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When did Football peak?


EverBlue86 said:
80's was a great time (bias of course).

I really enjoyed around 2005-2014. Its picked up a little this season (europe and relegation races) but post 2020/covid season I think its been dour.
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EverBlue86, do you think Everton would have won the European cup in that period if English clubs hadn’t been banned?
 
big bill said:
Forgot to add, for me it was the first four seasons at the stadium of light, loved every minute of them four years 1 1997 to 2002
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Was excellent. Atmosphere was electric… or so I seem to remember.

Players like Schwarz, Reyna, Phillips, Quinn etc. Great times.

We haven’t been far off replicating that lately, mind. Best in a long time.
 
Euro 96 for me
Premier League was new and interesting. FA Cup still mattered.
New Stadia were opening but old grounds still veey much there.

Squads, Managers and sponsors were mostly British. Foreign players were generally very good though.

Football was still physical

Hooliganism was rare

European competitions were limited and exciting.

Started to decline after that
 
girojim said:
What if it hasn't peaked yet?
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depending on your definition of peaked I'd suggest it hasn't. If you're talking about the monetary value within the game. there's certainly more people invested in football now than there ever was before, in terms of investors, gender and nationality. it's definitely more accessible to everyone now.

you could also argue that the skills set is higher than ever as the game is now ultra professional and will probably continue to evolve, in terms of speed and physicality at least, as most sports do. helped no doubt by the standard of pitches.

from a spectators perspective there's more people watch the game in various ways than ever before. I don't know viewing figures but I imagine the next set of media deals will only increase in value.

actual attendances are probably higher now than since the 30's and 40's but if you define peak as most people attending fixtures that has to be the 1930's.

but if you're defining peaked as when it was best as a spectacle/most entertaining I'd have to say 1966 to 1974. 7 different teams won the first division 9 different teams won the FA Cup, 7 different teams won the European Cup (6 different countries). loads of personalities in the game (Cloughie, Shankly) some of the greatest ever players (Pele, Best, Greavsie, Charlton, Beckenbauer, Cryuff, Brazil 70) started to become global superstars, colour TV the evolution of tactics. All of this whilst being relatable to the man in the street. i.e. more locally based (home grown) players.

Towards the end of that period violence started to blight the game for the next 15=20 years or so and crowds deteriorated as a result of that and outdated stadia. The price of resolving that is what we have today. not much variety not many personalities and not very relatable. There's just a smuch interest in what goes on off the pitch nowadays as that can have a massive impact.

PS I wasn't born until 1972 so it's not based on rose tinted memories but rather on how great it would be today if there was more variety, personality and relatability in the game. Still love it like but it has lost some of it's charm.
 
big bill said:
For you the mid 80s must have been great watching the the team of Reid, Bracewell etc, but crowds in that era were terrible, my mate who is a season ticket holder insists you could pay on the gate on the day Everton won the league at Goodison in 85. I went a few times early 80s as a kid watching Sunderland in that awful away end and the view from them terraces was crap. We were not in the 1st division when you came really good so I never went their, during that period.
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That’s true, but if you are basing when it peaked on attendances alone, then it’s still on the rise from that low point, so you can’t claim the 90s either
 
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Fleagle said:
That’s true, but if you are basing when it peaked on attendances alone, then it’s still on the rise from that low point, so you can’t claim the 90s either
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I’m not saying when football reached its peak can only be based on attendance alone, they may well be higher I’m 10 years time than they are now, if clubs expand their grounds, but I am saying apart from the Everton fan understandable point of view the mid 80s was footballs lowest point, which is also the time I become old enough to drive and started going to games on my own. Fuck me, Doncaster away in 1987 we we’re literally in a cage with fences over our heads in a ground that if I remember correctly only had two sides.
 
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