Has football lost its identity?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

ThatJa

ThatJa

Bigger Blade than United's Arab Emirate
Joined
Aug 4, 2005
Messages
5,072
Reaction score
7,236
Location
Gleadless
I've been thinking about this for a while now before posting and I really do feel like football has lost its identity. I read a report yesterday that stated there has been over 50 rule changes in football over the past 2 seasons (70% of them were this season) and the original rule book that was created in Sheffield has never been further away from how the professional game is played today.

We have the PGMOL that are making changes and adding stuff in like VAR (which is basically passing one human error to another human to make an error)

We have the handball rule changed season after season, nobody knows the correct offside rule anymore for example.

Is footbal becoming less enjoyable to watch? Are we as fans being short changed by the will to change the identity of the game and "modernising" it if you will?

I feel like watching football doesn't have the same feel of when I watched football growing up in the 90s, watching the old Premiership Years season reviews just shows what I miss about football.
 

ThatJa said:
I've been thinking about this for a while now before posting and I really do feel like football has lost its identity. I read a report yesterday that stated there has been over 50 rule changes in football over the past 2 seasons (70% of them were this season) and the original rule book that was created in Sheffield has never been further away from how the professional game is played today.

We have the PGMOL that are making changes and adding stuff in like VAR (which is basically passing one human error to another human to make an error)

We have the handball rule changed season after season, nobody knows the correct offside rule anymore for example.

Is footbal becoming less enjoyable to watch? Are we as fans being short changed by the will to change the identity of the game and "modernising" it if you will?

I feel like watching football doesn't have the same feel of when I watched football growing up in the 90s, watching the old Premiership Years season reviews just shows what I miss about football.
Click to expand...
Don't forget the"time wasting" rule,god forbid.
 
Yes.

To be successful now you need to be the sportswashing plaything of the money-spaffing arm of an oil rich country with dubious human rights records. Time was you could be the humble toy of a mere billionaire with close ties to a corrupt regime, or the money pump of mega rich American maniacs, or even owned by a slightly dodgy businessman , but no longer. It’s all about the money. It has been for a long time though.
 
adiosmiamigo said:
Don't forget the"time wasting" rule,god forbid.
Click to expand...
Man City's Alex Greenwood was shown a second yellow for time wasting,running the clock down just before half time,as you do,no word in year ear lass.Heckys right,they're ruining the game.
 
ThatJa said:
I've been thinking about this for a while now before posting and I really do feel like football has lost its identity. I read a report yesterday that stated there has been over 50 rule changes in football over the past 2 seasons (70% of them were this season) and the original rule book that was created in Sheffield has never been further away from how the professional game is played today.

We have the PGMOL that are making changes and adding stuff in like VAR (which is basically passing one human error to another human to make an error)

We have the handball rule changed season after season, nobody knows the correct offside rule anymore for example.

Is footbal becoming less enjoyable to watch? Are we as fans being short changed by the will to change the identity of the game and "modernising" it if you will?

I feel like watching football doesn't have the same feel of when I watched football growing up in the 90s, watching the old Premiership Years season reviews just shows what I miss about football.
Click to expand...
Yes! Far better in the 60's when I started watching.
 
No, it's got a new identity and there's millions world wide who are happy with it. It's showbiz, with superstars who're pampered and protected, shiny luminous footwear (can't call them football boots), designer shirts, flash hair do's and all the other bollocks that goes with it.

Plastic stadiums full of plastic fans who don't really understand the game so they buy into the pantomime in front of them. It's WWE with VAR, players diving and screaming and it's what the TV and new breed love.

I hate it, my other sporting love boxing's gone the same way. It's not about sport any more, it's about branding. I still love Sheffield United, I always will but I think it's the memories that hold my heart because for a few years now, the whole fucking circus just leaves me cold.

UTBFTP
 
It’s a bit like conkers

When I was a young adult in the 70s you just pickled your conkers and baked them in the oven until you achieved the sweet hardness spot (mass divided by width x string length) then pierced , threaded and left in grandads snuff tin until game play day .

You then tossed to see who went first and then aimed , thrust and banged your opponents conker . This ritual continued back and forth until with your , or your opponent conker exploded . If you won you claimed the number of consecutive wins achieved by your opponent’s conker and added this to yours - hence I had a 59 er .

You naturally suffered bruised fingers and foreheads due to conker velocity . Bit like swing ball .

Now a days you would have to wear gloves , bike helmets and seek parental guidance for oven use .

The worlds gone mad and affected everything worth having

Imo
 
boring, predictable, robotic. Kids are basically plucked and groomed to be footballers from stupid ages, the whole mechanism is shit. Football has become bureaucratic and sanitised. Doesn’t belong to the fan anymore. Blatant sports washing was the final nail for me. Follow United, but overall my level of fucks has declined since Covid.
 

There's no doubt our current situation influences thinking but I have tbh and say my view has changed in recent years.

I used to despair at fans saying they didn't want to get promoted to the PL but apart from securing parachute monies, it's becoming a poisoned chalice for clubs without uber rich owners.

Spend nothing and get criticised for not competing or risk problems in the next few years if things don't work out as is highly likely.

The gulf has increased in just the last two or three years since we were last there.
 
Houston_Blade said:
I’m 39 and it’s changed completely in my lifetime, it’s shit, but the other option is rugby and that’s proper wank so I’ll stick with it.
Click to expand...

I used to think that, and not that rugby could ever replace football for me but I moved to a small village outside Harrogate a few years back and Friday night's used to sit in the bar watching rugby league with the locals, loved it. I went to watch Leeds Rhinos a couple of times and again, really enjoyed it. Different breed the rugby lads, no feigning injury or screaming from them, fuck me, they don't piss about.
 
I remember a time when I’d watch pretty much any game when it was on TV and although I still watch a fair bit, it’s usually when theres a Championship game on. This City v Arsenal game is a load of fucking gash btw.

Tbh, I’ll watch most sports, some more religiously, some as a casual viewer but out of all of them, football is quickly tumbling down the list of what I watch. I’m still as much of a fan of the Blades as I ever have been but football as a sport especially at the top level is becoming an absolute bore fest.

I just cannot be arsed with this incessant over analysis on every single fucking thing. The pundits on sky and BT constantly moan about it but it’s their constant talking bullshit that I think has made the PGMOL feel obliged to fuck about with the rules every year.

Having said all that, I’ve just switched over to the F1 and thats not money orientated or controversial at all.
 
Maurice Maurice said:
I used to think that, and not that rugby could ever replace football for me but I moved to a small village outside Harrogate a few years back and Friday night's used to sit in the bar watching rugby league with the locals, loved it. I went to watch Leeds Rhinos a couple of times and again, really enjoyed it. Different breed the rugby lads, no feigning injury or screaming from them, fuck me, they don't piss about.
Click to expand...
I bet if you asked them though “Rugby league’s gone”.
 
One thing that cheeses me off about the rule changes is that they don’t apply to all leagues and competitions equally. Handball in the EPL is a different rule to handball in the Championship. Champions League football and international football have their own interpretations too. There are tackles that a player can make in the League Cup that they can’t make in the EPL. It may as well be a different sport, and it partly explains the widening gaps between the leagues.
 
Geordie Blade said:
One thing that cheeses me off about the rule changes is that they don’t apply to all leagues and competitions equally. Handball in the EPL is a different rule to handball in the Championship. Champions League football and international football have their own interpretations too. There are tackles that a player can make in the League Cup that they can’t make in the EPL. It may as well be a different sport, and it partly explains the widening gaps between the leagues.
Click to expand...

This and its only going to get worse.
 
Maurice Maurice said:
No, it's got a new identity and there's millions world wide who are happy with it. It's showbiz, with superstars who're pampered and protected, shiny luminous footwear (can't call them football boots), designer shirts, flash hair do's and all the other bollocks that goes with it.

Plastic stadiums full of plastic fans who don't really understand the game so they buy into the pantomime in front of them. It's WWE with VAR, players diving and screaming and it's what the TV and new breed love.

I hate it, my other sporting love boxing's gone the same way. It's not about sport any more, it's about branding. I still love Sheffield United, I always will but I think it's the memories that hold my heart because for a few years now, the whole fucking circus just leaves me cold.

UTBFTP
Click to expand...

That's exactly my view. For the likes of most of us who like the excitement of watching from the stands and being able to spontaneously celebrate a goal without VAR, I think the EPL is a pretty shit experience really, but for the millions watching remotely world wide it seems to be what the market demands.

Edit: it wouldn't be as bad if we were able to compete in the fucking thing though :(
 
Last edited:
Bell4 said:
It’s a bit like conkers

When I was a young adult in the 70s you just pickled your conkers and baked them in the oven until you achieved the sweet hardness spot (mass divided by width x string length) then pierced , threaded and left in grandads snuff tin until game play day .

You then tossed to see who went first and then aimed , thrust and banged your opponents conker . This ritual continued back and forth until with your , or your opponent conker exploded . If you won you claimed the number of consecutive wins achieved by your opponent’s conker and added this to yours - hence I had a 59 er .

You naturally suffered bruised fingers and foreheads due to conker velocity . Bit like swing ball .

Now a days you would have to wear gloves , bike helmets and seek parental guidance for oven use .

The worlds gone mad and affected everything worth having

Imo
Click to expand...

I bet the little twats feign injury and roll about on the floor too these days. Never would have happened in my day.
 
ThatJa said:
I've been thinking about this for a while now before posting and I really do feel like football has lost its identity. I read a report yesterday that stated there has been over 50 rule changes in football over the past 2 seasons (70% of them were this season) and the original rule book that was created in Sheffield has never been further away from how the professional game is played today.

We have the PGMOL that are making changes and adding stuff in like VAR (which is basically passing one human error to another human to make an error)

We have the handball rule changed season after season, nobody knows the correct offside rule anymore for example.

Is footbal becoming less enjoyable to watch? Are we as fans being short changed by the will to change the identity of the game and "modernising" it if you will?

I feel like watching football doesn't have the same feel of when I watched football growing up in the 90s, watching the old Premiership Years season reviews just shows what I miss about football.
Click to expand...
Understood entirely. I have recently watched Guiseley and Didcot Town in their respective 7th tiers. Somehow the rule changes have made little impact at this level and the enjoyment is great.
What is of course missing is the atmosphere that grounds like the Lane can generate.
 
ThatJa said:
I've been thinking about this for a while now before posting and I really do feel like football has lost its identity. I read a report yesterday that stated there has been over 50 rule changes in football over the past 2 seasons (70% of them were this season) and the original rule book that was created in Sheffield has never been further away from how the professional game is played today.

We have the PGMOL that are making changes and adding stuff in like VAR (which is basically passing one human error to another human to make an error)

We have the handball rule changed season after season, nobody knows the correct offside rule anymore for example.

Is footbal becoming less enjoyable to watch? Are we as fans being short changed by the will to change the identity of the game and "modernising" it if you will?

I feel like watching football doesn't have the same feel of when I watched football growing up in the 90s, watching the old Premiership Years season reviews just shows what I miss about football.
Click to expand...
You should have watched footy in the 70's it was brilliant, it really was
 
Davalon said:
There's no doubt our current situation influences thinking but I have tbh and say my view has changed in recent years.

I used to despair at fans saying they didn't want to get promoted to the PL but apart from securing parachute monies, it's becoming a poisoned chalice for clubs without uber rich owners.

Spend nothing and get criticised for not competing or risk problems in the next few years if things don't work out as is highly likely.

The gulf has increased in just the last two or three years since we were last there.
Click to expand...
I’m one of those who doesn’t enjoy being in the PL much. I hated the whole idea of it in the first place and that has deepened over the years.
 

Just the top flight, sadly. The gap between the top two divisions is simply too big now. Ruined by sky-high fees and wages and the focus on making it a good televised product. Competition destroyed because unless you spend multi-millions you're not getting anywhere near the top 6.

It's thoroughly disheartening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Back
Top Bottom