Footy Today or Yesteryear

[froars]

Do you enjoy your footy more these days or prefer the good old days.
I love the speed and skill levels of today, but I do miss the old good-natured brawls lol 
Not the behind the scenes punches a la Matthews on Bruns, but just letting lads do what comes naturally lol
The game today is too pure, and the rules and regulations IMO are killing the game 

[cub]

Hard one Moi - But I would have to say yesteryear as in those days if Richmond had folded I probably would still have an interest in the then VFL, but these days could not give a rats about AFL if it wasn't for Richmond.

I have spoken about this before, and it is allways possible to have a distorted view going back to the past - but I absolutely loved my footy in the old days - travelling to all the different suburban grounds - in all types of weather.

I know some days were freezing and toilets and queues were something to forget but that was all part of the Charisma.

You dont hear many people these days saying oh remember that freezing day when it hailed out at whitten oval etc etc ..

Remember that ? day at Telstra dome (NOT)

I must admit the speed and skill is a highlight these days - maybe if we got rid of tv cameras at grounds and went back to the 1 umpire we might get a bit more of the old bays flavour but that aint gonna happen is it.

To end off I vividly remember the Saturday arvo's at the G watching the scoreboard and figuring out where everthing stood by 05:00 pm Saturday arvo. Ohh and the 5:10 express from Richmond to Canberwell to Box Hill to Ringwood. Home in a flash what ever happened to that train ?

Cheers and happy new year 

[froars]

I could do without ever going to Victoria Park again, but i didn't mind "Princess" Park and the other suburban grounds.
I must admit in my old age lol i do like the comforts of the "G" and Telstra Dome, but i do remember the good times of getting early to games and getting my seat on the fence.  Don't miss the putrid dunnies at all lol.

[starkravenmad2]

the old days for sure where u just hanged out for 2pm saturday to become tribal.Also belive the players had far more charcter .That 5.10express to ringwood always got u home in time for the replay as well.im guessing we shared a train or 2 CUB

[mightytiges]

A toughy as nostalgia and childhood memories cloud reality but I would say there are some parts of yesteryear I miss but overall I wouldn't want to go back (although we use to win occasionally in them olden days    ).

With all due respect to the players of the past the quality of the footy now in terms of speed, power and skill is far superior especially when compared to say 30 years ago. I thought the first 3 quarters of last year's GF was fantastic. In total awe of sides like Port and Brisbane. The only major thing lacking from most matches these days IMO are contests between individuals especially through the midfield. You seem to be only guaranteed them now in the last 2 or so weeks of the finals when the pressure limits time and space. It use to be a easier task to compare midfielders to one another when they played on each other and would have to beat their direct opponent one-on-one. Now you can have two opponents playing 50-100m off each other raking up 30+ possessions and both being classed as superstars based purely on their stats.

I do miss in some ways travelling every second week to the suburban grounds when everyone played on saturday arvos but as a kid at the time it was probably a bit of an adventure getting all dressed up in yellow and black and heading off to foreign territory such as Essendon, Glenferrie, West Footscray or Moorabbin stations. The trains and trams would be packed with footy supporters going to and coming from all the games. Better than coming home on a half empty train on a Saturday night from the Dome after playing Port Adelaide in front of 15,000 people . As I lived in Footscray when I was a kid I certainly don't miss trekking out all the way to Siberia.... oops I mean VFL Park. Glad when it was finally bulldozed lol.

I'd guess if we wanted to keep the suburban grounds and for them to be done up to 21st century standards we would have had to follow the lead of soccer and the EPL where say for Arsenal the cheapest season ticket costs around 700 pounds ($2000). At least "ground rationalisation" keeps going to the footy relatively cheap compared to other major sports and sporting events.

[WilliamPowell]

Part of me misses going to the old surburban grounds. Part of me also misses watching a good old fashion slog in the rain and mud (remember 2003 against Freo? Cambo's 250th game ) but to be able to watch a game at The Dome when there is a howling gale - well it's far more pleasant . I have always been able to tolerate the rain but hate gale force winds.

I've been watching a fair bit of the Winners with Flares on Fox and I must say that the one thing I find I miss is the "contested possession" contests and I'm not just talking about contested marking. Today's footy probably because of the skill level involved is more possession based and I find that at times boring - especially when some teams are no good at it .

As for skill levels - I sometimes wonder if it is any better that it was in the 1980's - only because it never ceases to amaze me the number of players who cannot kick well on their non-preferred side. Leon Cameron is the one player of the last 10 years who stands out in that regard - he kicked equally as well on his left or right side. Not many current day players can do that.

I just love footy and I suppose the best guage for me is these days I can just sit down and watch a game of footy on TV - in years gone by I'd only watch Richmond games and not bother with other teams - now I enjoy watching anyone - with Brisbane games in particular being the ones I really enjoy

[mightytiges]

Favourite suburban grounds (based on seniors and U19s games late 70's and through the 80's)

1. Punt Road Oval  - biased I know but a top ground to watch footy and we use to put a great feed on afterwards  .

2. Windy Hill - Only ground where the coach had to climb a ladder to the box  . Attractive ground and were good to visiting clubs (great feed afterwards).

3. Junction Oval - Sadly left to rot after Fitzroy and the VFA left but another good place to watch footy. Good feed afterwards even though the Roys were short of a quid.

4. Kardinia Park - Not a bad place to watch the footy but those Cats fans are feral.

5. Arden St - Use the give the visiting team the old grandstand rooms while the Roos got the new ones. Food use to be gone or cold by the time you got around to the new brick building.

6. Victoria Park - boxed you into one area so you couldn't move around.

7. Western Oval - Living 10-15 minutes away was good but when in mid-winter it rained, hailed, blew a gale and turned into a swamp. Not a bad ground to watch footy but the conditions turned most games into muddy slogs which suited the Dogs. 

8. Albert park - Only went there a couple of times. Famous for the bell instead of a siren. Not a bad place to watch footy but pretty run down by then which was further enhanced by MT kicking a footy into the fluoro lights hanging down from the ceiling during kick to kick with the players as a kid . oh that's right it's heritage listed oops!

9. Princess Park - Never a fan but I wouldn't be a Tiger supporter if that wasn't the case  . Cheapstakes never offered a feed afterwards . Losing there more times than not doesn't help either.

10. Moorabbin Oval - An ugly concrete jungle with the worse oval conditions when the Saints use to play there. You could watch the footy from anywhere though.

11. Glenferrie Oval - Only a training/U19 ground by then. The stand/admin quarters at the West end had just been built but the rest of the ground was a quagmire.

[Fishfinger]

That's an interesting way to rate grounds MT, on the feed you got after the game.
The food at Vic Park would have been on a spit.

I tend more to rate the suburban grounds more on the access to escape. VP and Moorabbin don't rate highly.

Got trapped in a big brawl at the Junction Oval when I was 13 or 14. It was at the VFA GF between Port Melb and Oakleigh. My mate and I climbed on top of the pie stand in the outer for safety. At close range I saw participants getting a good feed there. Entree was knuckle sandwiches, glass beer bottles followed and flying eskies for dessert.

I learnt early that you didn't look sideways at Borough fans, and you didn't smile at them because to them if you had teeth you were a sissie. They were more than happy to remedy that.