30 Apr 2026 09:47:54
Young players now are too shy and immature. They play no street football. As youngsters they go to training on their 4G pitches, not the gravel pitches we used to play on were you had to pick stones out of your kneecaps for days after. They arrive in their flip flops and fancy hairstyles. We went to training without a drink of water; we all shared the shame bottles the coach filled up from his garden tap. No headers and volleys played in the street, no playing against other kids from the neighbourhood. I remember being 13 and playing against 18 year olds who, if you took the ball off them, they would kick you into next week, but it toughened you up.
You didn’t cry; you just got up and did it again. The kids now play the ps and don’t turn into men; they stay we boys. I met the young lad George few weeks ago and he was quite as a mouse had the toughness of a 9 year old. 16 years olds 20/30 years ago were like fully matured men compared to this lot. Kids now are too weak, too quiet and not confident enough; they are still little boys 21 going on 13.
{Ed025's Note - i can relate to what you are saying there Dino, i myself played in the Bootle JOC at the tender age of 15, it was a very tough league and i remember seeing a guy with 2 ears once, but as you say it made a man of me mate..
30 Apr 2026 10:54:32
I get where you're coming from, Dino. I used to play for Collegiate Old Boys and it was the same sort of environment. We'd train and play with and against lads anywhere from 16 to 60, and the older fellas didn't hold back at all. If you got caught in a tackle, that was your problem, you just got up and carried on.
It toughened us up as kids because you had to learn fast, and nobody was putting an arm around you or easing off. Totally different world to what a lot of young players grow up in now.
30 Apr 2026 11:06:06
Don't fully agree, just as tough now as it was, just us 'older ones' memories are clogged. ?? Taught my lad to play hard but fair, don't take any crap, but don't argue with decisions. Only time I saw him pissed off was when the referee wanted to abandon, horizontal rain, freezing sleet.
They're all coming off the pitch, except my lad, stood there arms out. He jacked it in shortly after, took up fell running, that is tough.
30 Apr 2026 11:09:46
I remember one time in school the teachers joined in a game against the pupils, and Jimmy Flynn, the history teacher who smelt of booze all the time, kicked me so hard I was bruised for 2 weeks. My Dad said, son, he never kicked you hard enough.
30 Apr 2026 11:32:36
Just as tough nowadays lol. That made me laugh so hard I nearly took a heart attack. A jam donut is tougher than the kids now. You talk to most kids and they look at you as if you come from space, they start shaking and staring at the floor. Something isn't right, I blame the phones and social media, it's ruining the kids' heads.
{Ed025's Note - i blame discipline Dino especially in schools, if we were out of line we got the cane or the dreaded trainer across the backside mate, it kept kids in line but now they would be taken to court and prosecuted so they do what they bloody well want..
30 Apr 2026 12:26:41
Hmm, not sure I fully agree. When I played for Everton Schoolboys through to the U 16 I wasn't allowed to play any school matches or for Saturday or Sunday teams.
Yes, the football was tougher because everyone wanted to play for their club. But we still got spoilt, just to a different level than now.
It's just a different game now than it was back then, and it happens in all sports.
Even rugby, which was one of the hardest sports you could play, has changed. Cameras everywhere, and the sly smack you used to get away with hardly happens now.
It's just that things evolve, not saying it's for the better, it just happens.
30 Apr 2026 12:13:27
Spot on ed society is a joke now
{Ed025's Note - it really is Dino, i cant remember my mum asking me if i have got my knife when i was going out...my money and keys yes...but not a knife ffs mate
30 Apr 2026 16:58:38
During the War
{Ed025's Note - love it JB..
30 Apr 2026 21:06:54
I have to say I disagree with the school discipline Ed. Every school one worked in has behaviour policies rooted in psychology and the majority of kids get it. All the kids I've worked with who have poor behaviour have difficult home lives. There are many factors that affect this but domestic violence is up there near the top. Hitting kids with canes or trainers doesn't resolve any of that.
Sort out the home life and the discipline is sorted. The knife thing is not a school thing, it's a societal thing.
{Ed025's Note - i never said knife crime was a school thing BR, its certainly a social problem mate that for me stems from ill discipline and knowing that the punishment and consequences will be minimal, im not advocating beatings by the way, violence solves nothing..
01 May 2026 10:57:16
Sorry Ed - misread your post as 'bring back the cane'!
Since the government closed all the centres to support families, behaviour has declined. Lots of parents don't have the support in place and kids go off the rails. The training school staff have to have these days to deal with stuff non education based is crazy: 'positive' handling, pastoral work, safeguarding, medical the role is far from that in the pre-2000s when the focus was on English, Maths and Science. It's part teacher, part social worker, part medic, part legal, it's mad.
The game of football has moved on also. Skill has become more valued than brute force. Like BMD says, there's enough cameras around the game these days for players not to get away with stuff they used to. Bullying teams is less likely and refs don't let things go like they used to. The play acting hasn't helped; rolling round and round to exaggerate a foul should be addressed but refs won't do it.
{Ed025's Note - the key word for me BR is "respect"..or lack of it i should say, the justice system is all to cock for me mate and kids can do what they want without any consequences, i was terrified of the police when i was younger but now young guys just laugh at them because they know they can basically get away with anything, the justice system is a joke because we have seen rapists get 8 years and spend that in a prison that resembles Butlins then coming out after 4 to re-offend again, i give up with it all now, this country is finished imo..