The Making Of A Football Player.

Oh I dunno - it's all part of the game. We were pretty effective at cheating our way through in 1966

 

As opposed to not personally being in the refs room and indeed being somewhere else instead you mean?

 

Or Liverpool's League, League cup and FA Cup wins when they were being bankrolled by a m,major pools company and, to all intents and purposes, a publicly funded football club.

 

Nor any of Celtic's trophies because, well, just because really.

 

And what about the Bruce Grobbelaar match fixing? It's all pretty easy to point the finger. If we go down this road we risk having empty record books.

 

It works for Sky Sports - football never started until 1992 as far as they're concerned.

 

I don't give a fuck.

Italy have won the World Cup twice.

On two seperate occassions, they've won a completely seperate stage-managed fascist rally.

 

Right, so nothing ever won in football counts.

Fresh start?

 

Sorry BD, but in the end, it's only the book that counts.

 

Nah, man - just those two world cups (and maybe the Argie one).

 

I obviously don't recall 1934 and 1938 but the Argie one, the first i remember watching, was quite unbelievable. I think they'd have quite happily had opposing players murdered on the field if they'd needed to.

 

I suppose we'd now have to include the 66 win because of the "no goal?"

 

Let's ask ER what he remembers from the 1934 and 1938 games, he was in his prime back then so the memories won't be too fuzzy

 

Nah - have to include that because of dubious sendings off at inopportune times in England matches, biased refereeing and other countires not getting the rub of the green - pretty much like every other host nation but we just had to go and win the thing and make it look all the more dodgy!

 

I'm Scottish, mate.

I'd pish my pants if that one was stripped.

It shouldn't be, though, as it had no bearing on the final result and it was just one decision - England should've won in normal time if they hadn't leaked a goal from a badly defended set piece.

The first two Italian "wins" were not sporting undertakings - they were more fixed than the game at the end of Escape to Victory

 

From what I've been reading BD, you have every right to question Italy's 34 win. Of course there is no concrete proof the Il Duce actually manufactured the outcome. Sure he seems to have had a quiet chat with the ref before the game, which doesn't look good in light of the 2 footed challenge in the Czech box wasn't awarded, but they still played well. From what I gather, t he oriundi were part and parcel of the Italian game well before the WC came around, so they've done no more that a heap of other countries have done, including England. Look at the National cricket team's history. Can't have one rule for some, and yet another for everyone else.

As for the 38 win in France, it looks to have been won on merit, even though both Germany and Spain had withdrawn. The Italians can't be blamed for beating only those who showed up.

 

of course, you mean the BIG book.

please log in to view this image

 

Well, that's not the book I was talking about AR, but each to his own I guess.

Show business was pretty big in those days, but it had a lot to do with the loss of life.

I remember reading somewhere of the athletics they had in those days. It was a lot different to the sport we now enjoy, but it nevertheless, was supposed to be exciting stuff.