RE: Liverpool win. 20 years since Heysel disaster. Any thoughts on

[bennywhale]

Any thoughts on the dramatic changes in football since that night.

Gone too far?

Taken away from working class?

Good / bad?

Necessary?

better for it?

[ikri]

1. Most of the changes are good

Watching football in the 80's wasn't always a great experience (ok so I was still a young kid, but I do remember it). Standing for hours in the Leazes paddocks at in the pouring rain, needing to get there damned early to get a decent view. You could easily spend over 3 hours in the rain or snow.

At least now I can arrive whenever I like before kickoff & head to my normal seat and chat to the people around me (who are usually the same people).

Before Heysel & Hillsborough the only football chairman who ever gave a shit about fan's safety was Jimmy Hill, who converted much of the Coventry City stadium to seating, the fans thanked him by ripping the seats out. If they hadn't been forced to make changes stadiums like St. James' would still have a couple of open-air paddocks at each end and that god-awful shed that passed for the Milburn stand.

The TV revenue has certainly helped the bigger clubs. Can't say the same for the smaller clubs in the lower leagues. The money from Sky destroyed the BBC/ITV cartel that showed maybe 5 games each season and payed the FA a couple of million for it, most clubs in the first division - sorry Championship - get more than that from TV revenue each season now.

Has it taken away from the Working class, I'm not sure. It probably has to an extent, and probably more in the London clubs (i.e. Chelsea & their £6-700 season tickets). Most of the people who sit near me at St. James' would probably class themselves as working class, but then there are also plenty of seats that are far more expensive than what I pay each year.

The extra income has helped the quality of the game immensely. Most top Premiership clubs can attract good quality foreign stars with a decent amount of flair that has been sadly lacking from the English game for years and was almost non-existent in the 80's.

Now if we could just get rid of the dour 80's attitude managers infesting our clubs (I'm looking at you Mr Souness!) we could finally get somewhere.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

2. "Taken away from working class?"

To an extent yes. Sky succeeded in packaging league football to the southern middle class and brought it away from its working class routes. The money from satellite television on the whole is a good thing and has improved the quality of the league.

[bennywhale]

3. The standard of football has obviously increased but the essence

and soul of the game i feel has been destroyed. It is today about corporate marketing, TV money, and money in general.

The past for me was about solidarity and belonging. I obviously didn't like much of the 80s, although i still have fond memories, but the today it is so sanitised it reminds me of American Sports like American Football, and Basket ball. A Family orientated, well ordered, spectacle. I used to love the unpredictability and passion of the crowd (not the violence obviously), and the feeling that anything was possible.
Going to the match for me is about more than the football, its about passion and solidarity of which there is little in today's society, and i feel our beloved game is going the same consumerist, corporate, controlled way much of society is going.