Football and rugby were both from the same sport and was more like handball as they could kick and handle the ball when football first started.

Now it is our leading sport and worth millions that some clubs grew and others went into Administration, example Wimbledon football club then became later on AFC Wimbledon and change split into Milton Keynes football club.

Aldershot went down and Chelsea was sold to Ken Bates in the 80’s and bought the club which was only a pound.

The leagues are now very different when it all used to be Divisions not leagues. The top division was Division one and now is the Premier League, Division two is now the Championship league, League one, League two and Three. All clubs that a top flight have changed the way in running a team, cause managers and players would sign long life contracts and once a play signed a football club contract that would be it and would work through their contract before they left to go to other clubs.

The top clubs have changed too and now we see that Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, Man City and Man utd are all tops teams and often will go head to head in winning the Premiership, Champions League and still the FA Cup.

See above an old picture of the players under Bobby Robson, who managed English up until 1990 and was one of the longest men in charge of the England team now many from this picture have become coaching, pundits, commentators and presenters, forgetting that these guys all played professional football and created a legacy that still gets talked about today.

Who had thought Gary Lineker who had male admires ad woman too, who was always chosen without hesitation to play club and international football would be a adveriser for Walkers Crisps and now top presenter for BBC and English Soccer.

When Gazza came along then the team changed again and was a player that saw for the first time a guy in tears over a second booking so he wouldn’t have had the chance to play in the World cup final and was one of the best players under Bobby Robson and for Tottenham Hotspur to have played on the English soil.

Maradonna was a leading player for Argentina, when it came to them taking drugs it overshadowed both their capabilities and feel they needed more guidance in their play and not feel that had to do this in order to make a name for themselves.

John Barnes who originally played for Watford started to shine when he moved to Liverpool football club but struggled when playing for England as everyone doubted his performance being a non stop creater and scorer for Liverpool but got a lot of stick from England fans for not being the same.

This can happen but I watched his football and asked “Where was the problem?” I thought his performance was good as he always got involved didn’t shy away from playing international football so for me it was “Well perhaps you are expecting too much” and they was. He had flare and knew how to keep the ball along the field without it being taken back by the other team. I think supporters compare too much at was the issue, as he did put 100% into is game so where again was the problem? He created goals, he passed, he was brilliant at ball control and worked the left side with no issues at all.

When football changed and Sky TV became it became a lot of money to fork out to watch football and it made it very commercialised and took some of the spark of English football away. I loved it on a Sunday when we would have our roast dinner after socialising with friends in a pub in chelsea to then sit down and watch the football it set you up for the weekend and everyone tuned in.

Then you had cable and they too tried to make money from the game but Sky dominated and became the leader of the UK TV world and a massive influence that not all clubs got featured like before. Only FA Cup games would at one time show on normal TV or we’d listen to it on the radio.

When going to visit a real match it was part of the culture and I didn’t care about seats and standing I just loved the atmosphere and being part of the soccer world, and wearing the shirts and sometimes coats and jackets it made the game even more excitable and then when I bought a season ticket and would go on my own it again was brilliant and I loved being with other season ticket holders. You became a community not just a fan base and hearing fans sing it gave me goosebumps and made me fall even more in love with the game.

I will share more inspiring stories on this site and will talk about the Athletics and the Olympics.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X