Geoff Hurst documentary

[fenman]

I read an article in my daily newspaper listing the 10 most watched programmes on t.v. last week , despairingly I wondered how millions of people could be happy watching such dross and realised how out of touch I am with modern life . HOWEVER  on Tuesday night I discovered a really interesting documentary about Geoff  Hurst  on one of the satellite channels . I'm sure some of you such as Rappo , Keith B etc. would really enjoy it . One of the most shocking , in terms of some of todays average players , s that the only man to score a hat trick ( left foot , right foot , header ) in a World Cup final  plus a distinguished career for West Ham had to sign on the dole , as it was called then , when he retired  and get a job selling insurance door to door .He doesn't give out any sense of bitterness about he just said that that's how it was then . . Also the England players received £1000 each as a bonus for winning the World Cup  but West Germany received £15000 each .

[RAPPO]

Hi Fenman, hope you’re well mate. Yeah I saw this in the week and Sky+ it for when I finish this set of night shifts!! Looking forward to watching it! Crazy isn’t it, the difference in money back then for the top players. Not even double what the man on the street was earning. Would take someone a couple years to earn what an average Premier league player earns in a week now. 🤔😳

[fenman]

Thanks Rappo , I'm wallowing in nostalgia at the moment . The league I'm involved in is 100 years old next year and I'm doing an article for a magazine  about its history . I've been going through some newspaper archive but got side tracked by looking at the sports pages of  1960's football  in the Kings Lynn area where I used to live and play in those days . This isn't the area covered by our league but I couldn't resist reading some of the  match reports . The sad thing is that that league with over 50 teams at that time has gone the vast majority of village   teams have gone and will never return . A few teams were absorbed into senior leagues but the others went under  . Some of the clubs would get attendances of 200 plus  and their games would be discussed in the local on Saturday night .

I would never have thought that  village football would shrink so much . It's strange that with the obsession with the professional game grass roots football is shrinking away . As I said on a previous post last year  several complete  Saturday leagues have gone and there is only one Sunday league in the whole county which is astonishing when you look at the size of the county and the increased population since the 1960's .

[Ian Pethick]

On 19/11/2022 at 21:17, Keith B said:

This is a subject that has been touched before on the forum, but no more than that. Several reasons have been put forward by various folk, including the late and greatly missed theolderIgetthebetterIwas - bless you Dave, rest in peace dear sir. 

Having always had a competitive nature towards sport, for me football and cricket - I find it both strange and sad that this seems to have happened or be happening. Why I don't honestly know. Since a small boy I've always been attracted to the skills and energy attached to football. AND what can match the feeling of scoring a goal, especially one worked by the team and finished with panache.  Our village team has a good history and policy of encouraging kids to play football. They are backed and supported by Exeter City FC (Grecians) who have been great in sending a team of coaches to the kids football on Sundays. When I was involved with St Just AFC, they too had a thriving kids training programme. That was nine years ago though. At my school in Bournemouth sport was very much encouraged and we were very lucky in that we had our own school playing fields laid out for football, rugby, cricket, tennis, netball and athletics, all over a few acres. We also had our own school swimming pool.

Doubtless members will have their own thoughts on this question of, why are amateur football and football clubs in danger of disappearing ? Sad days.

There are doubtless a number of reasons why the younger generations don't show an interest these days. It beats me. I was brought up in a generation that was very competitive. You've got to stand on your own two feet son and make a way for yourself in the world, there's no one out there who will do it for you - was dad's advice to me. Get qualifications and work hard son, the world does not owe you a living. Hence competitiveness I guess.

Many, many different reasons both social and economic why grassroots sport (not just football) is dwindling across the country. It's certainly not just a Cornish issue, and it has been talked about many times on this forum. 

I believe that there is still a strong interest in playing football at youth level though. Very interesting interview with a coach from Truro Grasshoppers on the CS Podcast this week, seemed to me that the club is thriving in terms of numbers (as are other clubs in the area), but there is just nowhere to play in the city. The loss of local authority playing facilities, and the degradation of those that remain, must be a legacy of cuts to council budgets over the last 12 years or so (with worse to come).

[Ian Pethick]

42 minutes ago, Keith B said:

Good to hear your belief that there is still strong interest at youth level WOTP. Sad but true I guess regarding loss of playing field availability these days. 

Anecdotal evidence from what I see on the various parks near where I live, and what family members with school age children tell me, is that age group football for both boys and girls is in pretty good health. It's post 16 when participation tails off. Said it before, but a bit of digging and research by the Cornish FA (for example) to get hard stats and reasons behind this would be very useful. Especially if you are serious about addressing it. 

[fenman]

I'm sure this problem is nationwide but  the FA Fulltime for league makes interesting reading when I look at team sheets posted on my particular league site . There's a terrific amount of players in their 40's still playing  but very few under 18's . What does the future hold for village football ? 

[Martin Eddy]

As a boy I remember having to walk half a mile to play rugby on a football pitch at school, our teacher would not entertain football at all. Moving on to big school I loved sport would be down the gym every opportunity, even went to school early in the morning just to play football. Is that hunger still there for youngsters today? Did not start playing men's football until I was 19. Been involved ever since and loved most of it both on and off the pitch stopped two years ago and now go to Argyle with one of my sons and the amount of teenagers at the ground matchdays is amazing but these youngsters are not involved in grassroots football. Perhaps like me they do not like the moaning and bitching that goes on today.

[St Darren]

On 22/11/2022 at 09:19, Postman Pat said:

As a boy I remember having to walk half a mile to play rugby on a football pitch at school, our teacher would not entertain football at all. Moving on to big school I loved sport would be down the gym every opportunity, even went to school early in the morning just to play football. Is that hunger still there for youngsters today? Did not start playing men's football until I was 19. Been involved ever since and loved most of it both on and off the pitch stopped two years ago and now go to Argyle with one of my sons and the amount of teenagers at the ground matchdays is amazing but these youngsters are not involved in grassroots football. Perhaps like me they do not like the moaning and bitching that goes on today.

There's more things to do nowadays.  Not just 4 channels on a TV.  People can watch what they want when they want. 

I also think that youngsters realise that they're not good enough and then they go off and do something else and maybe come back to football in their 20s.

Also, fewer teams which I suppose is catch 22!  In the past people used to play for their local villsge/Town side, many players walked to the ground. How many do this now???