Another Question sort of Fulham related

[Peabody]

Is Football far more important and therefore, pressurised, than it was back in the 50's and 60's, or even the 70's, when I were a lad? And is that a good or bad thing?

[Holders]

Without doubt. The money is to blame.

[WhiteJC]

with sky pumping so much money into the game it must be

[Andy S]

Sky want more and more for their money. But all they really want are the top 6 clubs as well as the relegation matches at the end of the season.
A story earlier on this week suggested that Murdoch would like a summer tournament every year. So when the players get to rest god knows. But why would the money men worry about that.
I think we at Fulham will notice a difference this year in how little coverage we get. But for certain it will be more than the clubs at the lower end of the table.
But to answer your question, Yes there is a lot more pressure now

[Fernhurst]

Fraid so Mr P......

When we had our noses pressed against the railings back in the fifties, Football was a working mans Sport only.
Chairmen were the local Butcher,Baker or would be Comedian
6d to get in to watch blokes who smoked and did not have clue what a dive was. Blokes like Gentleman Jim Langley who earned his nick name by his outstanding fair play, a master of the slide tackle and the inventor of the long throw-in
So little money in game at that time kept it in the realms of the everyday man..
I blame Alf Common myself, the first ever transfer involving £1000... Caused an absolute sensation at the time and threw the authorities into outrage.

Is Football still a pure sport at the top level..... I suggest not, more of an corporate entertainment for those that can afford the spectacle and subject to the same violations that affect big business.
Takeovers, insider trading, criminal activity involving the outcome of results.

Plenty of my friends I played football with in my teens have drifted away from Football..Mostly due to cost.

We have been very lucky Mr P to be able to visit a ground that means so much to us over our lifetime (and being able to afford the pleasure????).

Football is undeniably quicker and in some cases more skilful. I still enjoy every minute I spend inside Craven Cottage but ask me if I would replace the magic of the 60's with today's fare I would need to think long and hard.  

Let's hope we enjoy some of that old time excitement this season Mr P .......while we can!!!

049:gif COYW  049:gif

[RaySmith]

Fernhurst is right.

In the early 60s the players earned a skilled man's wage - they weren't much different from the spectators, but we made modest heroes of them, but they weren't really famous outside of football - even the 1966 World Cup winners.

Johnny Haynes was the first player to, rightly, break the maximum wage barrier, through PFA Chairman Jimmy Hill, but it wasn't until  the Prem and Sky that players' wages became  like they are now - with the players  inhabiting a completely different  universe to us punters, who  pay to go to matches or subscribe to Sky.

So yes, football is far more  competitive and pressurised with all the vast sums of money at stake-look at the average  club life of a manager, there is such a pressure to get results.

But then, you could say the same of  British society in general - the world is a lot different from when I began going to football - far more money orientated and hard and competitive.

[bulgariawhite]

I agree with every thing said. The trouble is Fulham is in my blood and I have to follow them irrespective of cost. I can remember being carried down to the front of the Bovril adverts so I could get a good view as a kid. That would never happen now. Is it pressurised- yes. Is it fun like it used to be - no. It is a sad fact that money has taken over from the fans. At least I have seen a cup final and a Europa league final in my lifetime, and have many memories that I can share with my grand children - priceless

[jarv]

Total agreement from me.  Personally, I liked our 70s team in div.2. Good football, win most games at home (and many away), often pushing for promotion and a team full of personalities....Mitchell, Barrett, Conway, Moore, Mullery, Best, etc etc. Alec Stock, great manager, best we had until Roy came along.

[Kentish Gent]

I suspect we are the same generation Mr P and, yes, football is undoubtedly more pressurised today. As everyone has said on this thread, it's (sadly) all to do with the phenomenal amounts of money sloshing round in the game, from grotesque pay packets to bloated TV payments. Do we enjoy it more? Well, just maybe those magical Europa League nights at the Cottage and the sheer joy of watching Tigana's free-flowing football is preferable to gnawing our nails at the end of every season (as we did during the 60s) anticipating relegation. Even if we have just done that again! 

[HatterDon]

It's not about football then and now, it's about how young we were and how old we are.  092.gif

[alfie]

Fernhurst is right.

In the early 60s the players earned a skilled man's wage - they weren't much different from the spectators, but we made modest heroes of them, but they weren't really famous outside of football - even the 1966 World Cup winners.

Johnny Haynes was the first player to, rightly, break the maximum wage barrier, through PFA Chairman Jimmy Hill, but it wasn't until  the Prem and Sky that players' wages became  like they are now - with the players  inhabiting a completely different  universe to us punters, who  pay to go to matches or subscribe to Sky.

So yes, football is far more  competitive and pressurised with all the vast sums of money at stake-look at the average  club life of a manager, there is such a pressure to get results.

But then, you could say the same of  British society in general - the world is a lot different from when I began going to football - far more money orientated and hard and competitive.

As usual i may be wrong but did not all these big earnings for players start in Italy, before sky?

[filham]

Kieth Miller that great Aussie cricketer who had beena fighter pilot said he could never understand talk of pressure in sport, he said " now having an ME109 up your backside ,that's pressure"

Try reading "My father and other Working Class Football Heroes" by Garry Imlach which explains the  lot of the professional footballer in the sixties and you will se how fortunate the modern players are. They really have never had it so good.

[Nick Bateman]

Is Football far more important and therefore, pressurised, than it was back in the 50's and 60's, or even the 70's, when I were a lad? And is that a good or bad thing?

Two questions.
Yes the pressure is immense and players and referees will use any and all tactics to succeed in their objectives.
Without a doubt it is worse, and since Sky arrived it has been so.

Let me rephrase that to make it sound more awful, since Murdoch arrived it has been worse.