geezer's quite right. You don't see me at football any more. And from what I hear there are all too many reasons why I might not be too eager to be a regular match-goer even if I still lived in or around London and wasn't skint most of the time.

The obvious one:

All Seater Stadiums: Last match I went to was the Charity Shield at the old Wembley, and those poxy bloody seats crippled me.

Tourists: I absolutely detest the idea of football grounds being on the same tourist agenda as West End theatres.

Silence: People being asked to keep the noise down. And in a similar vein, people being told to sit down or risk being thrown out.

Packed lunches: If Bovril and a pie/hot dog/burger isn't good enough for you - f**k off back to the ballet.

JCL's leaving early in their droves to avoid the rush: Whether they be tourists, corporate customers, glory hunters or whatever, those ignorant waste of space arseholes don't rightly belong anywhere near a football ground.

Folk in the stands watching the entire game through a camera view finder rather than watching that actual game

Lofty, me and you could be twins! Though, for your sake I hope we're not identical ;)

Edited October 24, 200916 yr by BlueBeard

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea winning back to back league titles.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea winning a domestic cup double.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea go 74 consecutive home games unbeaten.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea winning 11 straight league games.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea win 29 out of the 38 games, 2 years running.

Cheer up chaps, another 5-0 win, ;)

geezer's quite right. You don't see me at football any more. And from what I hear there are all too many reasons why I might not be too eager to be a regular match-goer even if I still lived in or around London and wasn't skint most of the time.

The obvious one:

All Seater Stadiums: Last match I went to was the Charity Shield at the old Wembley, and those poxy bloody seats crippled me.

Tourists: I absolutely detest the idea of football grounds being on the same tourist agenda as West End theatres.

Silence: People being asked to keep the noise down. And in a similar vein, people being told to sit down or risk being thrown out.

Packed lunches: If Bovril and a pie/hot dog/burger isn't good enough for you - f**k off back to the ballet.

JCL's leaving early in their droves to avoid the rush: Whether they be tourists, corporate customers, glory hunters or whatever, those ignorant waste of space arseholes don't rightly belong anywhere near a football ground.

I think you've just about hit the nail on the head, that's all the things I dislike about the game these days though the sit down point is by far the worst.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea winning back to back league titles.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea winning a domestic cup double.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea go 74 consecutive home games unbeaten.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea winning 11 straight league games.

You wouldnt of seen Chelsea win 29 out of the 38 games, 2 years running.

You wouldn't have seen Chelsea setting records for clean sheets or conceding the fewest goals in a season.

You wouldn't have seen Chelsea setting records for clean sheets or conceding the fewest goals in a season.

Not the point though is it? This isn't about our recent success. It's not an "I was there when we were crap" rant. It's to do with the whole Sky era.

Back then, the vast majority of the crowd would have been genuinely passionate, would have appreciated what they were watching, would follow the team through thick and thin, and weren't glory hunting, JCL, corporate clients, tourists or other undesirables that all too commonly form a sizeable proportion of Premier League crowds up and down the country.

It's all very well winning trophies, playing good football, setting records and all the rest of it. But when you're told to sit down or else ... asked to keep the noise down for whatever reason .. surrounded by people who'd be equally at home at the theatre or the ballet - f**k that.

Seriously though, everything changes over 30 years. As weve just proven, some things are better, some things are worse, nostalgia is a wonderful thing, but if we didnt move forward, we wouldnt have nostalgia.

It's all very well winning trophies, playing good football, setting records and all the rest of it. But when you're told to sit down or else ... asked to keep the noise down for whatever reason .. surrounded by people who'd be equally at home at the theatre or the ballet - f**k that.

Sorry Lofty I posted just after you, so my last reply wasnt directly aimed at your post.

e2a: Its not like this for me, if someone told me to shut up and sit down theyd get told where to go mate.

Edited October 25, 200916 yr by coco

Seriously though, everything changes over 30 years. As weve just proven, some things are better, some things are worse, nostalgia is a wonderful thing, but if we didnt move forward, we wouldnt have nostalgia.

Nostalgia is soooo old fashioned.

Nostalgia is soooo old fashioned.

It's not what it used to be. Nostalgia, that is.

Packed lunches: If Bovril and a pie/hot dog/burger isn't good enough for you - f**k off back to the ballet.

reminds me of that post I saw on the royal opera house forum that said ' packed lunches? if a lobster thermidor/ballotine of wood pigeon and white truffle/iced praline parfait isn't good enough for you, f**k off back to the football' ...although 'f**k off' was patronisingly put in italics...

other highlights from their 'things you would never have seen or heard at the ballet 20 or 30 years ago' included:

'bovril, hot dogs and burgers' posted by 'foodsnob209'

'packed lunches, they're so lower-middle class' posted by 'my_other_castle's_a_chateau216

'breakdancing, that sh*t's really taking off now innit' posted by 'kanyewestdoestheballetcositscool'

and

'ballet...' posted by 'pissed_since_1965_keithfloyd_123'

Me.

reminds me of that post I saw on the royal opera house forum that said ' packed lunches? if a lobster thermidor/ballotine of wood pigeon and white truffle/iced praline parfait isn't good enough for you, f**k off back to the football' ...although 'f**k off' was patronisingly put in italics...

other highlights from their 'things you would never have seen or heard at the ballet 20 or 30 years ago' included:

'bovril, hot dogs and burgers' posted by 'foodsnob209'

'packed lunches, they're so lower-middle class' posted by 'my_other_castle's_a_chateau216

'breakdancing, that sh*t's really taking off now innit' posted by 'kanyewestdoestheballetcositscool'

and

'ballet...' posted by 'pissed_since_1965_keithfloyd_123'

Are you on drugs or does it come naturally?

Things you would never have seen or heard at football 20 or 30 years ago

Wives or girlfriends!!!!

Grown men in replica shirts.

Jester hats.

Corporate entertainment, I'm sure a 4 course meal isn't necessary is it?

Face painting.

Players wearing Alice bands

Directors of football

Majority of the clubs owned by foreigners

Chelsea one of the biggest teams in the country

Metatarsal injuries

But you still get police horses kicking out

Players wearing Alice bands

Chelsea one of the biggest teams in the country

...World. :)

That's a sweat band.

But you still get police horses kicking out

Like police dogs, they're a special breed. One of them once tried to eat me, I kid you not. This was after a match at West Ham queuing up outside Upton Park station, some four-footed hellbeast started chewing my shoulder. To be honest I don't know if it was me or my sheepskin it was trying to digest, either way it sh*t the life out of me!

I was chatting to a Millwall fan once who casually dropped the following question into the conversation completly out of the blue: 'Av you ever shot a police horse in the bollocks with a pelet gun?''

''NO? - why have you?''

''Yeah, well, I did it once. They go f*cking mad''

At this point I had beer coming out of my nostrils, in fits of laughter.

'Don't laugh - there was a copper on it, and it bolted down the High St'

Cue more laughter as he tried to make it a serious discussion, and explain in depth.

I'm laughing now as I type, thinking about it brings all sorts of connotations into my head.

Meanwhile, back at the topic...

...away fans wearing their team colours at Stamford Bridge.

I went to see Chelsea play Middlesbrough about 10 years back, and one of their supporters coaches was parked between the main entrance and the Bovril entrance! The Boro fans were swaggering about the Fulham Road in their red and white rags without a care in the world - my cousin and his mates had to physically restrain me from steaming in, explaining that all that kind of stuff was in the past. Too f*ckin' true, they wouldn't have dared even think about doing that 20 or 30 years ago. Didn't do my blood pressure any good, that's for sure :angry:

Meanwhile, back at the topic...

...away fans wearing their team colours at Stamford Bridge.

I went to see Chelsea play Middlesbrough about 10 years back, and one of their supporters coaches was parked between the main entrance and the Bovril entrance! The Boro fans were swaggering about the Fulham Road in their red and white rags without a care in the world - my cousin and his mates had to physically restrain me from steaming in, explaining that all that kind of stuff was in the past. Too f*ckin' true, they wouldn't have dared even think about doing that 20 or 30 years ago. Didn't do my blood pressure any good, that's for sure :angry:

Actually it reminds me of the season we got relegated in the play-oofs at the Bridge against Boro. I was in the west stand and there was a block of about 20 seats unoccupied. People were then ushered out of the way as a load of Boro supporters, who I presume, had just got off a coach came piling into the west stand. The whole of the stand stood up and just started singing Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea in their direction. They took their seats, with people shouting 'what the f*ck are they doing in here' etc - the stewards realised the agrro brewing and escorted them out of the stand and I'd imagine over to stand with the away fans. Good job they did, it kicked right off at the final whistle when they stormed the pitch.

Edited October 28, 200916 yr by BLUENUT

Actually it reminds me of the season we got relegated in the play-oofs at the Bridge against Boro. I was in the west stand and there was a block of about 20 seats unoccupied. People were then ushered out of the way as a load of Boro supporters, who I presume, had just got off a coach came piling into the west stand. The whole of the stand stood up and just started singing Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea in their direction. They took their seats, with people shouting 'what the f*ck are they doing in here' etc - the stewards realised the agrro brewing and escorted them out of the stand and I'd imagine over to stand with the away fans. Good job they did, it kicked right off at the final whistle when they stormed the pitch.

Yeah, that was quite an occasion ;)

I've removed those posts which were off topic.

es