Uniforms: Uniforms used to be fairly plain, with the exception that they might display a team logo somewhere. Then they started having a sponsoring company's name on the uniforms, but these were generally British or at least European companies. Now Manchester City’s sponsor is Ettihad Airways. In Arabic, ettihad means “union,” which is awfully close to “united!”
Officiating: The officials seem more tolerant of fouls these days than they used to be. Also, in the old days, if a team got a corner near the end of a half and time ran out, they didn’t get the corner. Now the officials are likely to allow them to take it and to blow the whistle only when it becomes clear that no goal will be scored from it. The truly ridiculous situation is when a goalie is delaying taking a goal kick at the end of a game, not realizing that the official plans to blow the whistle when the ball is finally in the air.
Rules: The goalies were allowed to use their hands to pick up back passes.The Game: The game seems faster these days, but maybe that’s just me getting older. It seems to me that getting faster was the principle change when it was decided that goalies couldn’t use their hands to pick up back passes. They did it to increase scoring, but that hasn’t really happened.
Players: There were almost no foreigners on the teams. Nearly every player was British, which meant a lot of passes blasted upfield. The Argentinian Osvaldo Ardiles played for Tottenham, and it was refreshing to watch someone who actually made short passes.
Advertising: Along the sidelines there were signs with advertising, but these were not especially sophisticated. Plus, the companies were all British. The one I remember especially was Mornflake Oats. Now there are these fancy signs which change every few minutes, plus of course there are lots of foreign companies represented. In one ad, I caught the Arabic word ettisalat (“communications”), though I don’t know what company was involved.
Substitutions: For the longest time, no substitutions were allowed in soccer. They first were allowed in the 1960s, I believe. When I was watching English soccer back in the late 1970s, there was only one substitute allowed, and he was chosen in advance, so there was just one sub on the bench. (I’m not sure what happened if the goalie was injured and the sub wasn’t a goalie!) I remember that Liverpool’s designated substitute was generally Steve Heighway.
Divisions: There were four divisions called the first division, second division, third division, and fourth division. In the early 1990s, they started calling the first division the Premier Division, and then simply the Premiership. The other divisions have gone through a few name changes.
Hooliganism: This has mostly died out. According to Bill Buford (who wrote Among the Thugs), this happened because they began giving out ten-year jail sentences to anyone they caught. The result is that fans have returned to the games, so it’s harder to get tickets to the Premiership matches. In the early 1990s, I would simply go to a game, and there was no problem getting a ticket. Now it seems that you have to get tickets way in advance. Maybe an invitation from the Queen would help.
Young Americans: When I started college in 1969, none of us knew anything about soccer. By the late 1970s, some college students knew a little. And now lots of young people know lots of stuff. Just a few days ago, a young woman in college, when asked what team Brett Favre played for, responded, “Manchester United.”
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