Modern football fans.

[wils]

Two stories. Both in the Telegraph. Modern football is a bit shit isn't it?

This is the thing about our stadium. Its not great as we all know. But these two stadiums, one regarded as the best modern football stadium in the world and the other  an old skool stadium, yet they are both having the same problems we are having.

It's modern fans. Not the stadiums.

[smartypants]

You’ve only got to look at the kind of advertising there is around the pitch now to see how much the demographic has changed. It’s done from Skol larger and caravan parks to currency exchanges and emirates 

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

I also believe thats it is apathy, take watching England, in the 80's and early 90's we could all list Englands starting 11 (bar injuries) now, you couldn't name it from one game to the next

Mainly cos we can't pronounce half their fucking names.

It's true .
This fucked up country of ours now  have players in an England shirt who have no affinity to ENGLAND  or  what it  means to  be ENGLISH...
Most countries have sold their souls too...all western  Europeans
Take on anyone from anywhere ...
Makes a mockery of representating YOUR OWN COUNTRY

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

Ppl who think football is social media clips. 


CUNTS

Come on Admit it ...it's because it's the Telegraph and you don't like it .
 the likes of yous are  the supposed  INTELLECTUALS..?
Fark Orrrff squire

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

Two stories. Both in the Telegraph. Modern football is a bit shit isn't it?

This is the thing about our stadium. Its not great as we all know. But these two stadiums, one regarded as the best modern football stadium in the world and the other  an old skool stadium, yet they are both having the same problems we are having.

It's modern fans. Not the stadiums.



Screenshot 2026-01-21 at 22.22.23.pngScreenshot 2026-01-21 at 22.23.01.png

Geordies used to pile in from the pit for next to nought...
Now it costs and arm and a leg .working class priced out in the main ...(by design)...
Eating themselves alive .

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

Two stories. Both in the Telegraph. Modern football is a bit shit isn't it?

This is the thing about our stadium. Its not great as we all know. But these two stadiums, one regarded as the best modern football stadium in the world and the other  an old skool stadium, yet they are both having the same problems we are having.

It's modern fans. Not the stadiums.



Screenshot 2026-01-21 at 22.22.23.pngScreenshot 2026-01-21 at 22.23.01.png

Big fuck off flags to create an atmosphere...nah...fuck that.
Not how it used to be...and I'm just glad I was of that era.
Going football now is 
a CHORE and  a massive fucking RIP OFF.

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

Taken over by the liberal fannies bored with the rugger is what's happened.

 off the pitch for sure...
 

[BRANDED]

Ppl who think football is social media clips. 


CUNTS

[Metroplex]

Even away games - once the final bastian for an old school flavour -  is a toe-curling experience these days. Thank fuck I still have my memories.

[zico]

Just as bad in restaurants. It's generally younger people who just sit there looking at their phones and not even speaking,  Must make for a hell of a first date!   

[BRANDED]

You get the same in places like night clubs or live events. The instant gratification of the mobile phone. Its also a much more individualistic environment but mostly its people becoming middle class cunts.

[Gary Strodders shank]

As well as all the reasons stated,another factor is saturation coverage og football and sport in general. Most of us on here grew up in an age that only showed a couple of live games a season whereas now,you can 'support' a team without leaving your house. Also, a big factor now is geography in the sense that more fans live further from their clubs than 'live around the corner' as it used to be. I had the ridiculous situation a few seasons ago when I was watching us play Liverpool in my local (Berkshire) pub which is 27 miles outside Central London. When our 3rd goal went in I flew off my stool cheering and got told to keep it down as I was in a 'Liverpool pub'. Granted,there were a load of Liverpool shirt wearers around but not one Scouse accent. Told the bloke to fuck off as at least I sound like a West Ham fan.
Anyway, my main point is that in today's world,you can watch three games a day, seven days a week from anywhere in the world without getting your arse off the sofa.

It's true about the number of games available to watch and the saturation.

You can also find all the analysis stats and opinions you want on the internet 24/7 should you wish to pore over them.

I do get nostalgic for the pre sky / pre digital age when you would only get about three hours tv football coverage a week which was highlights and the odd live game.

In order to watch your team properly you would have to go to the game and see them perform in the flesh which was, in those days at the same time every Saturday except for the night games which had there own unique atmosphere.

Information on injuries and squad updates were limited so if you really wanted to get a lowdown during the week then the  premium rate Clubcall might of got a call.

Fanzines were also an excellent source of information and opinions and quickly became an essential part of the match day experience.

Another good thing about those days was you could more or less turn up at any away game and pay at the gate with one or two all ticket exceptions.

Some cup games could be tricky admittedly if we reached the later stages and I remember me and my mates queuing down Green street for what must of been a good four hours one Sunday morning to get tickets for the Everton quarter final in 1991.

Those days weren't perfect but just seemed simpler more fun and less toxic in some ways.

You were always with similar minded people who were there to support the team they loved and no tourists or half and half scarves or popcorn.

I still look forward to going but most of my old school mates gave up after the move to the bowl and I feel we are gradually losing the soul and heart of the club.

The current league status and owners obviously don't help matters either.

[Far Cough UKunt]

Russ, you could say the same thing about the West Indies, the kids are not coming through like they used to, I think Basketball is a big thing now. Where's the next Brian Lara or the next Malcolm Marshall?

[smartypants]

I’ve got to the point where i actually get pleasure out of seeing empty seats (not just at West Ham). Maybe it’s because it’s a sign that the modernisation is failing. The the lack of tribalism is a big part of it for the reasons already said and that’s not coming back, chances are it will get worse. We all know the old school fans they wanted rid of are the ones that made english football the spectical it once was and now we’re left with souless atmospheres all over the country, even away days don't feel the same any more. Be hilarious if the whole thing collapsed. 

[only1billybonds]

As well as all the reasons stated,another factor is saturation coverage og football and sport in general. Most of us on here grew up in an age that only showed a couple of live games a season whereas now,you can 'support' a team without leaving your house. Also, a big factor now is geography in the sense that more fans live further from their clubs than 'live around the corner' as it used to be. I had the ridiculous situation a few seasons ago when I was watching us play Liverpool in my local (Berkshire) pub which is 27 miles outside Central London. When our 3rd goal went in I flew off my stool cheering and got told to keep it down as I was in a 'Liverpool pub'. Granted,there were a load of Liverpool shirt wearers around but not one Scouse accent. Told the bloke to fuck off as at least I sound like a West Ham fan.
Anyway, my main point is that in today's world,you can watch three games a day, seven days a week from anywhere in the world without getting your arse off the sofa.

[Gary Strodders shank]

People are too interested in checking there phones half the time than watching the game.

Football has also become far too commercialised and sanitised these days and is no longer the working class escapism it was in the previous decade.

Most newbie fans are twats from the suburbs with more money than sense 
.
It's the same with horse racing 
.
Go to Cheltenham and its full of boozed up and coked up twenty somethings in peaky blinders caps spunking money and giving it large but with no real affiliation to the sport 

Sign of the times sadly with many old school fans not bothering or switching to non league 





 

[zico]

I think most sports lack the mavericks that get bums on seats as well these days.  Yes they are finely tuned athletes but in a team setting the flair has been coached out of them and as individuals they just have a robust plan that seems the same as everyone else but the top ones just do it better. In snooker you don't have a Jimmy or Alex anymore although I would argue that Davis and Hendry would probably be mavericks these days!  In football I think every club in the PL had a better player 10/20/30 years ago than any they have now.  Osgood, Bowles, Hudson, Brooking, Keegan, Dalglish, Best, Charlton, Worthington, Marsh, I could go on, all better than any current top player imo, certainly more entertaining.   I think up until say 2010 football was still ok, but even then you could argue the likes of "The Special One" Jose coached the flair out of Joe Cole.  Yes he won medals but never reached his potential.  I think certainly since 2011-2013 it's gone on a downward spiral bar that one season for us under Slaven when it all seemed to be like it used to be with the flair of Payet and Lanzini.  

[eusebiovic]

Just as a reference point - America is suffering exactly the same thing with sports. 

NHL crowds are dwindling the most. Even big well know NHL clubs are not attracting big crowds. And the age of the crowds is middle to old age. Young kids are not getting into the NHL. And when you look at the NHL historically it is a very working class sport. Look at clubs like Boston Bruins, Detroit Redwings, Toronto Mapleleafs, Montreal Canadiens..... These clubs were born out of industry. Steel, Timber, Cars..... And in the 60's, 70's and 80's, you would see normal guys from those cities working in the factories one day and then playing on the ice next. 

The kids now don't have any connection to industry as those industries no longer maintain the best part of a cities employment. 

Different times. 

It's the same thing with Snooker

I went to the Ally Pally last week to watch a session of The Masters.

The crowd was predominantly boomers and generation x (me). The younger ones in that crowd were certainly pushing 40. It's different in China though - most of their players are treated like rock stars and the average age of the crowd watching them is at the very least 30 odd years younger.

Ronnie called it years ago - it's the future, you have to accept it because the demographic says it all.

[Russ of the BML]

Just as a reference point - America is suffering exactly the same thing with sports. 

NHL crowds are dwindling the most. Even big well know NHL clubs are not attracting big crowds. And the age of the crowds is middle to old age. Young kids are not getting into the NHL. And when you look at the NHL historically it is a very working class sport. Look at clubs like Boston Bruins, Detroit Redwings, Toronto Mapleleafs, Montreal Canadiens..... These clubs were born out of industry. Steel, Timber, Cars..... And in the 60's, 70's and 80's, you would see normal guys from those cities working in the factories one day and then playing on the ice next. 

The kids now don't have any connection to industry as those industries no longer maintain the best part of a cities employment. 

Different times. 

[wils]

I also believe thats it is apathy, take watching England, in the 80's and early 90's we could all list Englands starting 11 (bar injuries) now, you couldn't name it from one game to the next

Mainly cos we can't pronounce half their fucking names.

[zico]

I also think todays generation doesn't have the sense of history that previous generations had, you only need to see the muted reaction to Billy Bonds passing compared to Bobby Moores.  That doesn't just go for football, I think it's other sports, music, films, television, and history in general.  I grew up knowing about the Golden Age of Hollywood, the music of the 60's, the fact that Henry VIII had six wives or that Jack the Ripper had been a serrial killer in 1888.  You ask a youngster now to name 5 Hitchcock films, who played at The Cavern in Liverpool in the 60's and how many of those six wives old Henry beheaded they probably wouldn't have a clue, so it's not surprising they have no knowledge of Vic Watson, Budgie Byrne or David Cross!  What is really strange is that if any generation had the opportunity to know everything about everything it's those in the last 10/15 years with the internet and phones where everything is available at the touch of a button.  Maybe that's half the problem.

[eusebiovic]

Football used to be a fun pastime. Nothing more nothing less. The top players were paid pretty well compared to the average living wage from the late 60's onwards so they could afford a semi-detached in the suburbs with all mod cons but that was about it. Nobody begrudged their favourite player doing well for themselves. 

We enjoyed that golden period up until the 90's which was still a laugh because many of those footballers in the initial period of the Premiership probably grew up with a lot of us kicking a ball in a cage on an estate or on an open space which often wasn't even a park although obviously we would also play at the local park on occasion as well. 

We would see this generation in the local area in pubs and clubs and just knocking about on their downtime but they were the last ones to do that. Generation X init? I grew up in Lambeth and would regularly see Chelsea players out and about in Brixton and Clapham even further out in places like Richmond and Wimbledon - getting pissed up with everybody else! Palace players would regularly be found knocking around Dulwich and Streatham as well.

Look at all the rugby union playing towns in the commuter belt - nobody in those places would give football the time of day - most councillors would actively do everything they could which was detrimental and a hindrance to it's development. It largely came from inner-city working class areas and grounds were often located in "the wrong part of town". It was tolerated rather than encouraged.

The South Coast is a very good case study - now that there's money in it all of a sudden Brighton, Bournemouth, Southampton, even Portsmouth went from having ramshackle grounds without a pot to piss in to having clubs who have regularly spent time in the premiership. 

The average wage that a footballer earns these days means the dynamic has changed forever and many young lads who come through the academies are noticeably middle class. They are all taught the same thing which is why most players are so generic these days. They rarely improvise it all comes from the textbook. It's very rare to see anybody do something off the cuff or unpredictable.

Your modern day fan reflects that. It is what it is.

[Far Cough UKunt]

On the plus side, we as footballing people and the public in general have become a lot more cosmopolitan, I remember the '70 World Cup and the commentators (David Coleman comes to mind?) were having a hell of a time pronouncing some of the players names, for instance Jairzinho was subtitled on the screen as JAIR, which is funny as West Brom had a player called Dick Krzywicki, so there is that that has improved.

[Massive Attack]

Put your hands over your eyes Nurse Ratched..

I think others make a very good point by the infiltration of The Birds. Just like an Alfred Hitchcock (see the connection) horror, the swarm of birds to the man's working class game has had a detrimental sanitised effect. Everything's now so woke, cunty and polite which they've helped cause. To the point we even now have them meddling and making decisions in our Boardroom ffs!

*slides off his sexist soap box and climbs back on his baldist box*

 

[WHU(Exeter)]

I think there are still exceptions to a lot of what's been mentioned below, just a few clubs where fans aren't all glued to their mobiles, as much as they are the game and still sing pretty much non-stop, whatever way the games going. Not the 'ultra' arranged stuff like Palace, just a decent old style atmosphere still. Few and far between and likely dwindling. 

Certainly further down the leagues teams mostly and non-league are where it's still there I think?

So I don't think it's hit ALL clubs 

all-seaters were the start of the demise

[Fat, Bald n 50]

Ive felt this for a while. Its not the stadium or the board etc. Most people are fucking annoying and the era of watching football in a stadium as we experienced has ended.

The nail in the coffin, i think, was covid. Our best season in recent memory, no one was there.
People got used to watching at home, and didnt go back. Or they accepted being herded around like idiots and sitting quietly. 

Its not just football, any sort of major public event is the same -  Pubs are not what they were. Its a shift in society - not just football supporters.




 

Life styles have changed, gen Z no longer go to the pub to watch a 5.30 kick off then stay till its time to get a taxi to go to a club like us gen X did.  I also believe thats it is apathy, take watching England, in the 80's and early 90's we could all list Englands starting 11 (bar injuries) now, you couldn't name it from one game to the next