Joyous, Richter scale footie - Scotland v Denmark

That sounds like a blast! I like soccer (my team is the Seattle Sounders), but I don’t know if I could survive going to a game. Too noisy and crowded for me.

I generally avoid crowded places but if I have an allocated seat and a definitive start and finish time I am usually fine. I go to football matches fairly regularly, occasionally to see the team I support, Spurs (it's usually the journey back after the match where I start to feel desperate to be alone) but more often my local team, who get a much smaller crowd and I can drive to pretty near the ground. Always a relief to get back in my car at the end though.

I fell out of love with football a little bit between 2010 and 2020 but my youngest son has developed the same obsession I had when I was his age and as a result I got my love of the game back.

Football matches in England are a much more pleasant experience now, than they were when I first started going properly in the 90's. People are much better behaved.

You do still get some unpleasant characters though, so I can see why that puts some people off. I just love the game, and tolerate all the other stuff around it. For example, the supposedly "hilarious" chants are mostly tedious. There's a YouTube video of supposedly funny ones, with a load of comments underneath about how great they are, whereas to be honest I find most operate at a pretty numbskull level of humour. Some are outright unpleasant.

Sorry, didn't mean to write an essay!

I generally avoid crowded places but if I have an allocated seat and a definitive start and finish time I am usually fine. I go to football matches fairly regularly, occasionally to see the team I support, Spurs (it's usually the journey back after the match where I start to feel desperate to be alone) but more often my local team, who get a much smaller crowd and I can drive to pretty near the ground. Always a relief to get back in my car at the end though.

I fell out of love with football a little bit between 2010 and 2020 but my youngest son has developed the same obsession I had when I was his age and as a result I got my love of the game back.

Football matches in England are a much more pleasant experience now, than they were when I first started going properly in the 90's. People are much better behaved.

You do still get some unpleasant characters though, so I can see why that puts some people off. I just love the game, and tolerate all the other stuff around it. For example, the supposedly "hilarious" chants are mostly tedious. There's a YouTube video of supposedly funny ones, with a load of comments underneath about how great they are, whereas to be honest I find most operate at a pretty numbskull level of humour. Some are outright unpleasant.

Sorry, didn't mean to write an essay!

McFrost said:

I just have a quite strict time limit on how long I can be in one before I want to get out!

Me too! When I went to 'aways' in the fan coaches, most of the lads were not 'nice' and there was brick throwing and a lot of fist fights. I much preferred home games where I could hide in the crowd and just enjoy the footie. I saw George Best at his peak - applauded by both sides, which was astonishing. I felt he wasted himself - so different from that slim youth with the ball seemingly stuck to his feet. I still watch the Lionesses, but only special matches. Being retired, I much prefer being alone - so I can live life as I wish!

Hi Marianne, I went to loads of Coventry games at Highfield Road in the late 90's and early 2000's while I was a student there. I've never seen any real trouble at a football match but I have been amongst people that I didn't want to have anything to do with, making some pretty unpleasant comments about others. That's the sort of thing that is much better today as clubs try to encourage more of a family atmosphere. Still, I take my ten year old son and he's heard some pretty eye opening stuff! I know what you mean about being part of a crowd. I just have a quite strict time limit on how long I can be in one before I want to get out!

Feel free to write as much as you like - everyone finds this forum interesting!!

I used to support Coventry City [Sky Blues] when I was young. I loved being part of a huge crowd - not 'singled out' as I felt at school and home [very unhappy childhood]. Chanting took me out of myself and I felt thrilled as the sound echoed around the stadium. No, I didn't like the violence that sadly marred many matches in the 60's but making stadiums all seated had a positive effect.True, as I got older, I grew more sensitive to noise and now in my 70's I am a virtual hermit by choice. But do watch the clip of Scotland's amazing goals!