The Big Match Revisited

[QPRDave]

I record this programme, it's on every Saturday morning ITV4.
Yesterday's main match 3rd division Palace v Charlton, Dec 1974.
What a pleasure to watch the game I fell in love with.
Starting with the pitch. Kits actually got mud on them, yes you youngsters MUD!
The game played by MEN, within the rules.
No rolling around on the floor after a tackle, no shirt pulling or attempting to hold hands with the oppo.
Corners were defended without arms around the waist.
This was a London derby, as fiercely fought as any but played in the right spirit, and as I say by the rules.
What has happened to the beautiful game?
I do believe holding and shirt pulling needs to be the next thing outlawed in the game.
And policed with zero tolerance

[QPRDave]

The tactics are simpler I'll admit, but the players playing on bumpy muddy pitches, still had some fantastic techniques.
Peter Taylor was on today, showed good skills going past players.
Mike Flanagan, Barry Hales, trapping and controlling the ball with ease, on the floor or chest.
Very direct, and very entertaining.
But when we get our passing game right, we can be good to watch too. So I'm not totally against some parts of the modern game
I noticed yesterday how comfortable our players are receiving the ball in tight areas, and skillfully moving it on to team mates....... sometimes

[wormholt]

football so much better in them days.....for all the points mentioned, on and off the pitch.
just to add when referees actually had the last word, not var.
rather a human error than a robot.

[Abseits]

I was obsessed with watching surges on the terraces back then, I barely paid any heed to the actual game that was being shown. Then, at school on Monday, we'd discuss the merits of the various surges we'd seen. Obviously Liverpool's Kop was the gold-standard - blimey, their surges seemed to start at the back of the towering Kop and compress right at the front, a wave covering 25yds or more! Did spot a few decent ones in The Loft too on The Big Match but ours seemed to break a bit in the middle due to that walkway that cut The Loft in half horizontally.
I'm getting quite dewey-eyed reminiscing about The Loft..... What a fantastic chunk of terrace it was eh!?

[eam1882]

Remember standing in it next to the floodlight by the tea hut.
Happy days.

[wormholt]

loved the old loft....pre 1980 anyway.
the tea hut in the corner...pu now...stood there against man utd 73/74, not for the faint hearted.
usually at the back though, right hand side.
the usual suspects in there, late 60's and all through the 70's.
west ham, millwall, tottenham(except for league cup 73)....chelsea, sheer numbers,(except for night game 75 )
man utd and arsenal couple of times, portsmouth, birmingham once, but never took it.
and bristol city 78, few mobs taken out before ko, but had free travel, thousands down.

the smell of old holborn and golden virginia tobacco, peanut shells all over the terrace after the game.
the kids pen, and spilling your beer down someones back when we scored, toilet rolls thrown on the pitch when we scored, and rattles.

good old days.

[QPRDave]

football so much better in them days.....for all the points mentioned, on and off the pitch.
just to add when referees actually had the last word, not var.
rather a human error than a robot.

Yes exactly. Malcolm Allison was on the show talking to Brian Moore.
And he was saying the refs needed to stop having pressure put on them by the FA to do certain things.
In this case he was saying refs were not allowing play to develop and blowing too early.

[QPRDave]

Wow picture painted in words wormholt

[bhujio]

I also remember getting serious racist abuse from Leeds fans at ours, ( no segregation ).
They had won the first division title.
Went home half time as could not take it anymore and wetting my pants.
I'm glad i did not give up.

[wormholt]

I also remember getting serious racist abuse from Leeds fans at ours, ( no segregation ).
They had won the first division title.
Went home half time as could not take it anymore and wetting my pants.
I'm glad i did not give up.

that game was pretty hairy mate, especially when the final whistle went and a few qpr ran on the pitch towards the halfway line, leeds came on in their thousands, and a reluctant retreat by the loftboys and back on to the loft terrace.....comical really, but it was their day.
sorry to hear about the abuse mate.

[QPRDave]

I also remember getting serious racist abuse from Leeds fans at ours, ( no segregation ).
They had won the first division title.
Went home half time as could not take it anymore and wetting my pants.
I'm glad i did not give up.

Yeah I'm glad you never let the racists drive you away.
Must've been very intimidating

[SheepRanger]

The Big Match was how I got into QPR from rural West Wales. Watching this eventually got me to the point where I refused to go to the chapel for Sunday School as well !!!

[bhujio]

Yeah I'm glad you never let the racists drive you away.
Must've been very intimidating

On a better note,
a few years later,(sorry terrible with dates) away at Reading and 2 of our own fans started the racist abuse.
Unbelievably as some of our fans began to recognise us they stepped in and actually threw the two morons out.
At half time the drinks were on me.
ended up paying around £ 400.00 but worth every penny

[QPRDave]

Restored your faith in people and Rs in particular bhujio I should imagine.

[cross it Dave]

Brian Moore was a great commentator and a gentleman, unfortunately, at present I am listening to that utter #### Carraghar commenting on Spurs v West Ham, he who spat at a 12 year girl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAo6SNt4lLg

Yes, football was far better back then for many reasons.