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Complete social environment has changed in the last 30 yrs , there was quite literally nothing else to do on a Sunday late 70's, early 80's other than go to church, eat lunch, go for a walk, watch songs of praise . If you werent into those you probably played football.

Now all the shops are open, people more commonly working weekend patterns, pubs are open all day, 2 or 3 football games live on the telly, increase in higher education university attendance taking away generations of potential players, kids playing organised football in leagues from the age of 6/7 means by 21/22 they have already had 15 yrs of it,nightclubs open til 5/6 a.m

When i started playing there were 10 divisions. Now it's half that. Even Saturdays used to have 4 and are down to just 1. The whole scene is dieing a death. All the experienced heads just go pot hunting lower down and all the young lads just wanna play with their mates in any division even though they have bigger talent. Plus, a few lines and more voddy means they couldnt give a flying fooook if they made it up on a Sunday morning nowadays. Then after the game its straight home unlike years ago when the social event of the week was a laugh with the squad afterwards down meggies. Dont think there is even an answer on how to get it back going again. If you drop a player for not turning up nowadays the only thing you ever see from him again is a transfer form! Then on the management front you bend over backwards for the ungreatful scrotes and get nothing but abuse in return. Until they grow up, realise and apologise about 10 years down the line! And lets not forget the comittee with 3 different bank accounts jammed full of our payed in money who demand you pay so far in advance for the next season you are still playing the last seasons games when payments due!

I completely agree with moosey here. I played a lot of local league football in the 1960s and 70s and there were I believe 7 divisions at least on a Sunday.

We owned a motor parts shop during the 70s onwards and although cars changed, so that people didn't need to work on them as much, we found that the complete way of life changed, after supermarkets began opening on Sunday mornings. Men went shopping with their wives, or the wives took the cars shopping, instead of the men cleaning and tinkering with them.

Although I could have played at a higher level, I used to love the relaxed atmosphere of playing and usually loosing with Weelsby Rovers at Sidney Park on a Sunday morning.
Jack Wattam used to play and I think he was well in his 70s; he was a bit stiff but could still run. I remember playing him a lovely through ball but he didn't get it and his son Barry who also played said, "You should have played that ball 30 years ago Malc."

We also had a team in a younger player's league on a Sunday afternoon, but I think it only had about 14 teams.

Great times.

Quoted from moosey_club

Complete social environment has changed in the last 30 yrs , there was quite literally nothing else to do on a Sunday late 70's, early 80's other than go to church, eat lunch, go for a walk, watch songs of praise . If you werent into those you probably played football.

Now all the shops are open, people more commonly working weekend patterns, pubs are open all day, 2 or 3 football games live on the telly, increase in higher education university attendance taking away generations of potential players, kids playing organised football in leagues from the age of 6/7 means by 21/22 they have already had 15 yrs of it,nightclubs open til 5/6 a.m

I was secretary of a Sunday Football team for many years until the last couple of seasons. I'd echo everything Moosey says, plus the cost is getting rather expensive now. I don't know how much it is now but in my last season a couple of years back it was £36 for a pitch at Bradley and £20 for a ref without all the extras like pegs, net straps, first aid kit, drinks, ball etc etc, never mind the cost of a kit. A lot of teams struggle to find a sponsor so in that case it's a very dear do, and you can only charge players so much in subs per game.

Also going back several years, the pubs kicked you out at 11pm, if you wanted more to drink you went to a nightclub, which in turn kicked you out at 2am. Nowadays a lot of pubs are open until 4/5am. Many a time I got up on a Sunday about 8am only to see a post on Facebook 2 hours ago of one or more of our players just getting in.

Young kids don't seem to be coming through anymore too. You used to always see a group of kids having a kickabout but the kids of today are more interested in playing FIFA (whatever year it is) rather that playing the game for real.

The local Saturday league has gone now and I can see Sunday league going the same way in the not too distant future. When I first became involved in local footy, there were 10 Divisions of about 15 teams each, now we're down to 5 Divisions of about 10 teams, with some Divisions of about 8 due to teams dropping out.

BTW Moosey, are you still playing for New Waltham or have you moved elsewhere as I don't see your name in their squad.

Quoted from Mallyner

I completely agree with moosey here. I played a lot of local league football in the 1960s and 70s and there were I believe 7 divisions at least on a Sunday.

Until the mid 90's there were TEN Divisions as we finished BOTTOM of Division 10 one season. Had one of the biggest turnarounds ever though the following season when we won the league.

Quoted from Les Brechin

I was secretary of a Sunday Football team for many years until the last couple of seasons. I'd echo everything Moosey says, plus the cost is getting rather expensive now. I don't know how much it is now but in my last season a couple of years back it was £36 for a pitch at Bradley and £20 for a ref without all the extras like pegs, net straps, first aid kit, drinks, ball etc etc, never mind the cost of a kit. A lot of teams struggle to find a sponsor so in that case it's a very dear do, and you can only charge players so much in subs per game.

Also going back several years, the pubs kicked you out at 11pm, if you wanted more to drink you went to a nightclub, which in turn kicked you out at 2am. Nowadays a lot of pubs are open until 4/5am. Many a time I got up on a Sunday about 8am only to see a post on Facebook 2 hours ago of one or more of our players just getting in.

Young kids don't seem to be coming through anymore too. You used to always see a group of kids having a kickabout but the kids of today are more interested in playing FIFA (whatever year it is) rather that playing the game for real.

The local Saturday league has gone now and I can see Sunday league going the same way in the not too distant future. When I first became involved in local footy, there were 10 Divisions of about 15 teams each, now we're down to 5 Divisions of about 10 teams, with some Divisions of about 8 due to teams dropping out.

BTW Moosey, are you still playing for New Waltham or have you moved elsewhere as I don't see your name in their squad.

I actually dont think the costs are too exorbitant Les, when i started with Schuberts FC we paid 1:50 subs i think if you started , that was 1988(?) ish...last season i was paying 3:50, so for 30yrs to go up a couple of quid isnt a significant strain on players pockets, still effectively only the cost of a pint !!
Admittedly sponsorship has got harder to find so start up costs , kit league fees, etc maybe harder to find now.
Do agree about pitch fees, Bradley in particular, yes nice change facilities but still the same crap pitches as ever for 36 quid...no ta.

I finished with New Waltham end of last season Les...moved along a village for this season.

It all went down hill when Les flagged me offside for White Bear in a game v Steels in the year 2003.

Quoted from lukeo

It all went down hill when Les, correctly flagged me offside for White Bear in a game v Steels in the year 2003.

Amended for you Luke. ;D

Ah Yes enjoyed getting up on a Sunday morning and scoring goals ;D

;D I'm putting it on my gravestone Les! "I was onside"

Quoted from lukeo

;D I'm putting it on my gravestone Les! "I was onside"

You were onside when you scored, just a shame that you were stood offside when your team mate had the shot that came back off the keeper.

I loved it played from being 16 til 31 and biggest mistake I made packing up when I did 15 years ago :'( . I like to think we always played hard but fair and so did our opponents but again things seem to have become more and more cynical on that front. I think people of my age and older have a genuine love for the game of football and literally as Moosey said there was NOTHING else. The social side was play the game and go for a couple of pts with the lads afterwards there was NOTHING else to do so no pressure from the other half etc.Nowadays the whole World is 100 mph 24/7 and it`s frowned upon taking half a day off to play football with your mates.The cost aspect I`m not sure it`s a problem but we always had problems getting subs and fines in yet the lads always had money for beer and fags even if they were doleys.The odd time I go watch a Sunday League game I am amazed how many 40+ lads are still playing they must make up around half the matchday squads?

I am only 29 and have virtually packed up, I make the odd appearance for Internet Mariners but that's all. Moving down south killed my football, now having a family weekends means spending time with them (which I'd never change ofcourse!) but I defenately do miss being fit and trying to gather all my mates up for Newton's on a Sunday morning back in Grimsby. Feels like a totally different life now, but even then 5 or 6 years ago when I folded the club originally it was going down hill.

I used to play at the Findus club for a few seasons, or Eskimo if you prefer. The fact that the pitches became a Supermarket is the physical indication of the change.

Quoted from Les Brechin

Until the mid 90's there were TEN Divisions as we finished BOTTOM of Division 10 one season. Had one of the biggest turnarounds ever though the following season when we won the league.

Thank you Les. When I saw there are now 5 divisions in last night's Telegraph, I knew I must have been wrong.

I believe Weelsby Rovers had been in quite a high division at one time, but as players aged or departed, we were working our way down to the higher numbers. :)

Cost is prohibitive, FA need to get some money down there.
Running of the league also important.
I officiate in UCL and Boston league and the latter is an example of a thriving local league with 4 divisions of general well run clubs.

Also, it's okay having a team of players but no team can run without a secretary to do all the mundane stuff, like collect subs in, pay the Lincs FA fines, sort out an end of season do, take the kit to the bag wash (or for the Mrs to wash), buy trophies at the end of the season.

I did this for over 25 years and although some players do appreciate it, others just think it's all about just turning up on a Sunday, playing the game and going to the pub. I also used to run the line every week, until I was diagnosed with my brain tumour, when I had to pack it in. As 1ML says, it was like getting blood out of a stone, trying to get subs off some players but they could still afford to go out the night before and get lethered. Don't forget also that if a player is fined by the Lincs FA, it is up to the club to pay the fine and then get it back from the player.

It got to the point for me when we were struggling to field a team every week and often we were at the ground 10 minutes before kickoff ringing round players as we only had 9 men there. In the end after 25 years I had just had enough and jacked it in and I can't say I miss it at all even though we had some good times, with 3 title wins in my time at various teams and also finishing 3rd in the top division one season and being the only team to beat the champions that season.

Quoted from Les Brechin

Also, it's okay having a team of players but no team can run without a secretary to do all the mundane stuff, like collect subs in, pay the Lincs FA fines, sort out an end of season do, take the kit to the bag wash (or for the Mrs to wash), buy trophies at the end of the season.

I did this for over 25 years and although some players do appreciate it, others just think it's all about just turning up on a Sunday, playing the game and going to the pub. I also used to run the line every week, until I was diagnosed with my brain tumour, when I had to pack it in. As 1ML says, it was like getting blood out of a stone, trying to get subs off some players but they could still afford to go out the night before and get lethered. Don't forget also that if a player is fined by the Lincs FA, it is up to the club to pay the fine and then get it back from the player.

It got to the point for me when we were struggling to field a team every week and often we were at the ground 10 minutes before kickoff ringing round players as we only had 9 men there. In the end after 25 years I had just had enough and jacked it in and I can't say I miss it at all even though we had some good times, with 3 title wins in my time at various teams and also finishing 3rd in the top division one season and being the only team to beat the champions that season.

It was always thus with players many times we had to play with 10 men or the bucketman/lino had to make us upto 11.Made it a laugh but if a player got dropped he was gone.We always used to try and have about 18 in our squad but it was hard on the 6 who never made the matchday 12 as it was and they soon lost interest. Now with more subs I imagine that`s a bit better but I heard of manager`s sticking a player on for 2 mins just to get there subs money in.

Can only echo the above posts. I found lads are different to when I played, I remember playing at Roval Drive with Hydro FC maybe twenty years ago. Ice sheets on the pitch, we all moved the sheets of ice and got on with the game.

I had an incident while managing not so long ago. We turned up, the pitch was admittedly a bit hard in one of two places. The referee was happy to start the game, as was I and the opposing manager. We had beaten this team 7-0 a few weeks earlier at St Christophers. The general consensus of our lads was they wanted to postpone the game but I didn't see the point in every sodomist getting up early on a Sunday to go home again. I didn't consider the conditions to be dangerous, their manager and the referee agreed we should kick off and monitor the situation.

Anyway, we lost that game, 4-0 or maybe 4-2. Our lot hardly put a tackle in all game. I think I got the blame according to the players.

Sums up the mentality of players nowadays, nice haircuts, decent pecs (whatever they are, lol) but they are made of different stuff.

A bit younger than some talking about the past here, but even when I started playing there were 8 Sunday leagues and 3 on a Saturday.

Have managed and/or been secretary of a team for around 7 of the last 12 years and its tough as people say, but then the league don't help at the same time.

From the players side of things you have to pay out £60 a week minimum just to get a game on, then you have other costs for replacing bottles, shorts, socks or just simply the bag wash every week. This is also compounded by the fact that fewer businesses are in a position to sponsor teams nowadays. Then you've got the people who don't really seem to care about playing - people who get home at 6 in the morning when you are due to kick off in 4 hours.

Last season I had a player sent off for a deliberate handball and fined £30 - never saw him again as he was gone before I got into the changing room. The league chased me for the fees (that I had to pay) rather than him, despite having his full address details.

From the side of the authorities they don't do enough to help teams. The charges for fines should go to the player and not the club, then you have games when you are allocated a referee who doesn't turn up, so you have to referee it yourselves - leading to inevitable arguments about bias.

One of the most frustrating things however was bringing the kick off times forward to a 10am - especially in the winter. 3 times last season we had games called off a 9:50am because the pitch was frozen, but the 10:45 games went ahead no problem. Besides which that extra 45 minutes on a Sunday cuts down on an awful lot of rushing and allows you to prepare for the inevitable drop outs - even more annoying when the referees still charge you!

End of the day though, I stopped playing because there were too many people who took the urine - your own players don't want to play or complain when they aren't in the team, and opposition players who just want to kick lumps out of you or make stupid tackles.

With regards to people complaining about being dropped and then you never hear from them again. I had a player last season who was dreadful but I still played him in matches because I respect people who turn up and put the effort in.

One week he was a no show, after starting in the previous 3, and left us with a bare 11. Was told by his friend that 'he was smashed last night'.

Next week he was back on the bench and due to be brought on at the next break in play at about 70 minutes. Told me to ram it, because he wasn't getting up out of bed to run the line for the full game.

Never saw him come down again.

Quoted from biggles9999

With regards to people complaining about being dropped and then you never hear from them again. I had a player last season who was dreadful but I still played him in matches because I respect people who turn up and put the effort in.

One week he was a no show, after starting in the previous 3, and left us with a bare 11. Was told by his friend that 'he was smashed last night'.

Next week he was back on the bench and due to be brought on at the next break in play at about 70 minutes. Told me to ram it, because he wasn't getting up out of bed to run the line for the full game.

Never saw him come down again.

He'll be missed! See ya! I decided all that crap wasn't worth it, though to be fair that didn't happen too often.

"go to church, eat lunch, go for a walk, watch songs of praise"

Non-footy but this sentence in the OP just about sums up my Sundays growing up in 1970s! Reading that brought me out in a cold sweat!

Quoted from LondonMariner43

"go to church, eat lunch, go for a walk, watch songs of praise"

Non-footy but this sentence in the OP just about sums up my Sundays growing up in 1970s! Reading that brought me out in a cold sweat!

Sorry :-/

Quoted from biggles9999

One of the most frustrating things however was bringing the kick off times forward to a 10am - especially in the winter. 3 times last season we had games called off a 9:50am because the pitch was frozen, but the 10:45 games went ahead no problem. Besides which that extra 45 minutes on a Sunday cuts down on an awful lot of rushing and allows you to prepare for the inevitable drop outs - even more annoying when the referees still charge you!

Very good point that, had the same scenario a couple of times but luckily played for a side that had its own pitch arrangements so didnt happen too often....then of course there is the other Thurs evening kick offs early season or late season.....players sign up for Sunday league and most teams i know of always struggle to field a side on a Thursday K.O 6:15PM.

Yes, how times have changed.

I started in the Grimsby League in the mid 1950's. After a couple of seasons I
joined a team who had moved up from the Intermediate League.

Our average age was seventeen and none of us, apart from one lad who owned
a motorbike, had motorised transport. Living at New Waltham meant some long
rides on my old pushbike, and away trips to Immingham, Stallingborough and
the likes of Laportes meant cycling to and across the town to the the end of
Gilbey Road, leaving the bike and getting on the tram.

Can't imagine anyone doing that these days and if they did I'm sure there bike
wouldn't be there when they got back.

It didn't do us any harm as that team romped through the divisions inside
six seasons to the top of Division One.

Those were the days !