What do Movies, Pro wrestling, and the game of Football have
in common?
Aside from the fact that the top level of these revolve
around hard-working people paying extortionate amounts of money to watch sweaty
millionaires fall over each other, more importantly they are popular hobbies
and sources of entertainment that have been around for multiple generations.
Because of this subsequent appeal to old and young, there will always be a
nostalgic and often arrogant claim that “things were better back in the good
old days”.
I disagree.
While this sort of statement is often fuelled by the ageing
longing to relive their youth, where their optimistic and energetic approach to
life would have made any hobby seem wonderful and literally the greatest thing
ever, I find it necessary to provide 5 reasons why ,in regards to football at
least, the present is very much superior to the past.
1. Safety
Safety first as they always say, though this remains the
most obvious and widely used example of the football of yesteryear’s
inferiority. Policing both in the stadium and on public transport is nothing
short of superbly organised, and while once in a blue moon there is a fixture
that provides news channels with scenes that could easily come out of the 1980’s,
most recently games involving London’s East End and the Second City Derby, in
general there is rarely trouble at games. Long gone are the days where thousands
of scarf-bearing brutes would roam the stadia exteriors looking for trouble, as
now both sets of opposition fans can pass each other freely outside the ground
without the threat of a Doc Marten to the temple. As someone who briefly worked
at Villa Park, I have seen first-hand the capabilities of the security team,
able to zoom in with high clarity on any seat in the ground, the effectiveness
of which being displayed recently with the swift arrest of a Spurs fan who decided it
would be a good idea to throw a flare at the linesman.
Although safe-standing as largely been abolished in the UK
(for now), nobody can argue against football being a family friendly activity
in today’s climate, with parents having no problems taking toddlers to games,
which can only be good for the morality and progression of football as a whole.
There are many who use this aspect to discredit modern football, claiming that
the lack of free standing has seen a decrease in atmosphere at games, but you can’t
tell me that since the Taylor Report of the 1990’s, the Kop hasn’t roared, the
Holte hasn’t rocked, and Parkhead hasn’t inspired.
2. Player’s closeness to the fans
I won’t deny that footballers are paid orgasmic sums of
money. That might be a weird way to describe it but you’d be pretty pleased too
with 200 grand a week, and personally I think they often earn it. This isn't the problem though. The problem
comes from the misconception that they find themselves in a different world to
the general public, seeing themselves high above us muggles in an ego-filled stratosphere
of glory, a far cry from the days of players getting plastered in pubs with
fans the day before a game. It’s my belief that players of today are actually
far closer than those of generations gone, through social media platforms such
as Twitter.
Nowadays fans can call Joey Barton all the curses known to
man while simultaneously informing the new signing from Ghana that he put in a
good performance, as well as witnessing hilarious interactions between players
themselves; and it is for this reason that I see players as now being much
closer to their audience.
3. 24 hour coverage
Thanks to creations such as Monday Night Football and channels such as Eurosport showing games
between teams you’ve never heard of from obscure countries you can’t find on a
globe there’s essentially a never-ending stream of live football, if you wish
to view it, particularly if you’re into streaming on dodgy Middle Eastern
sites. This gives the casual football fan far more chances to witness the
beautiful game at all levels, and gives drunkards covered in kebab on a Friday night
the opportunity to watch mid-table La Liga clashes with sure-firing certainty.
Many critics will claim such obsessive and incessant coverage is damaging, and
may well be responsible for the creation of the dreaded ‘armchair fan’, but as
far as I’m concerned – the more football I can watch, the better.
4. Improvement in Quality
The level of quality amongst almost every aspect of modern
day football is astoundingly high. Pitches are immaculate, medical facilities
and staff are world-leading in many cases, and the footballers themselves are
remarkable athletes, with conditioning and diet taking over their lives
completely. Sport Science has become a huge part of the game as well, with
immense levels of mathematics and science implemented in designing football
boots, which in the past have had very basic designs. All of these factors have
culminated in a more appealing and impressive product on the pitch, ultimately
supported by the growing trend of teams striving to play good, attractive,
passing football – started arguably by Johan Cruyff and optimised by Pep
Guardiola’s success with ‘tika taka’ during the late 2000’s and beyond with
Barcelona. Even Stoke City, infamous for ‘hoof ball’ have
joined the bandwagon with the sacking of Tony Pulis, now providing possession
football under Mark Hughes.
This type of football may seem like snobbery to some, though
as long as Football continues to promote this progressive attitude to tactics
(as it seems to be), it will only further improve in quality.
5. Big Games and Upsets
While the growing gap between the ‘small’ and ‘elite’ clubs
in football, and rising amounts of money involved, are causes for great
concerns, these two issues have respectively created some remarkable games of
football. The huge gap between clubs now has left upsets in cup competitions
now bearing huge significance, with the chubby kid crying at Anfield as his
Havant & Waterlooville took a 2-1 lead over Liverpool being one of my most cherished
memories of watching the FA Cup. While such Cup moments have been a staple of
English Football for years, it’s undeniable that they are becoming both rarer
and more significant as the gap grows.
As for the rising amounts of money involved, this has
spawned what has now become what has become one of the most exciting and
important games of the season, the English play-off final. Previously being
considered somewhat a formality, victory in this game is now estimated to be
worth £60 million, with the victor given entry into the promised land of the
Premier League. It’s a similar story with Champions League qualification providing
similar immense financial benefits, as well as almost every major cup final in
the modern era.
While this raises many troubling issues in themselves, you
can’t tell me saying that Kevin Phillips scored a £60 million penalty in extra
time last summer isn’t bloody exciting.
