Hooray. Never again will I have to try and justify my watching lower league or non league footy to those lazy plastic/armchair fans of the "big" leagues who condemn the standard at our level and below. That was one of the worst and poorest quality matches I have seen at any level for some time. Couldn't even pass 5 yards to a team mate at times. FA Vase final was more exciting and better quality spectacle (and a lot cheaper). Not saying they can achieve that all the time but then again they aren't being given £170m for old rope each season!!
And condemn a standard that they’ve most probably never actually seen.
It was a truly dreadful final where Spurs got what they deserved and Liverpool got more than they deserved. But let's not kid ourselves that all the games in the CL have been like that. they haven't. But finals rarely match the hype and this one in particular was hyped beyond recognition after the drama of the semi finals
the champions league stopped being the champions league when non league winners got entry into the competition
So basically when it changed from the European Cup into the Champions League then...
The competition we call the European Cup, was officially the "European Champion Club's Cup"** for national league Champions only... and the trophy still actually retains the name.
**It is really the "Coupe des Clubs Champions Europeens", as the FA Blazers discouraged English clubs from taking part in the initial competition. FA supremo Alan Hardaker infamously told a Times journalist, that he did not want to deal with: "wogs & dagoes". beyondthelastman.com/2018/12/12/alan-hardaker-euro-babbler/
You see.. what starts as an exclusive European project only takes a few decades before they let anyone in...!
So basically when it changed from the European Cup into the Champions League then...
The competition we call the European Cup, was officially the "European Champion Club's Cup"** for national league Champions only... and the trophy still actually retains the name.
**It is really the "Coupe des Clubs Champions Europeens", as the FA Blazers discouraged English clubs from taking part in the initial competition. FA supremo Alan Hardaker infamously told a Times journalist, that he did not want to deal with: "wogs & dagoes". beyondthelastman.com/2018/12/12/alan-hardaker-euro-babbler/
You see.. what starts as an exclusive European project only takes a few decades before they let anyone in...!
Thanks for the link, Thad. Yes, Hardaker had a very insular attitude that wouldn't be tolerated today.
It doesn't seem so many years since many things about foreign football seemed odd, and younger spectators today would wonder what I was going on about. It started off by having to play with an unfamiliar spotty ball that made you sick if you stared at it too long. Then their players used to dive and roll around as if they'd just been hit in the leg by a spitfire. I thought it was a competition for who could roll the farthest without getting muddy. Then those bloody refs. There seemed to be a different interpretation of the game depending where in the world you played. South Americans would commit blatant obstruction and call it shielding, while we kicked their players up in the air and called it practice. And what about that army of photographers who always invaded the pitch for the best picture every time there was a goal?
One thing television has done for the game is to standardise refereeing - and I no longer suffer from spotty balls.
the champions league stopped being the champions league when non league winners got entry into the competition
I can see the arugment, but I think the competition benefits from having the best of the rest. There are 2 or 3 VERY strong teams in the Premier League and La Liga every season who can win the cup, to not have the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund etc. would make the competition less interesting.
the champions league stopped being the champions league when non league winners got entry into the competition
I can see the arugment, but I think the competition benefits from having the best of the rest. There are 2 or 3 VERY strong teams in the Premier League and La Liga every season who can win the cup, to not have the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund etc. would make the competition less interesting.
the champions league stopped being the champions league when non league winners got entry into the competition
I can see the arugment, but I think the competition benefits from having the best of the rest. There are 2 or 3 VERY strong teams in the Premier League and La Liga every season who can win the cup, to not have the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund etc. would make the competition less interesting.
Maybe change the name of the competition from Champions League to the "Elite Moneybags of Europe" cup then, or give those teams automatic entry which I suspect would be their ideal?