[Archived] Supporting Half A Club

[47er]

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

Not for me. The supporting experience has been anaethetised.  Bring back the the bus and tram ride to the game, cobbled streets, the turnstiles, standing on the terraces, swaying, packed crowds, supporters wearing scarves and bobble hats, rattles, the smell of pies and Bovril and Woodbines, muddy pitches, rain, stinking toilets, brass bands before the game, no overpowering b.... musak blaring overhead, no mobile phones, the excitement of the team coming down the tunnel, and build-up to kick-off, and most people of a certain age would be in heaven. 

Has it occurred to you you're getting old Jim?!

[jim mk2]

 

My knees remind me every day. 

[oldjamfan1]

11 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

 

My knees remind me every day. 

I went to the doctor about my dodgy left knee this morning. He said "Nothing to worry about, its simply an age thing"

I replied "Rubbish doc, my other knee is exactly the same age and there's bugger-all wrong with that one".

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

13 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Not for me. The supporting experience has been anaethetised.  Bring back the the bus and tram ride to the game, cobbled streets, the turnstiles, standing on the terraces, swaying, packed crowds, supporters wearing scarves and bobble hats, rattles, the smell of pies and Bovril and Woodbines, muddy pitches, rain, stinking toilets, brass bands before the game, no overpowering b.... musak blaring overhead, no mobile phones, the excitement of the team coming down the tunnel, and build-up to kick-off, and most people of a certain age would be in heaven. 

Ronnie Clayton sprinting out of the tunnel hell for leather on to the pitch with the ball tucked underneath his right arm.

[mhead]

Twiddling with the battery on your transistor radio(made in Hong Kong)

[speeeeeeedie]

22 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Not for me. The supporting experience has been anaethetised.  Bring back the the bus and tram ride to the game, cobbled streets, the turnstiles, standing on the terraces, swaying, packed crowds, supporters wearing scarves and bobble hats, rattles, the smell of pies and Bovril and Woodbines, muddy pitches, rain, stinking toilets, brass bands before the game, no overpowering b.... musak blaring overhead, no mobile phones, the excitement of the team coming down the tunnel, and build-up to kick-off, and most people of a certain age would be in heaven. 

I'm not trying to derail the thread or sound like my grandad but there were some aspects of football that are better than today.

My own favourite was the half time score readout. Unless you had a radio you didn't know how other games were going. Nobody where I stood did so it was always a nice surprise.

[Rover_Shaun]

Positives

It's still played on grass and as yet not plastic

 

Negatives

Obscene amounts of money

Crazy ticket prices

Scandalous kit prices that only a lobotomised chimp would pay

Overhype

Obscene amounts of money

Sky

All seater stadiums

Foreign owners who couldn't give a rats arse about the club when it comes to the crunch

Obscene amounts of money

Players rolling all over

Diving

Average overseas players (90% of them all)

Obscene amounts of money

Standard of refereeing

Contact being criminalised

Poor defending

Poor Attacking

Lack of guile

Lack of craft

Obscene amounts of money

Sky

Overhype

Venkys

[47er]

Crossing over via the Riverside at half-time and meeting opposition fans along the way! Often we had to do it twice!

[MCMC1875]

11 hours ago, mhead said:

Twiddling with the battery on your transistor radio(made in Hong Kong)

I have a Bush radio that works off a PP9 battery. No FM, just medium wave and long wave. It wasn't made in Hong Kong.

[MCMC1875]

Season ticket books with tear off coupons.

Terracing.

Turnstiles that clicked.

Terracing.

Floodlight pylons.

Terracing.

Tackling.

Terracing.

Mud.

Terracing.

Local owners.

Terracing.

[Mattyblue]

I remember the season ticket books had a load of numbered coupons plus letters all the way to 'Z'... must have been expecting some season!

[gumboots]

This threads gone off topic a bit but what I miss is the sheer excitement of the whole experience, even if your team were rubbish. Getting the match special bus that came through our village, packed on like sardines with loads of other fans, all walking to the ground together from the the bus stop, grabbing a "Pink" Gazette on the way back to read the match report on the way home, even though the report only covered half the match. It was all an adventure. Even when I first started to go to Rovers in 1996, much of the pre match and ritual still existed. Guessing which letter voucher would be needed was a game to play, with the child who got the correct answer or nearest it getting a reward. Nowadays the excitement and magic have largely gone. There's been no buzz going along the Bolton road for many years

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Walking up from town and seeing the floodlights always brought a spring to my step even when we were in the old Div 3 and playing the likes of Chesterfield, Southport etc etc.

[mhead]

When my father died in 1998 I inherited a Bedding Box that was his mother's.

Inside the top was every one of his used Season Ticket Books....from the mid-60s to the mid-90s.

Very poignant! The Raos will not spoil that history and my legacy.