Why wont die hard GAA fans admit football these days is muck?

What we are discussing here is the state of GF in this present time period …….and it needs change….rapido.

There is no point in looking back, those times are gone, different era, different players, different way of life.

Now is the time before its too late for the top brass to step in and rescue the game from drowning.

Oh I agree that things do need to change.

Since I was a child (I'm in my mid 50s now) I've been listening to the same monotonous lying mantra of how football was so much better in the 'good' old days.

The only time it was silenced for a while was whenever TG4 ran All-Ireland Gold. People got to see old matches IN THEIR ENTIRETY and were shocked at how they had forgotten all the wides, misses, mistakes, etc.

But inevitably a few months later the same claptrap would re-appear, usually from barstools. Rinse and repeat.

This thread is just more of the same.

Years ago after getting sick of Dublin hammering everyone in Leinster I decided to try hurling to get my fix. Went to Dublin V Galway when Dublin won the Leinster. Dublin V Cork all Ireland semi, cork V Clare AI final replay and the KK V Tipp semi final when lar went on a mad one. Safe to say I've been hooked since.

Some classic semi finals such as tipp V Galway trilogy, Tipp V Wexford and Wexford V kk Leinster final. Many more but the game itself is far superior and the atmosphere is top notch.

Would love to get to a few of the big Munster championship matches. The only thing hurling needs is less kk in Leinster finals for a few years. A final involving Wex/Dub/Galway would be much better. I'm still dreaming of a Wexford V Dublin final. And maybe some day even Offaly getting there.

The two semis were absolute crackers this year although funny enough the two football semis are shaping up well this year too. We need less KK/Kerry/Dublin in the semis for a bit of excitement going forward.

Nope. I certainly am not saying that.

And well you know it.

I've always enjoyed football. But I've always had to listen to clueless oul fellas telling everybody who'd listen that football was so much better in the good ol' days. It wasn't!

Just one example of many would be in 1986 when for some reason on a Sunday morning RTE showed the 1966 All-Ireland final in its entirety. Maybe it was the 20th anniversary, but anyway my father was thrilled to sit down and watch 'real' football. He is a Galway man and was always of the opinion that the 1960s three-in-a-row team were way better than the Kerry team of the 70s and 80s. In fairness to him, after watching it, he didn't try to cover up. He was shocked at how far behind the football of only 20 years previous was.

And it was waaaay behind.

I've been listening to the same claptrap from people ever since. Criticising for the sake of it. Rinse and repeat. Ask then how the game can be improved and there's either silence (Brendan Bender) or a bundle of completely ridiculous, didn't-spend-very-long-thinking-about-it type replies that simply don't stand up to any reasonable scrutiny.

The majority of games in any sport are 'average'. 'Great' games are the exception. Hence the labelling. The problem is the whingers (usually people who never played any sport at any sort of high level, or never played at all) think every game should be a classic.

I enjoyed football matches in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and I continue to enjoy them. Some matches are better than others, some are worse. So what. That's life.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Armagh/Kerry game yesterday. I was quite literally on the edge of my seat from the time Armagh got their goal. I love seeing underdogs win, in any sport. I thought it was a very good game. And from my point of view the 'right' team won. That's the beauty of sport. The unpredictability. Teams/players adopt whatever tactics it takes for them to win and I love seeing tactics evolve and counter-evolve.

Make no mistake about it, competitive sport is all about winning. The very reason competition was invented was not to entertain, but to find out who the best was. Winners know this.

I would agree in sense that watching 60s and 70s games it was bit all over shop. One thing always annoyed me is you could fist the ball into the goal back then which looked horrible and cheap and kerry were as bad culprits as anyone even though was in rules it felt just cheap way score for me.

But it did get better, standards improved and especially skills of the game, kicking, hand passing, blocking, accuracy, free takers everything really.

Every game evolves but for me and having watched plenty of 90s and 00s games past 2 years it was as good as hurling or whatever sport you wish.

Not every hurling game is a cracker or football game awful, but football has been dragged down for most part. (My own county as bad watch as anyone)

I don't expect be entertained or see a great game but fans are voting with their lack of attendance. The quarter finals was worst aggregate attendance for Quarter finals and that's with Dublin in it.

People are entitled to think the game is fine and that's ok but majority ain't and proof is lack interest and falling attendances.

When I speak to fans of a county that were in a AI semi final yesterday and they were not looking forward to it as they thought be dull game something is wrong. Now in turned out be decent game but it's not the point. It's expected now rather than norm.

Im not in favour of 10 or more rule changes either and think one or two little changes will do fine. It does not have be drastic but people are being put off and are voting by staying away. If people think that's OK we'll no point in arguing really.

We will see how attendances stack up at the end of the season. More games with some having low numbers, does not mean an overall reduction. In the Golden Age of football, the two predecessors of the Tailteann died a death because of lack of interest.

Meanwhile back on the field there are 30 players and two sets of goalposts. The rules allow them to take up any positions they want on the field, and pass the ball in any direction by hand or by foot. No amount of harking back to how things used to be will make them play in the way that obtained 50 years ago. We are getting on for 25 years of players and coaches changing the game radically, and it will continue to evolve. It would be a disaster for the tinkerers to get their way with nonsense new rules which will just annoy the players.

When the Shot Clock has been tried, along with the Scoring Zone, and goalkeepers made stay in their area. When handpasses have been restricted, and back passes banned. When outfield players are made to stay in certain parts of the field. When the Mark has been outlawed. What will be the next genius idea if all that does not produce the game that people want?

Just to show that I am amenable to new ideas. Let players pick the ball directly off the ground. Increase the steps from 4 to 8. Both of those would just recognise what goes on anyway. And I would be open to an experiment with 13 a side.

The game needs a root and branch scoping.

and you are still going on with what is largely rubbish.

You have some health issue if you struggled to stay away during the Armagh/Kerry match. That was one of the most entertaining games I have seen for a long time. Unless one is completely devoid of emotion, you couldn't but be on the edge of your seat watching it - even as a neutral. Most neutrals would be edging towards Armagh, so it was great to see them get over the line at the end.

By any chance, are you Father Stone from Fr. Ted?

Why do some people keep going on about the '60s and ' 70s? Why not discuss football in 2024 instead?

2011 All Ireland semi final. Dublin 0-8 : Donegal 0-6

I'm not sure you remember 2010-2012 at all.

I was at the Galway v Donegal SF at the weekend. It was a great game. The teams varied their tactics in parts of the match. Galway in particular defended brilliantly throughout. The atmosphere was great loads of families at it. All engrossed in the match.

There were plenty of great scores in the match as well.

It was mostly one dimensional stuff when you really look at it. For example in Tyrone v Kerry games Kerry ran into traffic, Tyrone would hunt in packs and win it back.

Eventually teams copped on like Kerry not run into traffic and be more patient with the ball.

Dublin and Kerry (in particular) had to adapt even more when Donegal appeared with the more extreme defensive counter tactic.

They do kick the ball. One of those "clipboard" types counted how often they do it. And even if they never kicked the ball, that is not against the rules. One stat which shows that the game is not muck is the amount of time the ball stays in play. Unless people get enjoyment looking at a football crossing the end lines and the sidelines.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2023/0928/1407954-new-study-outlines-stark-extent-of-possession-football/

"Despite the increase in hand passing, there has not been a comparable slide in foot passing. While kicking was on the decrease from 2011 to 2018, it has started to level off at approximately 130 passes per game.

Some of the rise in passing can be explained by an increase in game time. The ball was in play for an average of 34 minutes in the 2011 season and now stands at 45 minutes, 30 seconds, a 32% increase over 13 seasons."

People who think a particular sport is crap or muck have so many other ways to pass their time these days. No need for anyone to ever see a football game again, if it is so painful for them to watch.

Some people get their kicks bumping a thread to call something shite several hundred times over.

They do kick the ball, but the problem is the weaker sides go for the safe option constantly. Sorry for referring to Dublin again, but they are the team I have seen the most of, and have shown the different options if teams are brave enough.

The peak recent era of Dublin had the ability to switch the play quickly from one side of the pitch to the other, head up that type of thing with a kick pass. The problem is players with no confidence rarely do it and go for the easy backwards and sideways handpass.

Ironically Dessie Farrell purposely made his team more direct with less handpassing, however they are not as consistent as the great Dublin teams were.

It is combination of poor rules in GAA and poor teams. The top level teams can still come up with good standard stuff variation. The good teams evolve within the rules and look for the best way of winning a game imposing their style on the opponent forcing errors.

The weaker teams and/or teams with poor managers look for the easy safe option, where they play NOT to get beaten rather than try and get a win/draw.

I understand exactly what you are saying too much handpassing. Former Kerry great Mick O'Connell agreed with you to the extent that he refused to call it "gaelic football" only "Gaelic".

But it can be a vicious circle where the poor teams constantly funnel back, then a better team is forced to play keep ball for while. Eventually though the better side will break down the mass defence, if they have enough movement and speed of thought, and quick ball.

Roscommon played really well v Dublin in this years championship, they actually caused havoc to the Dublin defence on many occasion. But towards the end of the match Dublin scored some great goals breaking at pace, quick interchange with Jack McCaffery heavily involved. Again providing options and movement was key to it. It probably is more appreciated at a live game, rather than on telly in fairness.

In my opinion it can be a thing of beauty where there is a build up a team probing for weakness, then bang, speed, passing, movement they break, and finish it with a goal or a point.

The good sides play with a purpose they don't hit aimless balls, the poor sides looks for the easy option particularly where their manager is not very tactically astute or brave. So with the poor sides it can be a CONSTANT sideways backways job, no risk nothing.

The game of Gaelic Football has evolved where possession is king, and it is up to the rule makers to catch up to it forcing the weaker sides to be braver, and their managers to think tactically.