10 things you never see at football anymore!
I started to write a list of things that you don’t see at football whilst watching the Bulgaria vs England game. If you can think of any more then please add them in the comments bar below under this article:
Number 1: Rosettes
When was the last time that you saw a fan wearing a rosette? I’ve been going to matches for 26 years and never seen one!
Number 2: Rattles
The thought of having one of these large wooden rattles being swung around by your head is just too horrible to contemplate. Aldershot handed out a small plastic one with every programme sold at our first league game at home when we returned to the Football League in 2008. It didn’t catch on!
Note how unimpressed the poor lady is at the front of the crowd as she stands next to the man with the rattle!
Number 3: A full set of Premier League fixtures kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday
The first game to be played on TV on a Sunday took place on 2nd October 1983 between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest. Nowadays there are games played every day of the week with some weekends being played from Friday to Monday!
Number 4: A proper muddy pitch!
Pitches are so perfect these days, they look like Centre Court at Wimbledon and not a football pitch as they were in the not-too-distant past! Will we ever see a player properly coated head-to-toe in mud again?!?
Number 5: The orange ball!
As soon as it began to snow, out would come the orange ball so the game wouldn’t get called off. Perfectly playable lads!
Number 6: Managers in sheepskin coats
Despite former commentator John Motson’s best efforts, sheepskin coats have not become a regular sight at football. Malcolm Allison is seen in the picture above wearing a fine sheepskin!
Number 7: Players wearing headbands
A couple of players used to wear headbands when out on the field (Steve Foster can be seen in one above) but they never caught on. John McEnroe started the trend in tennis and they caught on, will they make a return to the football pitch?
Number 8: Players in the shirt numbers 1 – 11
Ever since squad numbers were brought into the top flight of English football in 1993 all sorts of strange numbers on the field. Nikolas Bendtner donned the number 52 on the back of his Arsenal shirt one season and it was reported that it was because he was earning £52,000 per week!
One extremely rare example of squad numbers working perfectly was in Russia during the 2018 World Cup. England’s squad numbers were set with each player having the correct squad number for what a player would traditionally wear when playing in that position.
For example Ashley Young wore the number 3 which is traditionally given to a left back. Harry Kane also wore the number 9 which was usually worn by the main goalscorer.
Number 9: Goalkeepers not wearing gloves
Goalkeepers nowadays wear special gloves that can stop their fingers from bending back and many are custom-made. Gloves never used to be worn and it used to be rare to see a goalkeeper wearing them!
Number 10: Players not wearing shin pads!
Players wear all sorts of protection these days and to be seen with no shin pads and their socks around their ankles would be a rarity. It would most definitely create a social media outburst!
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