I'm 44, football has always been a big part of my life, from playing every day after school to 5 a side to pub league football and then watching as much as I could following barnsley and then what was ever on TV but it's dawned on me that there's only bfc now that I'm interested in, as you say it must be an age thing and we must have nearly grown up. Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
I'd say this is greatly influenced by if you're a betting man/ woman or if you play fantasy football. Both of these mean I keep generally reasonably up to date with the squads and players
I could probably name half a dozen premier league players. Then again, I could probably not name much more Barnsley players. Lost interest.
I'm so out of touch it's unreal but the reason is that I've lost complete interest in football outside of Barnsley.
My eyesights so bad these days I don't think I'd recognise any of the barnsley players closer than 40 yards - especially without their strip on..
Thinking about this a bit more and as well as struggling to name more than five players from the teams mentioned I'd also struggle to do much better with the bigger clubs and I'd struggle even more to put some faces to names.
This makes me think of those times when it was possible to name just about every player in teams such as that great Ipswich one that Bobby Robson managed in Europe. Great players right through. Arnie Muhren and John Wark. George Burley and Mick Mills. Paul Mariner up front. Etc etc....
I know Vardy and Drinkwater play for Leicester. Other than that I couldn't name you one other player from any of those teams. I have zero interest in Premier League football.
So is it an age thing where our interest has dropped, is it the product is not as good, are we just saturated with it so it's not as special to tune in to, is it the influx of foreign players or the lack of loyalty of players to a club, constant changing of managers or the feeling of distance between fans and players due to money they earn. Maybe a bit of all of the above. Sent from my Hudl HT7S3 using Tapatalk
I'd say it was the massive influx of foreign players. That Ipswich side had a couple of Dutch masters but the rest were home grown. Not wishing to offend anyone but who can reel off the names of all the African or South American players in your typical Premier league squad? I know I can't
Sorry to pick holes but Cabella is loaned out for the season I believe, at Marseille. Michu hasn't been at Swansea for a couple of years either.
Me neither, but I can have a go at that Ipswich side: Paul Cooper in goal, back four of Mick Mills, George Burley, Terry Butcher and Russall Osman, midfield of Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen, John Wark and Eric Gates, Paul Mariner and Alan Brazil up front. Villa had a decent team too: Jimmy Rimmer, Ken McNaught, Dennis Mortimer, Gordon Cowans, Tony Morley, Gary Shaw and Peter Withe. I believe they won the title using only 14 players, one of whom, the great David Geddis, they sold to us!
No wonder Leicester are top starting with 20 players the cheating gits Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Vardy at Leicester because his scoring exploits have been on the news, thats it. Only other players I can name are Stones at Everton and Rooney at Man Utd. Haven't got a clue about any of the others. I don't know who is where in the Premier League. I've watched Everton in a European match a while back because John Stones was playing but haven't seen a Premier league match or any highlights for over a year now.
But he's been out on loan for a couple of years. Benitez took him to Napoli when he was there, and he's not played for Swansea since.
Vardy, because of the Stocksbridge connection. No-one else. And I'm someone who used to know every football league club's manager's name, their ground, their nickname etc. etc. Once my BFC addiction has been cured (and their doing their best) I'll have no interest in professional football whatsoever.
I'd say its not age as such, I know plenty of old codgers never miss a game on tv and know all about it. I think its about how many commitments and time pressures you have. For instance when I was working I didn't really follow football other than going to Barnsley games, didn't find time to post on this forum and only browsed from time to time but now I'm back studying my masters I find I have more free time to procrastinate, watch football on the TV and get wound up by this forum! I imagine this increases a lot when you settle down and have a family to think about as well.
I'd probably struggle to name all the teams in the PL, never mind the managers and players at each of them...