The generation game

In light of my recent reading matter, Tony Collins' Sport in Capitalist Society, I'll admit I was initially sceptical about this excerpt from Adrian Tempany's book And The Sun Shines Now. With its self-confessedly rose-tinted jumpers-for-goalposts perspective on childhood and football in the 1970s, it begins in exactly the sort of fashion that might be expected to irk Collins - historically naive and misty-eyed reflections on mythical halcyon days before football became "modern". He also blots his copybook with his concluding remark, that football "has never been less about the culture of the people who shaped our football clubs" - Collins would argue that it was never really "the people's game", as it's often made out to be.

However, as the excerpt progresses, it's clear that Tempany has the stats to back up his argument that football has lost touch with a whole tranche of fans. On the one hand, all-seater stadia have made attending matches much safer and more secure for young children - but on the other, ticket prices are now so high they effectively prohibit teenagers from going once their parents are no longer prepared to fork out.

At one point Tempany makes reference to our club to illustrate his point: "the average age of Newcastle supporters at St James' Park in 2002 was 35; by 2012, that had risen to 45. These are the same Geordies, simply a decade older". It's a revealing statistic, and one that rings true when I recall how, as a 14-year-old, I went with a gaggle of friends to stand on the Gallowgate as we thumped Bristol City 5-0 during that record-breaking run at the start of the 1992/93 promotion season. Sadly, that's not something that would ever happen at a Premier League club now, and even further down the divisions ticket price increases have no doubt significantly outstripped inflation in pocket money.

So what's Tempany's solution? Look to the German model, essentially: low ticket prices, standing areas and positive age discrimination. Significant changes that would take considerable time, money and effort to implement - but should German clubs continue to thrive, you'd presume the likelihood of others elsewhere taking them as models for progress will increase.

One stat that leapt out at me was the fact that only one in five children ends up supporting the same club as their dad. I'd imagine the odds are even worse when you don't live anywhere near the club in question. Clearly I'm going to have my work cut out to bring Stan up to wear the black and white shirt...

What's wrong with "modern football"? The word "modern"

My latest contribution to The Two Unfortunates - a review of Tony Collins' Sport In Capitalist Society, incorporating reflections on the "Against Modern Football" movement - appears to have ruffled a few feathers. The book is a fascinating read, offering an invaluable historical perspective on sport in general, though with plenty of reference to the so-called beautiful game. I'll admit to, on occasion, having repeated uncritically what Collins reveals to be myths about football past and present (even if I've never proclaimed myself to be "Against Modern Football") - someone please stop me if in the future I ever start a sentence with "The problem with the modern game..." or whinge that Jabba is "symptomatic of everything that's wrong with twenty-first-century football".

Quote of the day*

"It is flattering that Liverpool are interested. I've also heard that Manchester United and Aston Villa have asked about me. They are both big teams and I'm not closing the door on anyone. I'm ambitious and want to play in the Champions League. I want to win things. I'm OK at Newcastle but I aspire to more. I love the fans here and suffered with them when we were relegated. But we have to be realistic. Newcastle aren't performing well."

Jose Enrique's alleged comments to a Spanish journalist, as reported by the Sun. He's since issued the standard defence - namely, that what he actually said has been taken out of context and grossly misrepresented.

It's a difficult one to call, this. On the one hand, as I've said before, it's no surprise that Champions League clubs might be sniffing around given the level of his performances over the last season and a half, and no doubt knowing you're in demand is flattering. However, the comment about us not performing well just doesn't ring true - fair enough, the actual results haven't been great since Christmas, but the displays have been largely good and deserving of better points rewards - so it's to be hoped this is primarily media mischief-making.

Meanwhile, Fraser Forster made amends for his recent red card against Rangers in the Scottish Cup by keeping a clean sheet as Celtic strode to a 3-0 win and an eight-point advantage over their Old Firm rivals at the top of the SPL. It was a good weekend for a couple of our other loanees too, with Ben Tozer scoring Northampton's goal in a 1-1 draw with Aldershot and fellow defender James Tavernier playing his part in a 7-2 romp for Gateshead at Wrexham. Among the Heed's scorers was Martin Brittain, who's been plying his trade there since 2009.

And finally, there's a review of the book to which Paul and I contributed, Pay As You Play, up on The Two Unfortunates. While Gershenkron flags up the limitations of the Current Transfer Purchase Price as a measurement (it can't take into account wages, for instance), his verdict is largely favourable.

* Well, last Friday, at least.