by some ultra wealthy consortium. Remember the hysteria when Zabeel were interested in us? It doesn't matter how many jewels are unearthed by our youth academy, it doesn't matter if by some stroke of luck or genius we manage to unearth the next Clough, Fergueson or Mourinho, because we all know that without a bottomless pit of cash, the level of success that we, or any other club in the Football League,can ever hope to acheive is severely limited. That cannot be right.
As for terracing, it's been said on here (very elequently by Choice) and elsewhere many, many times over. The ban on terracing in this country is an utter farce, something for the authorities to hide behind instead of issuing a full and frank acknowledgement of their exclusive responsibility for the Hillsborough disaster. I recently saw a video of Oasis performing at Manchester City's stadium - there were bottles flying, crowd surges, people dancing on their seats, I even saw people climbing over the balcony from the upper tier to the lower tier. This is apparently perfectly acceptable, but when the very same seats are occupied by football supporters a few days later, a completely different set of rules apply. Ridiculous.
Dads working all week then getting the chance to relax at the footie with their sons.
You did notice the femanist revolution didn't you? Women also work all week now and like to go to the footie at the weekend an sometimes take their daughters with them. The ban of standing has in a small way faciitiatedfootball becoming a family sport.
Whilst I agree with some of your tub thumping, I'm sorry but some of it is plan sexist so no, you can't have your working MANS game back.