Armchair Football

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Grey Blade

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Like most of us I've been an armchair fan for nearly a year, something I don't want to repeat in a hurry. A year ago today I attended my last football match at Bramall Lane when United drew 1-1 with Brighton. I missed the game against Norwich a couple of weeks later as I was away, having booked a holiday on impulse just after New Year. At the time of booking there were reports of a virus in China but little did I think it would eventually bring life to a standstill in the UK.

Previously I had never subscribed to Sky Sports or BT Sport but did watch the occasional games using Now TV. I always avoided Sky or BT because I thought I might feel the need to watch games endlessly on the basis that I wanted to get value for money and felt I should put my time to better use. This all changed with lockdown. Initially I subscribed to Now TV on a monthly basis and when the free broadcasts ceased I added BT Sport. Of course with lockdown I had plenty of time on my hands and to be honest watching TV football did kill a lot of time.

I've also watched many Harrogate Town games on i Follow - nearly as many as the United games I've seen. I quite like watching League 2 football; there's plenty of honest endeavor, little play acting and very few prima donnas. There's only one camera angle, no VAR (thank goodness) and no endless analysis of decisions, largely because there doesn't seem to be any facility for slow motion action replays from several angles.

Having become a temporary armchair fan I find the coverage very frustrating. It's great for seeing action replays from several different angles but often it's difficult to judge how play is building as the cameras tend to ball watch and often miss movements off the ball. At times they zoom in on a small area of the pitch and it's difficult to know what's developing elsewhere. They're also keen to show action replays and often miss a subsequent piece of play. They show close ups of the manager, a player whose just done something of note, Gareth Southgate sitting in the stand, etc, etc and consequently miss what's happening on the pitch. The commentators and summarisers often appear to be willing the top teams to win and I find the endless analysis of every debatable decision most tedious. I look forward to no longer having to be an armchair fan and can't wait to watch games in a stadium without having to listen to commentators and summarisers with their constant chit chat and empty apologies for bad language we may have heard but usually haven't!

Having been an armchair fan for a year I shall be cancelling my monthly subscription to Now TV at the earliest opportunity (already cancelled BT Sport on Sunday). I do feel a lot of sympathy for fans who can only get their football via TV and will stick to my original plan of only subscribing to Sky or BT (or whoever else gets a contract) when I'm no longer able to get to a ground.
 

Excellent post. I missed the Norwich game too (my dad used my ticket, so I’m glad he got see the win), so it’s over a year for me now, and I have exactly the same feelings about TV football. It doesn’t help that we’re losing so often of course.

Hearing the roar of a football crowd is probably the single thing that I’ve missed most in the last year.
 
I recently widened my tv options, which gave access to much more football, but after an initial burst of seeing loads of games I now hardly see any. There are too many games and without sounding like a grumpy old man, football is about to self implode. A constant stream of games, marketed as the best, the greatest, etc. The diving, the cheating the hero worship of just above average players and the burning desire for the big clubs to win, is leaving a bitter taste in my mind.
Yearning for the days when I don’t care who’s on tv because I’m either playing or training myself or having a beer with my friends
 
Last Autumn I upgraded my TV package to Sky Q, and then in addition to having Sky Sports, I added BT Sport as well, on the basis that I'm spending £25 a month on it, but a years worth of subscription to that, is also equivalent to what my matchday spending would be over the course of 2 or 3 games, and as an added bonus, the winter Ashes series will be on BT as well.

I've probably overloaded on the unlimited football and seen about 80% of the Premier League games this season. There hasn't really been much else to do, and there isn't a single way that I've enjoyed it more than actually going to matches myself. Just can't wait until I'm back at the Lane. I'm sort of used to not being there but Saturday mornings are the killer, as its wank not having my usual saturday routine to look forward to.
 
I was all set to go to my first-ever match at St James' Park and then lockdown started. I've only watched the Blades on telly and maybe England. I'm not bothered about watching other teams unless it is to fill in the odd half hour when Mrs BoSS is video calling someone. I'll still be cautious even next season as I always am anyway when, for example, flu starts doing the rounds.
 
Obviously for fans 'at reach', the coverage is vital.

I agree referencing the crap studio directing regarding cut-aways to bored, truculent players sat in the stand with facemasks on or managers talking behind cupped hands on the touchline. You can hear the ball is 'active'. I don't want to look at Wilder and Knill looking distraught and bereft of hope. I wanna see Sheffield United cut through the opposition's midfield with six accurate passes and Fleck skinning two players and thread a killer pass to Brewster who slams the ball past the opposition keeper to bag his hat-trick.

Sorry. Lost myself a bit there.

The crowd's own atmosphere is missing, big style. Makes me wonder what effect - adverse or positive - it has on players during the first ten minutes of the first game with a full crowd at BDTBL. Can't see that happening until August though.

pommpey
 
Not sure you've got this right.

Most of our best fans are of the armchair variety and some are even FIFA and Football Manager aces too, so they really are the experts on systems, tactics and formations.

Those of us that turn up week in week out and have done so through years of shit, are just clappers and Wilder apologists.

Hope that helps.
 
Not even the past year has made me an armchair fan, I've watched two matches in the entire time, one live stream and one cup tie on BBC.
The idea of supporting Sky and BT in any way, shape or form makes me sick to my fucking stomach quite frankly. I'd rather wait until I can be there in flesh, surrounded by the rest of the bellends on the kop.
 
Like most of us I've been an armchair fan for nearly a year, something I don't want to repeat in a hurry. A year ago today I attended my last football match at Bramall Lane when United drew 1-1 with Brighton. I missed the game against Norwich a couple of weeks later as I was away, having booked a holiday on impulse just after New Year. At the time of booking there were reports of a virus in China but little did I think it would eventually bring life to a standstill in the UK.

Previously I had never subscribed to Sky Sports or BT Sport but did watch the occasional games using Now TV. I always avoided Sky or BT because I thought I might feel the need to watch games endlessly on the basis that I wanted to get value for money and felt I should put my time to better use. This all changed with lockdown. Initially I subscribed to Now TV on a monthly basis and when the free broadcasts ceased I added BT Sport. Of course with lockdown I had plenty of time on my hands and to be honest watching TV football did kill a lot of time.

I've also watched many Harrogate Town games on i Follow - nearly as many as the United games I've seen. I quite like watching League 2 football; there's plenty of honest endeavor, little play acting and very few prima donnas. There's only one camera angle, no VAR (thank goodness) and no endless analysis of decisions, largely because there doesn't seem to be any facility for slow motion action replays from several angles.

Having become a temporary armchair fan I find the coverage very frustrating. It's great for seeing action replays from several different angles but often it's difficult to judge how play is building as the cameras tend to ball watch and often miss movements off the ball. At times they zoom in on a small area of the pitch and it's difficult to know what's developing elsewhere. They're also keen to show action replays and often miss a subsequent piece of play. They show close ups of the manager, a player whose just done something of note, Gareth Southgate sitting in the stand, etc, etc and consequently miss what's happening on the pitch. The commentators and summarisers often appear to be willing the top teams to win and I find the endless analysis of every debatable decision most tedious. I look forward to no longer having to be an armchair fan and can't wait to watch games in a stadium without having to listen to commentators and summarisers with their constant chit chat and empty apologies for bad language we may have heard but usually haven't!

Having been an armchair fan for a year I shall be cancelling my monthly subscription to Now TV at the earliest opportunity (already cancelled BT Sport on Sunday). I do feel a lot of sympathy for fans who can only get their football via TV and will stick to my original plan of only subscribing to Sky or BT (or whoever else gets a contract) when I'm no longer able to get to a ground.
The 1-1 draw with Brighton was my last game too! I also missed the Norwich game because I kind of knew that would be it for a very long time!
 
I find that there's almost too much football on TV at the minute. You can't get away from it.

After the first lockdown lifted and the football came back I was like "yes give me all of that football" and watched pretty much all of it. Now, barring the Blades games, I'm really not very interested in watching any of it. Although even watching the Blades this season has become somewhat of a chore.

I used to like how I'd look forward to my weekends to watch the football - whether that was going down the Lane or going to the pub and watching Super Sunday. Now though, as it's on pretty much every day, the experience of watching football just seems very diluted.

I think I've lost a bit of love for the game. Both due to the frequency of the matches and how utterly Luther Van we've been this season.

Hopefully this roadmap pans out and we can get back to some kind of normal later on in the year.
 
I have to admit , since there's no fans in grounds, I've gone right off football. United having a really poor season doesn't help either.

I've binned off Sky. I worked out I was splurging nearly a grand a year on their package and it just didn't seem worth it.
 
Best thing I've done this past year is bin sky sports off. Don't miss it one bit and am actually quite mad at myself for the money I've pissed away on it over the years.

Also you can find everything you'd want to watch online if you know where to look
 
Not even the past year has made me an armchair fan, I've watched two matches in the entire time, one live stream and one cup tie on BBC.
The idea of supporting Sky and BT in any way, shape or form makes me sick to my fucking stomach quite frankly. I'd rather wait until I can be there in flesh, surrounded by the rest of the bellends on the kop.

Surely that is a political/principle decision, no?

What OP was alluding to is that yeah, watch it on Sky/BT and where you'd expect to possibly be sat in the TC Stand somewhere above where the directors sit and almost be able to smell the heady high of Bramall Lane itself (when it is on 5.1, the surround mics do actually work, so the audible content is as good as sitting there, save for not hearing the odd fart, the rustle of a pie wrapper or a kid saying 'dad ... I'm cold') but the way it is put together, over analysed, replayed extensively and overpolished, squeezes the guts out of the experience.

I'd agree, however, there are a lot of fans 'at reach' who rely entirely on the telly experience. Don't get me wrong ... if I lived in or near Sheffield I would be a season ticket holder and attend every home and as many away games in reach (I attend as many away ones in reach of the south coast, with selectivity on London matches because of London's terminally shit accessibility and transport problems (and getting stabbed, natch) but the facility of Sky with all it's foibles is 'the only option'.

I think we can all agree however that Sky itself is a dribbling, leaky balloon knot of televisual rectal effluvia and Comcast should be dynamited where ever their gittish headquarters exist. Mind you, most television stations/media broadcasters can cunt off too.

pommpey
 

It’s odd really. When I could go to games I actually think I watched more games on TV than I do now. Mrs Yellar accused me of always having footy on which may have been fair. Now it’s on all the time I really only watch United games (god only knows why!) and that’s about it. It’s a bit akin to someone working in a sweet factory that sees so many sweets they lose interest in them.
I just need to be back in stadiums again to reignite my interest but I’m not convinced I know when that’ll be. I am loath to set myself up by thinking it’ll be next season just for the crushing disappointment to hit when it doesn’t happen. I do wonder though how many will have lost the habit of attending or indeed remain too worried about Covid to come back. Time will tell
 
Surely that is a political/principle decision, no?

What OP was alluding to is that yeah, watch it on Sky/BT and where you'd expect to possibly be sat in the TC Stand somewhere above where the directors sit and almost be able to smell the heady high of Bramall Lane itself (when it is on 5.1, the surround mics do actually work, so the audible content is as good as sitting there, save for not hearing the odd fart, the rustle of a pie wrapper or a kid saying 'dad ... I'm cold') but the way it is put together, over analysed, replayed extensively and overpolished, squeezes the guts out of the experience.

I'd agree, however, there are a lot of fans 'at reach' who rely entirely on the telly experience. Don't get me wrong ... if I lived in or near Sheffield I would be a season ticket holder and attend every home and as many away games in reach (I attend as many away ones in reach of the south coast, with selectivity on London matches because of London's terminally shit accessibility and transport problems (and getting stabbed, natch) but the facility of Sky with all it's foibles is 'the only option'.

I think we can all agree however that Sky itself is a dribbling, leaky balloon knot of televisual rectal effluvia and Comcast should be dynamited where ever their gittish headquarters exist. Mind you, most television stations/media broadcasters can cunt off too.

pommpey

Yeah sorry, I have a habit of going off on a tangent when any 'hot button' topic enters my radar, and I have many 'cos I'm a cantankerous bastard.

I don't blame anybody for relying on these broadcasters due to personal circumstances preventing regular access to the match, I'm just ranting at the insidious evil of their business model.
On a more interesting note, the stifling overanalysis of live coverage was first noted by Brian Clough about 45 years ago in an eerie foreshadowing of what the game would later become.
Watch this around the 3 minute mark, I don't think John Motson fully recovered from this tongue-lashing:

 
I recently widened my tv options, which gave access to much more football, but after an initial burst of seeing loads of games I now hardly see any. There are too many games and without sounding like a grumpy old man, football is about to self implode. A constant stream of games, marketed as the best, the greatest, etc. The diving, the cheating the hero worship of just above average players and the burning desire for the big clubs to win, is leaving a bitter taste in my mind.
Yearning for the days when I don’t care who’s on tv because I’m either playing or training myself or having a beer with my friends
 
Yeah sorry, I have a habit of going off on a tangent when any 'hot button' topic enters my radar, and I have many 'cos I'm a cantankerous bastard.

I don't blame anybody for relying on these broadcasters due to personal circumstances preventing regular access to the match, I'm just ranting at the insidious evil of their business model.
On a more interesting note, the stifling overanalysis of live coverage was first noted by Brian Clough about 45 years ago in an eerie foreshadowing of what the game would later become.
Watch this around the 3 minute mark, I don't think John Motson fully recovered from this tongue-lashing:


Never seen that before, it’s brilliant! Too many pundits and commentators agree with the narrative, try to look pretty and talk utter drivel, what’s wrong with the game from top to bottom is there are too many yes people who get too much money and it’s spoiled it for everyone from the grass roots upwards. A lot of people have been brainwashed by it all so unfortunately it will never change. As with most things in life, too much money will spoil things eventually.
 
I despise watching us on tv even when we win. I hate everything about it down to the idiotic commentators. I have never been more thankfully to be a die hard supporter who goes home and away. The times I have been called an idiot for jumping in the car or train to go to the likes of Bristol Rovers away on a Tuesday night. Give me that now instead of watching us on tv regardless of what league we are in.
You can keep your fake crowd noise you can keep your punditry you can keep your shout box get me back in that ground ASAP!
 
I despise watching us on tv even when we win. I hate everything about it down to the idiotic commentators. I have never been more thankfully to be a die hard supporter who goes home and away. The times I have been called an idiot for jumping in the car or train to go to the likes of Bristol Rovers away on a Tuesday night. Give me that now instead of watching us on tv regardless of what league we are in.
You can keep your fake crowd noise you can keep your punditry you can keep your shout box get me back in that ground ASAP!
I had a feeling you’d mention a couple of words in that last sentence Robbo. 😂😂😂
 
It’s crap. Despite the fact that we’ve been so shit this season I’ve still convinced myself we play better when I watch us in the front room rather than the back room and I have a ‘lucky’ seat, that is really not lucky at all.
 
Yeah sorry, I have a habit of going off on a tangent when any 'hot button' topic enters my radar, and I have many 'cos I'm a cantankerous bastard.

I don't blame anybody for relying on these broadcasters due to personal circumstances preventing regular access to the match, I'm just ranting at the insidious evil of their business model.
On a more interesting note, the stifling overanalysis of live coverage was first noted by Brian Clough about 45 years ago in an eerie foreshadowing of what the game would later become.
Watch this around the 3 minute mark, I don't think John Motson fully recovered from this tongue-lashing:


Good job he’s not around now with that big fat gimp, Pearce! Couldn’t run a yard without having a heart attack, yet incessantly, in his wisdom, canes professional footballers, instead of just describing what is actually happening on the pitch.
 
I like many on here can’t wait to get back to the match day routine. I’m not sure how I could have managed that with this season’s schedule. Bank balance and liver would both not be happy never mind my wife.

UTB
 
Obviously I have watched football on TV before, but I'd never watched a Sheff Utd game on TV at home before lockdown, as far as I can remember. I had watched plenty in the pub (where it's hard to properly pay attention) but I'm nearly always in the ground. The difference in how you see the game is massive, it's boring for a start, but you also just don't see the game in a natural way as others have said above.

What it has done for me is give an insight to the world of all the twitter idiots/armchair fans/foreign fans and the commercialised, multi camera angle, commentator-influenced version of matchday that they get. It's no wonder such a skewed proportion of them tend to stick up for VAR, support stupid kick off times and quote pointless stats all the time. Their version is geared up for all that. It's not real football spectatorship. It's actually quite sad that that form of viewing is now the majority, and they seem to be catered for much better. The real fans are now an afterthought.
 
My knowledge of football related matters, the groundsman at Anfield when Everton played there keeping chickens for example ( thanks especially for that one - and many others in a similar vein Martin Tyler) were very much increased.

Plus hearing ex Evertonian Jamie Carragher holding back the tears as the Toffees won the Merseyside Derby - “Liverpool have had most possession though”every two minutes - was as moving as it gets.

So it not all bad. Unless United are playing.
 
Not watched any games this season, United included. Football without fans is sterile, isn't the football I know and love, and it's just not doing it for me. Irrespective of whether we're top or bottom, I can't do this empty stadium shit.

Feels like watching a chess match!
 
Obviously for fans 'at reach', the coverage is vital.

I agree referencing the crap studio directing regarding cut-aways to bored, truculent players sat in the stand with facemasks on or managers talking behind cupped hands on the touchline. You can hear the ball is 'active'. I don't want to look at Wilder and Knill looking distraught and bereft of hope. I wanna see Sheffield United cut through the opposition's midfield with six accurate passes and Fleck skinning two players and thread a killer pass to Brewster who slams the ball past the opposition keeper to bag his hat-trick.

Sorry. Lost myself a bit there.

The crowd's own atmosphere is missing, big style. Makes me wonder what effect - adverse or positive - it has on players during the first ten minutes of the first game with a full crowd at BDTBL. Can't see that happening until August though.

pommpey
Sadly I was quite exited with that passage of play where you ‘lost yourself’................best we’ve played all season.
Waiting for goal number 2 and 1
 

I subscribed to Now TV and BT sport when football resumed after lockdown, like many i watched basically every game I could in the early days but now I find it’s becoming much less appealing and the only games I definitely watch are Blades games (which haven’t exactly been enjoyable watches this season).

Still have both now tv and bt sport subscriptions though so maybe I’m a mug.
 

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