Posted May 16, 201113 yr Is it just me that feels football is losing its soul?. Teams go down = loss of money,teams go up = lots of money,what happend to the glory?. Man City win the F.A. cup for the first time in decades & the first thing the t.v. presenter mentions when Troare scores the winner is how much dough a week he gets paid,(approx £220,000 per wk!). All the talk of managers coming or going, (and they do,more now than ever before),but the simple truth is the players/agents pull all the strings and god help any manager who falls out with the 'stars' in the dressing room. I all honestly,I'm glad I started going to football years ago,before the rise of agents,Directors of Football,(what the feck?),all seater stadia,rip-off replica shirts changed every year,win or else mentality,mortgage cost season tickets and when 11,000 created a much better atmosphere than 41,000. Bring back terracing but also a dose of reality amongst those that run & play the game would help to.
May 16, 201113 yr All good and valid points. I feel very much distanced from the modern game and the club I have supported as I'm sure many others do too. There have been threads about fans being priced out and as each season comes and goes, you wonder if the football bubble will finally burst? Of course there will be the euphoria for fans of clubs getting promoted or qualifying for CL or winning their first trophy in years, but even that will wear off and I think we'll see more and more empty seats as the weekly food bill and the mortgage make it harder to justify the price of season tickets - esepcially for the younger generation. The whole game needs a good shake up - especially the FA.
May 16, 201113 yr it lost it's soul years ago Agree totally, the soul of football started to disappear from the moment the Premiership and Champions League were introduced, and the terraces were done away with.
May 16, 201113 yr You could even trace the date back to sometime in 1992 when Sky purchased the exclusive right to show live Premiership matches, aided and abetted no end by a phone call from Alan Sugar who tipped them off about ITV's latest bid. Alan Sugar of course was the owner of Amstrad, who at the time stood to make millions from the sale of satellite dishes. Pure coincidence says Sugar. Pure f**king bollocks says I.
May 16, 201113 yr I felt more passionate watching Dulwich Hamlet in the Ryman League South play off final at Leatherhead last weekend than at any Chelsea game I've been to this season.
May 16, 201113 yr Author Soul, or the lack of it is the main reason why we as a club,in my opinion,must stay at Stamford Bridge.Arsenal will make millions from the Emerates,but at what cost?. Did you hear Paul Merson say on t.v.,before the cup final, that the dressing rooms at Highbury,with the marble/heated floors were better than the new,(sterile looking),ones at the Emerates?,how's that for progress?. I honestly think we cannot afford to lose the connection with our past,it makes us what we are.The challenge is to make the club finacially strong,while not turning it into a 'franchise' which looking at the state of things now,looks the way of the future.
May 16, 201113 yr It's all about the mony. That's why it's so great seeing players who stay at one club for a very long time. They might make lots of money as well, but they are the only ones with loads of heart. Without them, there would be no soul at all anymore. Del Piero, JT, Totti (even if I don't like him), Maldini and others.
May 16, 201113 yr It lost it years ago, and I am honestly very close to falling completely out of love with the game. I follow Rugby league almost as passionately as i do Chelsea, but football for me is now becoming a sickening spectacle of he who cheats best wins.
May 16, 201113 yr Soul, or the lack of it is the main reason why we as a club,in my opinion,must stay at Stamford Bridge.Arsenal will make millions from the Emerates,but at what cost?. Did you hear Paul Merson say on t.v.,before the cup final, that the dressing rooms at Highbury,with the marble/heated floors were better than the new,(sterile looking),ones at the Emerates?,how's that for progress?. I honestly think we cannot afford to lose the connection with our past,it makes us what we are.The challenge is to make the club finacially strong,while not turning it into a 'franchise' which looking at the state of things now,looks the way of the future. I agree with your points but the fact is the clubs are more concerned with the future than the past (Liverpool excluded) Once youve paid your money, been to a game, joined a loyalty scheme, bought a season ticket----your old news, you need to renew to be of any interest.
May 17, 201113 yr I love the league and its so special every year, regardless of the outcome. I love the FA cup as well, brilliant competitions. I think the Champions League is getting a bit stale for me though. For a start its already flawed before a ball is even kicked. The tournament should be reserved for Champions i.e. the winner of each league, every year. I want to see an old school shake up of the tournament where its in the old knockout style. How much more special would it be if you won the CL after winning the league the year before? My point is, that kind of glory only comes round once in a blue moon and would be much more appreciated... if any team goes out of the champions league and are relatively stable they just say "ah well, we'll have another shot next year" It makes the glory a little more hollow.
May 19, 201113 yr Football's soul at the top levels went ages ago. It's sad really. Money rules now - it's just a business. But I think if you're really searching for the soul of the game, you can find it down the leagues. The further you go down the divisions - the more it appears. At grass roots level it's there in abundance. Why ? Because that's where you, me, our sons, and daughters, developed and fell in love with the beautiful game. We, as supporters, carry the soul of the game in our blood. Imagine , if you will for one moment, of a life without football. If the powers that be were to ban it - just try to imagine what life would be like. It's a frightening thought. That's because we ARE football. You and me. In twenty years time, Roman will have gone. JT will have gone. Young Josh will have gone. The Admin staff will have gone. But I'll still be there. And so will you. Look no further than yourself for the soul of football.
May 19, 201113 yr Footballs have a soul? I know of soulless people, but I never saw a football with a soul :P
May 19, 201113 yr Football's soul at the top levels went ages ago. It's sad really. Money rules now - it's just a business. But I think if you're really searching for the soul of the game, you can find it down the leagues. The further you go down the divisions - the more it appears. At grass roots level it's there in abundance. Why ? Because that's where you, me, our sons, and daughters, developed and fell in love with the beautiful game. We, as supporters, carry the soul of the game in our blood. Imagine , if you will for one moment, of a life without football. If the powers that be were to ban it - just try to imagine what life would be like. It's a frightening thought. That's because we ARE football. You and me. In twenty years time, Roman will have gone. JT will have gone. Young Josh will have gone. The Admin staff will have gone. But I'll still be there. And so will you. Look no further than yourself for the soul of football. Doubt it, i'd wager a lot of us will be dead in 20 years.
May 19, 201113 yr Doubt it, i'd wager a lot of us will be dead in 20 years. Your a happy go lucky fella arent you.
May 19, 201113 yr Your a happy go lucky fella arent you. Isn't the world scheduled to end next year? Get with the program!
May 19, 201113 yr Isn't the world scheduled to end next year? Get with the program! That'd be bloody typical, the world ends and Man.Utd are the champions for ever more, that's so depressing
May 19, 201113 yr You could even trace the date back to sometime in 1992 when Sky purchased the exclusive right to show live Premiership matches, aided and abetted no end by a phone call from Alan Sugar who tipped them off about ITV's latest bid. Alan Sugar of course was the owner of Amstrad, who at the time stood to make millions from the sale of satellite dishes. Pure coincidence says Sugar. Pure f**king bollocks says I. Include Italia 90 and the building of the new all seater stadiums in England, this is what attracted Sky into football, and from that point onwards we witnessed it being turned into the cash cow it is today, the working class moved out, the middle class moved in, they(middle classes) did'nt want to know the sport when it was 'unpopular' to follow football before the 90's. Lose it's soul ? More like sold it.
May 19, 201113 yr Isn't the world scheduled to end next year? Get with the program! Actually, it's supposed to end this saturday. Atleast that's what some crazy christian dude is saying. He's been doing the math and realised that we're f*cked on the may 21 2011. But don't worry. This guy has apparently predicted the end of the world a few times before and it seems to me that he has been wrong every time.
