[Football] Falling out of love...

[Return of the Rev]

FA cup round 3 soon , the complete tom****ery t 668hat is football will be showing 2 different formats , 1 in super VAR vision where literally anything can happen on the say so of some oddball 200 miles away , and the pure version where what will be will be and you can celebrate a goal with gusto , rather than nipping to the bog and then finding out if it's ok to clap politely upon return .

If there is a football supporter on the planet that STILL thinks the application of VAR rules is better than no VAR at all then I honestly have no understanding of that view .

It's about time supporters of the game made themselves heard because this clusterfk that is VAR is stinking up the game to a point where it is no longer fun to watch or pay to see .

What have football fans got to do with it? Armchair fans are far more important tbh

 

[essbee1]

Another plus of our years in the lower leagues is that we would start each season not really having any idea how it would play out. We could win the division by ten points or get relegated. Either was always possible.

Not so much now! The thought of battling our way to 40 points this season, slapping ourselves on the back, and then starting to try and battle our way to 40 points next season is a bit dull IMO.

We are basicaclly in a sporting competition we can't posibly win. EVER.

Another reason for a lot of the replies here is, I believe, that the novelty of playing Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool etc has pretty much worn off.

That's true Gripper. But the problem I have (and I hate myself for it) is wanting to be part of the "big teams group" come what may. Just so that
we can say "we're in the top league, not some inferior lower league").

Very childish and selfish, but that's honestly how I feel. I hate the annual scramble to 35-40 pts etc, but to me *that* has become the challenge.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

It certainly has become a challenge. These days I have often finished a match feeling angry rather than joyful or disappointed at the result.
It is all down to that wretched VA R and the slide rule approach to the rules that they are taking.
When I saw some of the FA cup 2nd round on tv it was refreshing to see the open play , long balls and quick decisions. Maybe I prefer lower league football?
Trouble is we always want to win, and if you do enough of that you end up in the Premier.
I just hope the administrators will get it sorted.

 

[gordycom]

To add my two pence worth, I think var and not being able to celebrate a goal and go delirious hugging all around you has ruined it. I've been attending games with my son from withdean times and we have had many joyous moments (and comically terrible games too!), but now it's wait...is it a goal...etc. Having been to some Whitehawk games now and seeing how good it is to enjoy a football match and have a laugh I recommend non league footy, it's a great antidote and has soul. Still love the Albion whatever division

 

[Sorrel]

It's been really nice - if a tad depressing at the moment - to read everyone's reasons for going and why they have loved being part of the crowd in the past. I hope we can get some of that back again in the future.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I wonder why no comment from arch defender of VAR [MENTION=15363]Plooks[/MENTION] ?

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Perhaps a lot of it is down to taking decisions away from the ref and linespeople. Part of the game was always players and refs looking to get it right, but accept that sometimes they get it wrong. It also gave everyone someone to moan at, but the decision would have been made on the spot and final.
From a ref’s perspective, it must be quite galling that their responsibility in the sport they loved to be part of has been taken away. Even the linespeople have to clench their fists eagerly waiting for the moment they are now allowed to put their flags up. This all adds to the confusion and lack of spontaneity that dogs today’s game.
It’s a shame that the people running this sport don’t actually enjoy it, because if they did, we wouldn’t have this shambles.

 

[southstandandy]

To add my two pence worth, I think var and not being able to celebrate a goal and go delirious hugging all around you has ruined it. I've been attending games with my son from withdean times and we have had many joyous moments (and comically terrible games too!), but now it's wait...is it a goal...etc. Having been to some Whitehawk games now and seeing how good it is to enjoy a football match and have a laugh I recommend non league footy, it's a great antidote and has soul. Still love the Albion whatever division

Couldn't agree more. I have a new love of the County football scene and have enjoyed watching the matches far more than I ever thought. Like you, I will always follow the Albion having been a ST holder for 35 years, but I just don't like what VAR has done to the game at the top level and that is why I won't be renewing next season.

It's not the fact that we struggle to win many games in the Prem, far from it, having travelled to every match at Gillingham (I know how rare wins were back then!), but for me fundamentally the game at the top level has been ruined by VAR, and I just don't like football played under these rules or guidelines. That's just how I feel.

That is why for me next season I'll travel round Sussex watching my local Shoreham side and follow the Albion from occasional highlights on MOTD. One less customer for the club is hardly going to affect the clubs coffers and I'll be happy in the knowledge that someone on the waiting list can have my seat next season.

 

[zefarelly]

It would be interesting to see if the club say anything, IF when declining your ST renewal everyone said, cheating and VAR as reason . . . Surely the clubs can pass comment to the FA. They will run out of dinosours eventually.

 

[Brian Fantana]

It would be interesting to see if the club say anything, IF when declining your ST renewal everyone said, cheating and VAR as reason . . . Surely the clubs can pass comment to the FA. They will run out of dinosours eventually.

Agreed. Presumably the club must enquire as to the reason if someone decides not to renew? If only for their own market research purposes?

 

[Tokyohands]

The problem is the PL and FA management. It's not that we aren't winning much, I've been following the Albion since the late 80s so I'm perfectly capable of taking shit results on the chin but it's the overall management of the game that's turned me off. I really feel like they've now completely lost touch with the fans (if ever they were in touch that is) and either the PL requires going back to basics a bit or they really risk losing a lot of core fans, as is evident from many comments.

If the PL and ultimately the FA feel they can afford to lose the older fans because there are enough young and overseas fans who will accept the shower of shite it's becoming, then someone with a boat load of cash, a whole load of bright ideas and connections needs to start a new association and tempt away as many (probably non league) teams as they can and start again. That is definitely a fantastical way of looking at it but let's just throw ideas out there, why do we have to accept the FA?

 

[zefarelly]

Maybe its just a shifting tide as we get older? there will be modern kids coming into football who won't 'get' anything from the 80's or 90's, just see it as slow and crap. they'll take up the seats and lap up corporate shit, we'll just drift into lower/non league or whatever. TBH a game at Worthing/Steyning/Shoreham is probably closer to the reality of the Goldstone than the Amex.

 

[Krusty]

Reading this thread, after supporting the Albion for approaching 50 years, and bringing my sons and friends along on the ride... I am reassured, but saddened, that it is not just me feeling like this.

I hope the club and wider football world are aware of how so many fans are feeling... but I fear they have a different agenda

The best thing that could happen for me would be the so-called BIG SIX buggering off to a European Super League. I hope and believe that the First Division would be a better and more entertaining competition without them and their money circus.

Slightly against my better judgment, the lure of the Albion has drawn me in again... I have bought tickets for the Sheffield Utd home game.

Please, please can this be a decent game, free of cheating histrionics and VAR nonsense... ??

 

[Insel affe]

TBH a game at Worthing/Steyning/Shoreham is probably closer to the reality of the Goldstone than the Amex.

Ha... definitely the quality is, compared to the tail end of our existence at the Goldstone

 

[southstandandy]

It would be interesting to see if the club say anything, IF when declining your ST renewal everyone said, cheating and VAR as reason . . . Surely the clubs can pass comment to the FA. They will run out of dinosours eventually.

I suspect the reality is the club don't really care if a few us don't like the way footballs going and don't renew our ST's as there will always be a steady stream of people willing to take up the spare availability with supposedly several thousand on the waiting list.

Usually I would watch several games in the Prem on Sky on any given weekend (not involving ourselves) but my hatred of VAR has even turned me off watching such other games too. I haven't watched another live game since mid way through last season it pissed me off so much. VAR has just emphasised the over and unnecesary micro-management of the game to the n'th degree that I dislike so much, and that is why this season will be my last.

Roll on County football next season. A breath of fresh air.

 

[Tokyohands]

Maybe its just a shifting tide as we get older?

Absolutely mate, youngsters getting into watching the game won't know any different and will gladly lap it up. From my personal perspective, it's unlikely I'll ever live in England again as I'm happily set up here now, so I won't physically be attending many games in any of the tiers anyway but it's just hugely disappointing my enjoyment of watching PL games on TV has been taken away.

As far as attending the games goes, my more recent experiences at Brighton felt very sterile, just pay your money and do as you're told. At the Goldstone the experience was raw and it really felt like what was there was ours. You might remember how small I was then Joe and being taken under the wing of some north stand regulars like tall Geordie Adam and his mate the train guard (really nice bloke whose name has escaped me) was really exciting, as I could just go along by myself if my little bro or class mates couldn't make it, so there absolutely is the gloss of nostalgia there.

The nearest team to me here is FC Tokyo. I go sometimes and it's quite good fun, at least I can hammer the beers while watching the game!

 

[SeagullDubai]

Perfectly normal to feel a bit low every so often with the Albion. Football is always guaranteed to let you down etc.

For me though, I missed out getting a ticket for the Saints game being in Priority 3, so I resigned myself to hoping for another chance in the other games.

But then out of the blue, my lad came downstairs on Saturday night to surprise me with the fact that he’d got us both a ticket through the exchange. “Happy days - well done !” I said “How much do I owe you?”

So he says “it was £90 for 2 tickets and parking... but I want to treat you to it as you’ve bought all my season tickets for nearly 15 years, and snacks, and bovril, and coke obvs(!) and I just want to say Thankyou”

I nearly cried.

That’s what keeps the love going for me, the effort made to get my lad into something that he now loves so much and wants to spend time doing with me, even if it means blowing all his part time wages this week.

Don’t worry about the lows. Enjoy the highs, in whatever way they transpire.

That’s a great story. Your son sounds like a really nice person


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[PILTDOWN MAN]

Having watched football over the Christmas break I'm very nearly done with the Premier League

1. Players are more intent on squealing when they're looked at than playing
2. Diving has hit a new low, start banning them for a long period. Start giving fouls for those that at least attempt to stay on their feet but gain no advantage.
3. Apparently being touched is now a foul
4. Having a "right" to go down is a phrase used too often
5. Pundits will not call out cheats
6. Ref's do not call out the cheats and in fact encourage it with awful decisions
7. Same refs as above make even worse decisions in slow motion videos
8. Managers (apart from ours) think everyone cheats but their players are angels
9. Pampering of rude managers like bin boy at Leeds who insists on staring at the ground and not speaking in English, in which he is fluent.
10. Bin boy being the best ever person to coach football yet he's not
11. Kane, Grealish, Zaha etc are cheats call them as so
12 Brighton's constant learning yet still failure
13. Players feigning injury only to then complain that the physio comes on and they have to go off. FFS book them for simulation
14. Penalties being given for any touch in the area or outside it!
15. Ref's believing they're superstars
16.Constant whining noises that are scouse acting as commentators
17. Love in of toothy at Liverpool, he like the **** at Spurs is only interested in himself
18. The delay in being able to celebrate a goal
19. Hearing a swear word and the apology thereafter ffs grow up
20 V ****ing A ****ing R and the useless pricks using it and then the useless so called experts who were crap refs telling us it was the right decision, it ****ing wasn't
21 Oh, and the fact Potter can't set the team up to see out a game.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Will be 'disappointed' if we're asked to renew stupidly earlydoors again for next season. Clearly time to reset the clock and ask us to renew again in the summer. Oh, and maybe stop selling us stupidly overpriced new kits that will rarely if ever see the light of day outside of our respective lockdown dwellings

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

Having watched football over the Christmas break I'm very nearly done with the Premier League

1. Players are more intent on squealing when they're looked at than playing
2. Diving has hit a new low, start banning them for a long period. Start giving fouls for those that at least attempt to stay on their feet but gain no advantage.
3. Apparently being touched is now a foul
4. Having a "right" to go down is a phrase used too often
5. Pundits will not call out cheats
6. Ref's do not call out the cheats and in fact encourage it with awful decisions
7. Same refs as above make even worse decisions in slow motion videos
8. Managers (apart from ours) think everyone cheats but their players are angels
9. Pampering of rude managers like bin boy at Leeds who insists on staring at the ground and not speaking in English, in which he is fluent.
10. Bin boy being the best ever person to coach football yet he's not
11. Kane, Grealish, Zaha etc are cheats call them as so
12 Brighton's constant learning yet still failure
13. Players feigning injury only to then complain that the physio comes on and they have to go off. FFS book them for simulation
14. Penalties being given for any touch in the area or outside it!
15. Ref's believing they're superstars
16.Constant whining noises that are scouse acting as commentators
17. Love in of toothy at Liverpool, he like the **** at Spurs is only interested in himself
18. The delay in being able to celebrate a goal
19. Hearing a swear word and the apology thereafter ffs grow up
20 V ****ing A ****ing R and the useless pricks using it and then the useless so called experts who were crap refs telling us it was the right decision, it ****ing wasn't
21 Oh, and the fact Potter can't set the team up to see out a game.

your first 4 points are what infuriate me most

And the endless backpassing in the name of 'possession '

So many games I've started to watch,then ended up losing interest or even turned them off

Point 14 also

You literally can't touch anyone in the area,challenging for the ball is basically considered a foul thesedays

The word 'intentional' has been replaced by the word 'contact'

There's no flow to matches anymore,the game is constantly being halted by players feigning injury

I actually thought VAR would get rid of the divers,but its just made the situation even worse

Players now know with even the faintest of contact,it will be given

Welcome to modern day football, shine ain't it