Here we go - Come on England

[upthecreekyetagain]

England’s World Cup campaign starts right now - fingers crossed for a good start. 😉

[cee-dee]

I'm not a football "fan" and don't watch many games and of what I've seen, so far the last sixteen have been throughly boring!

With FB in general, goals seem hard to come by so scrap the offside rule and lets see some more action. With the poor standard of refereeing, I can just see some sort of "order" to tighten up going out which will go too far so that some minor "offence" will be severely penalised.

It's a wonder Kane kept his cool to score after the ref getting bombarded beforehand.

[upthecreekyetagain]

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@cee-dee wrote:

I'm not a football "fan" and don't watch many games and of what I've seen, so far the last sixteen have been throughly boring!

With FB in general, goals seem hard to come by so scrap the offside rule and lets see some more action. With the poor standard of refereeing, I can just see some sort of "order" to tighten up going out which will go too far so that some minor "offence" will be severely penalised.

It's a wonder Kane kept his cool to score after the ref getting bombarded beforehand.

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Are you watching the World Cup or the Hampton Court croquet ???

[cee-dee]

Is there any diffference? Anyway, instead of running round for two hours, they might as well cut all that out and just have penalties.

[upthecreekyetagain]

Nothing wrong with running around - we’re not all couch potatoes:)

[upthecreekyetagain]

Not including penalty shootouts there have been over 140 goals in the tournament so far - this has been the best World Cup finals I can remember with some of the most skilful play and competitive games.

[cee-dee]

Too much mucking around, too many dives, too many fouls not picked up by refs or VAR and some that are have been wrong.

[fallen-archie]

Just out of interest who won the croquet👀

[cee-dee]

I think it was Creeky.

[upthecreekyetagain]

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@cee-dee wrote:

Too much mucking around, too many dives, too many fouls not picked up by refs or VAR and some that are have been wrong.

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Of course some have been ‘wrong’ - impossible for them not to be - a decision is made based on the opinion of the referee - their opinion is never going to match those of everyone watching - equally any decision can only ever be ‘wrong’ in someone’s opinion. 

 Difference of opinion is one of the great things about football - passes many an hour in the pub after a game 🙂

[cee-dee]

Yep, as much time wasted in the pub by football experts as on the pitch by the players.

[fallen-archie]

I’m not certain which divides the nation more, football or war? Problem is for many the two are the same!

[cee-dee]

You could throw religion in to that mix?

[upthecreekyetagain]

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@cee-dee wrote:

Yep, as much time wasted in the pub by football experts as on the pitch by the players.

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Face to face discussion over a pint is far less of a waste of time, (and far more enjoyable), than posting anonymously on a message board 😉

[cee-dee]

However, it's much cheaper and not liable to result in noise, rowdy behaviour, breaches of the peace and fights in the street.

[upthecreekyetagain]

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@fallen-archie wrote:
I’m not certain which divides the nation more, football or war? Problem is for many the two are the same!

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Personally I’d say that football unites many a community as well as the nation when the home nation is playing.  Those who truthfully want England to lose their next match must be in the minority. 

Trouble at at football matches is very much a rarity these days - far less than say horse racing events, night clubs, gigs etc. - over 32 million tickets to watch football matches in the leagues were sold last year - the ‘arrest rate’ was less than 4 per 100,000, a total of less than 1,700 - just over 500 of those arrests were for serious enough offences to result in a Football Banning Order.

Brighton, (‘my team’), and Crystal Palace have a fierce rivalry but the fans from both clubs still raise a lot of cash for charity, (in particular the Robert Eaton Memorial Fund), and hold sponsored joint cycle rides, running events and football matches. 

I’ve met all sorts of people in all sorts of strange places thanks to football including meeting fellow Seagull supporters in a number of countries.  Football is no longer a ‘class’ sport, many argue that the traditional football supporter is being priced out of the game where the cost of Premier League and Championship tickets can easily be £40 - £50.  Whether that is a good or bad ‘thing’ is arguable but that and the combination of all seater stadiums restrictions on alcohol and far better facilities in stadia has certainly made watching football matches a more relaxing and enjoyable experience than it was in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

[upthecreekyetagain]

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@cee-dee wrote:

However, it's much cheaper and not liable to result in noise, rowdy behaviour, breaches of the peace and fights in the street.

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I think you are living in the past.

[joe_bloggs*]

I remember going to watch Newcastle in the early 70's,One of our top players Malcolm Macdonald had a mens clothes shop in town,and the odd times we lost,his shop windows went through !

[cee-dee]

Is that so? Well just fancy that?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-tees-44714054/world-cup-2018-england-fan-in-cheeky-celebrat...

[upthecreekyetagain]

And?

Of course no cricket, rugby, golf, basket ball fan has ever streaked!

It would certainly NEVER happen at Crufts or a tennis tournament - MAYBE at an ice rink but surely not at a fashion show nor at an athletics meet.

🙂