Those were the days.

There's a show on just now showing the 70s football on itv. Brian Moore is the host. Some state some of the pitches. Great wee show with a lot of players I watched growing up
 
The good old days playing football on a ploughed field.
A lot of very good football played on those ploughed fields. Players were also allowed to tackle. A free kick wasn't awarded every time a player brushed the shirt sleeve of an opponent. We didn't need to wait 5 minutes to celebrate a goal while VAR was checked. Supporters could sing without keyboard warriors pretending to be mortally offended. Social media wasn't full of 'experts' extolling the virtues of false number nines and the low block.
I know people will point to terraces open to the elements, what were effectively open sewers for toilets, hooliganism etc, but I for one am delighted I grew up with this version of football and I still prefer that rawness, on and off the park, to the sanitised version of today. A generational thing I guess.
 
I remember those pitches but I didn’t remember Geoff Hurst playing for Stoke! Every day’s a school day.
 
And then Cruyff came and said let me introduce the beautiful game of total football.

The way it should be played, when skill on a level playing field defeats thuggery.

Grew up in that era of the Big Match, all weather pitch and mould master at school. With all the rain in NI, you'd think they could find a grass pitch.

Loved the Brazilian team of 1970, stroking it about, letting the ball do the work and none of this sticking the boot in and running about like a madman.
 
What game at Derby’s ground it was so muddy they couldn’t find the penalty spot. Thinking it was Real Madrid or possibly Man City. They had a couple of good teams Derby. When smaller teams could win the league.
 
What game at Derby’s ground it was so muddy they couldn’t find the penalty spot. Thinking it was Real Madrid or possibly Man City. They had a couple of good teams Derby. When smaller teams could win the league.
I was at that Derby game .Won 4-0 with man city sitting top of the table at the time .School trip to Old Trafford which was posponed so we ended up at the baseball ground .Like a ploughed field
The penalty incident cropped up on a question of sport one time ,what happened next .
 
Thanks rupertdabear,must have great seeing an English game on school trip furthest we went was a park in Dunfermline from Glasgow all for a trip on a train across Rail bridge
 
It’s a world away from today’s multi millionaires with their gloves and under armour, going down and rolling about at the slightest touch whether real or imagined.
 
And then Cruyff came and said let me introduce the beautiful game of total football.

The way it should be played, when skill on a level playing field defeats thuggery.

Grew up in that era of the Big Match, all weather pitch and mould master at school. With all the rain in NI, you'd think they could find a grass pitch.

Loved the Brazilian team of 1970, stroking it about, letting the ball do the work and none of this sticking the boot in and running about like a madman.
If it wasn’t for all weather pitches in NI in the late 60s early 70s I wouldn’t have played a fraction of the football that I did .
After a spell of rain most of the grass pitches resembled something like you’d see in the old photos from The Somme.

I’d agree with what you say about Brazil 1970 but they also had a couple of players who could leave the boot in when required.
 
Thanks rupertdabear,must have great seeing an English game on school trip furthest we went was a park in Dunfermline from Glasgow all for a trip on a train across Rail bridge
Once a year they would have taken the school teams for a weekend away .Buses ,boats ,digs at the Liverpool YMCA and played gemes against a Liverpool school at all age levels sat morning before going to the matches .All exciting as a kid .
In Old Trafford one year when United sent West Ham down a division and the stretford end sing no more West Ham any more
Went one year to London .Overnight train from Stranrear :oops: long journey .Loftus Road that one to see QPR play Ipswitch .Lovely wee ground down tight to the pitch.Lot of big names in that one Mick Mills,Phil Parks,Trevor Wymark to name a few .Still have the programme someplace .
All like a different life now at my age
 
A lot of very good football played on those ploughed fields. Players were also allowed to tackle. A free kick wasn't awarded every time a player brushed the shirt sleeve of an opponent. We didn't need to wait 5 minutes to celebrate a goal while VAR was checked. Supporters could sing without keyboard warriors pretending to be mortally offended. Social media wasn't full of 'experts' extolling the virtues of false number nines and the low block.
I know people will point to terraces open to the elements, what were effectively open sewers for toilets, hooliganism etc, but I for one am delighted I grew up with this version of football and I still prefer that rawness, on and off the park, to the sanitised version of today. A generational thing I guess.
Expertly put Big D.
 
A lot of very good football played on those ploughed fields. Players were also allowed to tackle. A free kick wasn't awarded every time a player brushed the shirt sleeve of an opponent. We didn't need to wait 5 minutes to celebrate a goal while VAR was checked. Supporters could sing without keyboard warriors pretending to be mortally offended. Social media wasn't full of 'experts' extolling the virtues of false number nines and the low block.
I know people will point to terraces open to the elements, what were effectively open sewers for toilets, hooliganism etc, but I for one am delighted I grew up with this version of football and I still prefer that rawness, on and off the park, to the sanitised version of today. A generational thing I guess.
Likewise bud. I would much prefer football to be what it was then compared to the diving and cheating of now, where fans are more concerned with the skills attributes of a player on FIFA.
 
How I wish we could get back to poor pitches and robust tackling without the ref's whistle sounding. But we'll only get back to Fir Park again this year if Motherwell get themselves out of relegation trouble.
 
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