West Ham - champions for two years running .
Arrests and banning orders have gone the same way as football in general and maybe even society as a whole.
Old days - a defender could blatantly kick a Maradona or Best 5 times before a yellow. You'd have to dismember someone for a red. Not good in terms of great players expressing themselves, but now it seems the other extreme of protection and players rolling around after a ' touch'.
Similarly with hooliganism : in the old days serious fisticuffs got you arrested - now a few 'hurty words' and a three year ban can ensue, as evidenced by the Newcastle fan recently found guilty of 'wrongthink'.
Another Newcastle fan got a three year banning order for 'Munich' comments v Man Utd. As unpalatable as the latter is, I'm not sure a 3 yr ban is justified (surely a 1 year ban teaches the lesson enough).
But , while there's no shortage of customers, clubs can be as choosy as they like and the police & courts seem hotter than ever on 'relatively' minor offences, (while BBC News presenters ...)
Some reports say hooliganism is on the rise again. I don't really agree. I think, rather, that the bar for what you can get arrested & banned for has dropped significantly in recent years.
Anyway at least we can now attend matches these days without any real fear of violence.
Millwall away 23rd October - maybe the only place I still may not get a home ticket, though, if Argyle sold out the away end
fanbanter.co.uk
