The Golden Age Of Cornish Football- Was There One, And When Was It?

[Ian Pethick]

At the risk of sounding like a "it's not as good as it was" type, when would people consider that we had a so called Golden Age Of Cornish Football (if such a thing existed)?

Conscious of joining the ranks of those above, but I have to say that mine would be the spell between the early eighties and the beginning of the nineties. I was following Liskeard in the Western League at the time, and the league seemed to be of a very high standard with many strong clubs in front of ,what seemed to be,larger crowds (although subsequent evidence has largely disproved that) and there was definitely a greater media coverage (remember snapping up the Evening Herald and Cornish Times for previews, news and reporting as well as everybody staring at the TV screens in clubhouses as the local non league scores were broadcast on BBC and ITV local news).  As well as , what I remember to be, a strong South Western League, the East Cornwall, Combo, P&D and Duchy Leagues also had plentiful decent teams with players who could comfortably have slotted in at higher levels. Also, the Sunday leagues in Plymouth were well stuffed with names from Western and SWL leagues, including several all star line ups each season. You could turn up at a park pitch at 10.30 on a Sunday morning and see a football match of genuine quality for nothing.

Has a sense of nostalgia infected my brain and thought process during lockdown, or do others believe such a "Golden Age" did exist, and when did they consider it was? If I am talking rubbish, then please tell me.

[RAPPO]

WOTP, I was lucky enough to play in the old SWL from the mid eighties to the early noughties mostly give or take a season or three out injured and I would agree the league was exceptionally strong. You’ve only got to look at the old programmes from that era on Deacs Cornish football memories page to see the strength of the squads, even mid table teams were full of quality players. You had realistically 5 or 6 teams that could win the league at the start of every season and always one or two surprise teams thrown into that. Trying to win the Senior Cup was really difficult as well, because like you said you had fantastic Saltash and Liskeard teams who were usually both in the top 3 of the Western Premier league plus as I said the top 6 at least in the old SWL plus absolute quality Combo and East Cornwall sides like Penryn and Nanpean (who almost won it one year) that usually went deep into the county cup competitions. My father in law managed Sticker to an East Cornwall League treble in the early eighties but only half went on to play regular SWL at that time. Like you say, don’t like to be one of those old players that say it was better in our day because football has changed dramatically since those days. Some things for the better but a lot for the worse, either way as an old player, I feel privileged to have played in that era and the brilliant players I played with and against. 👍⚽️🏆

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

For me and many others I would think would be the great Falmouth teams of the late 60's early 70's.

A load of ex pro's and a few local-ish players, plus thousands playing in local football at a very good standard...great football days out.

My golden age for good times.

[Bruegel the Elder]

Really, it’s got to be the mid 2020’s. The best is yet to come! (I live in hope, if not expectation)

[cornishteddyboy]

The time for a league to have their best time is to have no one team dominate for periods of time such as Falmouth from the mid-60's to mid-70's or St Blazey in the 2000's. It shows that money can kill off the competition and the league is weaker for it.

The sytongest league would be for a new leading team each season showing there is strength in depth. 

You could say having one strong team makes others step up to the mark but is that right. The other sides have to inflate the amount they are offering to tempt the smaller and smaller pool of  lower standard players to try to keep up. This happened to sides like mine, Penzance or others such as Newquay, wasting tens and tens of thousands of pounds over the years chasing past glories. People call theses teams the sleeping giants of Cornish football. If only that money was spent on facilities instead of both their home grounds looking "tired".

Clubs like Millbrook came in, had a couple of good seasons then fall foul of the player's gravy train, struggling season after season.

Sides like Holsworthy, Launceston, Bugle and Tavistock spending most of their league tenure looking over their shoulders at relegation does not show the league had stregnth in depth, just long periods where two or three teams, with cash, dominate the rest, because a tenner or twenty quid extra a week per player made the difference between top and bottom of the league. Some of the stupid money offered local individual players to put on a teams colours, could, in an ideal world pay the cost of putting out a non-paying club each week. 

The Premier League has gone the same way, over priced and boring, destroyed the lower leagues, over-paying average British players, game controlled by 6-8 clubs. It's taken 30 years to kill off football in this country but we are nearly there.

Clubs filled with local players, playing for local pride and honour, not filled with players with deep empty pockets promised away by teams that know they could never sustain climbing the local football pyramid if they keep paying out what they presently do.

And that is why people have stopped watching it live, Premiership/Championship football and are slowing turning back to non league football. Our problem is they are starting to watch down and increase support to the Southern League level and not beyond to the deep depths where we reside and play.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

There's no accounting for the money thrown at all football...crazy!

[Ian Pethick]

5 hours ago, cornishteddyboy said:

The time for a league to have their best time is to have no one team dominate for periods of time such as Falmouth from the mid-60's to mid-70's or St Blazey in the 2000's. It shows that money can kill off the competition and the league is weaker for it.

The sytongest league would be for a new leading team each season showing there is strength in depth. 

You could say having one strong team makes others step up to the mark but is that right. The other sides have to inflate the amount they are offering to tempt the smaller and smaller pool of  lower standard players to try to keep up. This happened to sides like mine, Penzance or others such as Newquay, wasting tens and tens of thousands of pounds over the years chasing past glories. People call theses teams the sleeping giants of Cornish football. If only that money was spent on facilities instead of both their home grounds looking "tired".

Clubs like Millbrook came in, had a couple of good seasons then fall foul of the player's gravy train, struggling season after season.

Sides like Holsworthy, Launceston, Bugle and Tavistock spending most of their league tenure looking over their shoulders at relegation does not show the league had stregnth in depth, just long periods where two or three teams, with cash, dominate the rest, because a tenner or twenty quid extra a week per player made the difference between top and bottom of the league. Some of the stupid money offered local individual players to put on a teams colours, could, in an ideal world pay the cost of putting out a non-paying club each week. 

The Premier League has gone the same way, over priced and boring, destroyed the lower leagues, over-paying average British players, game controlled by 6-8 clubs. It's taken 30 years to kill off football in this country but we are nearly there.

Clubs filled with local players, playing for local pride and honour, not filled with players with deep empty pockets promised away by teams that know they could never sustain climbing the local football pyramid if they keep paying out what they presently do.

And that is why people have stopped watching it live, Premiership/Championship football and are slowing turning back to non league football. Our problem is they are starting to watch down and increase support to the Southern League level and not beyond to the deep depths where we reside and play.

This sort of crosses over with my other thread about Bugle, one of several clubs that flew too close to the sun and have had to endure reduced circumstances since (or even folded completely). You could name Falmouth, Liskeard, Saltash and probably Truro amongst these.

[Bruegel the Elder]

Very true Wayof, you could add St. Blazey to that list as well. Pride comes, as they say, before a fall. They however seem determined to be a Phoenix.🦅🔥

[isaac rosenberg]

Hard to disagree with any o😤f you really...💚

[Ian Pethick]

1 hour ago, Keith B said:

I watched rugby union all weekend. Now there's value for money as a fan. Rekindled my love of the game - hardly wait for more !

Thought the Welsh were really clinical and won by virtue of "minimise our own errors, and take full advantage of the opposition when they make them."   Great to see the Irish get back on track, although they were made to look good by an Italian side that looks way out of it's depth. Not good for the competition when you effectively have 5 and a half teams in a 6 team tournament