Football generally not Liverpool.
For me it was the mid 1980's to mid 1990"'s football was starting to be regularly televised and if you wanted to go to the games it was possible financially. The more physical asects of the game from the 1970,s when frankly it was a thugs game on occasion were going out of the game.
Post hillsborough the grounds started to improve and the surge of houlligsnsm was fading from the game.
Thereafter it's been on a downward spiral and the next ten years could see very serious financial problems and many more clubs being unable to support their cost base because of fans leaving the sport because its financially prohibitive and other reasons e.g a disconnect to the communities.
I agree with the main thrust of that Stanley, The game has changed, but I also don't see it as all bad, or all good . The hard tackles and off the ball stuff has diminished thankfully, and the stuff outside the grounds also, and dare I say it but there's a lot less chance of someone pissIng on your back or even in your pocket!!
I don't get to the games as often as I used to, but from what i've seen I would say today's crowds are more reserved or even depressed or maybe just posh!
I would think age is a factor in one's view of the game too, as one looses a bit of that exuberant enthusiasm we have in our youth. For me justifying the cost of tickets and getting to and from the game is a big downer these days, going to a game was much cheaper in the 60s,70s,and 80s.
However having said all that I think modern football is great to watch giving that we have some of the worlds best players in the PL now and the game is played at a very high tempo, with players showing great fitness levels, touch and control.
I suppose the most disappointing thing for me anyway is the awful spectacle of greed and commercialism that blights todays game and consequently the sight of some quite unsavoury characters taking over the clubs and inflating and damaging the game by their uncontrolled spending of vast sums of money. It's difficult to maintain one's love for something that's become as venal and vulgar as the football club scene of today has become.
