Towards the end of last season, Football Focus were interviewing two old boys of the game (Jimmy Anderson (not the cricketer) and one other I can\u2019t remember), and as the interview came to a close, the interviewer (I forget who \u2013 there seems to be a theme emerging here) asked the two old boys whether they would trade in their glory days of the past for the wages of today (I may be twisting it slightly but stick with me here). To my surprise, they said, resoundingly, \u201cyes\u201d. This was a shock. Primarily because I had come to assume the old clich\u00e9 about everything being \u201cbetter in the old days\u201d was what everyone believed. I think the interviewer was also a little taken aback.<\/p>\n
Of course, the focus was on wages, where few would opt for the relative poverty of old compared to the Scrooge McDuck piles of money of the modern professional but this got me thinking, what else have we to be thankful for in the modern game? What can we look at in today\u2019s football world and say \u201cit has never been better than this\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n
Stadiums<\/strong> \u2013 No longer does the average joe have to paddle through streams of frothy piss whilst cheering on his heroes from the stands. The relative comfort of today\u2019s stadiums may not be everyone\u2019s cup of tea but I\u2019ll have a nice big potful, thanks. They also mostly have roofs. Except if you\u2019re an away fan at Bristol Rovers soon to be demolished Memorial Stadium, of course. And finally, you can even see the pitch <\/em>at most modern stadiums. No longer do you have to leave at half time to go eat a Big Mac, missing Dwight Yorke scoring a penalty in the process, because you\u2019re only 7 and you can\u2019t see past the big fat guy in front.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Media Coverage<\/strong> \u2013 Back in the day, before the advent of the internet, when people used to wear braces and work down mines, the summer used to be the reserve of cricket and its fans. No longer! Now we can get 24 hr updates on the latest clogger our teams are going to sign, you can get a 1000 word essay on the meaning of Joey Barton\u2019s latest tweet or you can read a few hundred words about what some guy you don\u2019t know thinks about modern football. It may not sound like much but when you\u2019re addicted, you\u2019re addicted. Now, if we can just get James Richardson to host all football shows on TV, then we\u2019ll be sorted.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Pitches\/Quality of Football<\/strong> \u2013 Leaving aside any argument about the technical quality of most of the teams in England, the improvements in pitches have unquestionably improved the quality of football on show. Modern inventions like the lawnmower, garden fork and sunlight, mean groundsmen all over the world no longer have to stand knee deep in muddy pitches nurturing a single blade of grass to life with a rusty spoon and a handful of magic beans. And I for one am glad.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Live Matches<\/strong> \u2013 The final nail in my \u2018real football fan\u2019 coffin. I like watching football from the comfort of my own settee (or your settee, or anyone\u2019s really). I admit it. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t like going to stadiums (see no.1), it\u2019s just that the TV experience provides so much more value for money and there\u2019s always some football on somewhere (even if it is a U16\u2019s game from Peru). Not to mention being able to drink a beer whilst sitting on your own sofa. Unless, of course, you spill it and make a mess, and therefore get sent to bed without dinner.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n There are of course many other things I could point to, the loss of stigma of being a \u2018football fan\u2019 for instance, but I think that list will do for a start. Feel free to add to the list below or, perhaps more realistically, let me know why I am talking utter gonads. Ta.<\/p>\n\n
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