(29 May 2015, 10:34 am)Andreos1 wrote I have thought about the stadia thing for a while.One comment I heard a while back sent shivers through me, regarding where we found ourselves by 1992(Premier League and Sky entry into the game), it does sound quite bad when I say it but...
I am not sure whether it would have happened or not.
The influx of TV money from the likes of Sky, have possibly helped speed things up - but on the other side of the coin, I am not sure football would have been as marketable - with the old stadiums.
If you go back to the early days of Sky and the Premier League, there were old grounds. Oldham, Boro, Sunderland, Coventry, Southampton etc
With prize money and TV revenue, we gradually saw the stadia improve. Clubs could afford to do it.
Football became glamorous, as a result of three things: Taylor, Premier League and Sky.
There will be exceptions to the rule like, with SJP being extended the first time round via club money and a tie up with Cameron Hall (John Hall paying himself basically) and the whole ball started moving, prior to promotion into the top flight.
It was as if Bradford and Hillsborough had to happen, disasters that were inevitable, if they never happened when they did, it would have happened some other time, I think we needed the wake up call, most grounds had no improvements since the early 20th Century, no new Stadia for nearly 40 years(Roots Hall, Southend).
The one aspect of the Taylor Report I will never agree with is the need for All-seated stadia, Taylor never blamed Terracing for the deaths, that should never have made it into the report.
I believe we needed to get away from the massive kop style terraces, I will never forget being on the Fulwell End at Sunderland in 1990 or 91 and when Sunderland scored I was shoved into the barrier, cut my lip and nearly had a few teeth knocked out when I was smashed into the crush barrier...Though I never minded paddocks The Clock Stand and Main Stand...Did there used to be paddocks at SJP down what is today's Milburn Stand and East Stand???
I will shut up now, am starting to talk shite