Old Timey Football Thread

[bakerlou]

No, I've sat through the whole thing before, the player who surprised me the most was Stiles - I'm too young to have seen him play in the flesh but we're told he was England's and Manchester United's hard man ball-winning midfield destructor so I was expecting a bit of an oaf but it turns out he could control the ball and pass it out nicely. Watching Bobby Moore was a treat too, very rarely in trouble, tried to work out what was going to happen and stop it rather than just reacting.

[stealthpapes]

Rewatched the two 1990 classics relatively recently and they absolutely flew by. The semifinal is a great game.

[South Coast Royal]

For attacking, free-flowing and exciting football the game between Brazil and Italy in the 1982 world cup takes some beating.
I remember watching the game live (early evening IIRC) and had backed Brazil to win the competition but they just couldn't defend and in that game, despite having loads of chances weren't clinical enough.

For an Italian side they were much more attack minded than in many world cups and in Paulo Rossi had one of the best finishers of his time.

[6ft Kerplunk]

For an Italian side they were much more attack minded than in many world cups and in Paulo Rossi had one of the best finishers of his time.

I was 10 at the time so my memory of it won't be great but didn't they absolutely stink out the first group stage drawing all 3 games and Rossi was an iffy pick cos he had served a ban and wasn't in form at all to begin with?
The Brazil match is an all time classic, mainly because as you say Brazil weren't that arsed about defending even though they only needed a draw and Italy couldn't sit back as they had to win to go through. I loved that Brazil team, just completely other worldly to my 10 year old eyes. Socrates was one of the first players I can remember thinking was just playing at a different pace to everyone else and seeing the game differently to most other players which meant he seemed to be able to almost stroll through much of the game.

[From Despair To Where?]

I vividly remember Socrates' goal against Italy like it was yesterday. The languid stroll up field, the pass, the burst into the box, Zico's pass, nutmegging Zoff and then the cherry on top; the little puff of chalk dust. Beautiful.

[6ft Kerplunk]

Yep, its the puff of chalk dust as it bounces on the goal line that's just magical. One of my favourite ever World Cup goals.

[tmesis]

I think everyone loves their first world cup the most. There's the novelty factor, maybe also not really knowing how good most of the teams are, and the joy of seeing it unfold without any prejudice against teams that have annoyed you in some way.

I think that's part of what makes fans jaded as they get older. Nearly every club or country has inflicted some kind of misery on me that makes me resent any success they have, and that makes it difficult to enjoy seeing anyone club/country winning anything. I see virtually every club or country now as a horrible arrogant cheating bunch of tossers who'll never shut up about their win, and it fills me with bitter resentment.

Or maybe it's just me, but I face the World Cup thinking "Anyone but the Spanish, please. But not the French, or the Germans. Brazil and Argentina both think they are god's gift too. The Dutch would go on about it forever. And a nation smaller than England winning would just rub it in about how poor our record is..."

[From Despair To Where?]

82 is the first World Cup I really took an interest in but I do remember 78. 82 was a genuinely great tournament though.

I think 90 was good, although the football wasn't, because it kicked started a renaissance in English football.

I'm less and less interested in it though because FIFA are turning it into a circus. The saturation coverage football gets doesn't help. 4 weeks of non stop televised football used to be something special.

I really couldn't give a shit about this World Cup and I sincerely doubt I'll watch a single game.

[AthleticoSpizz]

^+1^

My first of any real WC understanding was’74 (although recall collecting the Esso coins of ‘70 courtesy of my dad and his mates). Seen a a good few decent goals, games and squads since.

However, this tournament, and thanks to my distrust of FIFA, my disinterests of the £ky tv hype, the £remierdonnaship and a lot of the England players (of any real note) playing abroad, I can barely name the England squad, let alone bond with their lack of apparent public personalities.

place-holding my own hypocrisy when we win the darned thing

[tmesis]

82 is the first World Cup I really took an interest in but I do remember 78. 82 was a genuinely great tournament though.

82 was my first too. One thing I really liked was the second group stage. It had obvious problems, with the threat of a semi-final place being decided by the drawing of lots, but it meant teams really had to go for it. Going straight from there to the semis also meant no drawn out rounds of knockout games, where teams preferring a penalty shoot-out rather than risk trying to win in extra time.

The semi that went to penalties was still something of a novelty at the time, and was was remembered mainly for the German goalkeeper taking out Patrick Battiston, knocking him out cold, and the ref didn't even give a foul.

I somehow missed almost all of the final though, as I was playing outside and didn't realise the time.

[Beaulux]

I was 5 in 66 and don’t remember a thing. I was that pissed.

I do remember 1970, and every World Cup since.

[stealthpapes]

82 is the first World Cup I really took an interest in but I do remember 78. 82 was a genuinely great tournament though.

I think 90 was good, although the football wasn't, because it kicked started a renaissance in English football.

I'm less and less interested in it though because FIFA are turning it into a circus. The saturation coverage football gets doesn't help. 4 weeks of non stop televised football used to be something special.

I really couldn't give a shit about this World Cup and I sincerely doubt I'll watch a single game.

There was a great article on why every modern world cup looks the same. It's a vibe I agree with.

I think, for England, missing 1994 means that 1990 does gets a bit more rose-tinted coverage. And for 'the football being shit', any of the later games hold up (but not the final!). I was astonished at how fast paced the semi vs Germany was, watching it back.

By the time 1998 comes around, you're into a very different beast of a tournament.

[From Despair To Where?]

82 is the first World Cup I really took an interest in but I do remember 78. 82 was a genuinely great tournament though.

I think 90 was good, although the football wasn't, because it kicked started a renaissance in English football.

I'm less and less interested in it though because FIFA are turning it into a circus. The saturation coverage football gets doesn't help. 4 weeks of non stop televised football used to be something special.

I really couldn't give a shit about this World Cup and I sincerely doubt I'll watch a single game.

There was a great article on why every modern world cup looks the same. It's a vibe I agree with.

I think, for England, missing 1994 means that 1990 does gets a bit more rose-tinted coverage. And for 'the football being shit', any of the later games hold up (but not the final!). I was astonished at how fast paced the semi vs Germany was, watching it back.

By the time 1998 comes around, you're into a very different beast of a tournament.

I was being a bit glib by calling it shit, The whole tournament seemed fairly evenly matched and most of the games were fairly cagey and tight. To be fair, all of England's knock out games were exciting and fairly open but that was very much not the norm. I think it's the lowest scoring finals ever.

[South Coast Royal]

Somebody mentioned the 1990 WC.
The game I remember most from that was our 3-2 win v Cameroon who were just about the best African team that we had seen..

They were quick, skilful but really dirty.
It was a really competitive game but came down in the end to us getting 2 penalties and Lineker didn't miss.

One of my other favourite world cup games was Argentina v Peru in 1978 when the host nation needed to win by 4 to qualify for the next phase.
They won 6-0 and IIRC it was the first game where tick a tape was everywhere and the noise was something else.
Argentina had a very good side but had struggled but they turned it on that day even if there was later speculation over whether the game was fixed.
They went on to beat a good Netherlands side in the final to show that they were worthy winners.

As ever people wondered if this was yet another chance for the Netherlands to win something but their chances were reduced because Cruyff didn't make it to the finals.
Maradona at 17 was considered too young even though they knew that he was a special talent.

As years have gone by I am like the other posters who have said that their interest has reduced each time although when it comes around, after all the talking and hype, I tend to get into it.
Fortunately having seen us win in 1966 I don't have this 60 years of hurt stuff and whereas I was very much an England fan at that time I only now have a passing interest in how we do and generally prefer to watch Spain, France or Brazil and Argentina.

[Beaulux]

Just watched a short documentary on Gordon Banks. Made me emotional, must admit. What a lovely guy. And great goalie obvs.

Amazed he was never knighted. Can that be done posthumously?

[Winston Biscuit]

World Cup 1978 - Hungary Vs France

Both teams arrived at the stadium with only white kits. This was only realised when both teams came out to warm up. Kick off was then delayed, and someone working there said they had a contact at the closest club to the stadium, which was a small sports club a few streets away called Club Atletico Kimberley, where they rushed off to, borrowed their green & white kit, and France agreed to wear it

[Dirk Gently]

I remember 1970 - I was just too young for '66.

Most vivid memory is wanting to watch the epic quarter final v Germany in Leon. It was on in the evening, and the parents decided we'd go to Hayling island for the day. All day I'd been saying we have to get back in time, we have to get back in time, and although we left in time there was an epic traffic jam somewhere around Petersfield and we missed the vast majority of the game - before that I'd been trying to listen on a transistor radio in the car but that was just terrible.

Still remember how gutted, angry and betrayed I felt.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

World Cup 1978 - Hungary Vs France

Both teams arrived at the stadium with only white kits. This was only realised when both teams came out to warm up. Kick off was then delayed, and someone working there said they had a contact at the closest club to the stadium, which was a small sports club a few streets away called Club Atletico Kimberley, where they rushed off to, borrowed their green & white kit, and France agreed to wear it

Great story