Your favourite football decade

[DA Baracus]

90s for me. We were always involved at either end of the table for the most part, so it was always eventful. The league win in 1996 is still my favourite time following the club.

Most of my favourite players played during this time. My favourite Pars manager was in charge for much of the decade. East End wasn't the dull, empty all seater pish we have now. My favourite Pars kits are from the 90s too!

As another posted mentioned, Football Italia was on free TV when Serie A was the best league in the world with the best players. The Saturday morning show was essential viewing and the Sunday live games were usually good.

Sportscene was usually good too. They pandered far less to Celtic and Rangers. They often had a First Division game on as their main match and gave good coverage to all teams.

World Cup 94 is the first major tournament I really remember. Euro 96 is the first I watched loads of. France 98 remains by favourite tournament. In international terms there were so many great players. I don't doubt there are today, but I couldn't name that many compared to in the 90s.

Scotland had a good team and qualified for stuff. Compared to what followed, the talent we had was exceptional. Also the Scotland strips of the 90s were class.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

90's for me definitely. Turned 18 in 1990 so obviously the world opened up for me in many ways.

Falkirk then annihilated the First Division that season with a Jefferies/Stainrod/McGivern dream team. What a laugh it was following that side around. 93/94 was amazing as well - Cadette, Weir, the threat of liquidation and the glorious end to the season in the Clydebank sunshine.

1997 when despite having a bang average league team we were invincible in the Scottish, and a late Neil Oliver equaliser set up an extra time win over some nobodies in the final. True story - I had my first date with my wife that very evening (I met her 10 days before).

1998 when we did indeed enter provisional liquidation but paid back 100 fuxking percent of our debt to survive. Not a happy memory, but some pride involved there. Kudos to Partick Thistle who brought a game forward to help us get some cash in the till to help out.

Barring the period 04/05 to 08/09 it's been absolutely miserable since then, barring a couple of near misses.

[Swello]

1990's for me. Some of it is obvious given we won the cup in that decade but Tommy McLean's "next" good team (Tommy Coyne, Paul Lambert, Brian Martin, etc) is still my favourite 'Well team I've ever seen. I made it to Germany (on a bus) to see us play Dortmund in the Uefa cup, which to this day is a massive highlight. Seeing Motherwell finishing at the top end of the league was a new thing for all of us and was brilliant fun.

In a more abstract sense, the '90s was also the end days of "old fitba" which stuck me hard when I watched the replay of the 91 final on the BBC a few months back. The 90's contained the last days of the terracing experience for top level clubs, the end of which ripped a lot of fun out of matchdays for me but also saw the end of true shithole facilities that we used to put up with (I'm looking at you Old Tynecastle).

Football was ridiculously cheaper then but the signs were there of the restrictive practices that arrived with the advent of the Champions League and "Premierships"  and the move away from Football being an affordable working class pastime to the comparatively  more middle class thing it is today.  The 1990s were also the end of clubs being able to genuinely challenge the OF for the title (setting Aberdeen up for a tilt at it in 1991 by beating Rangers 3-0 at Fir Park in the penultimate league game was great times).

When I rewatched that '91 final (which was the first time I had watched it in it's entirety for at least 20 years) - it felt way more anachronistic than I expected. Obvious things like the passbacks being allowed dated it - but it was also clear that the game was just different. Tackles were harder (which I fucking loved), players were a bit less obviously conditioned/athletic and there was a greater variation in their physical characteristics that allowed things to be pleasingly random. Football before the law of diminishing returns kicked in was just more fun in my opinion. 

From a personal point of view - although I still go to most games in a season, the first half of the 90's was the time when I went to the football every week and had less other stuff that got in the way  - some of those seasons I made it to every game and as I didn't have a car then, it was all pished bus and train trips and I've got brilliant memories of it. 

Also gives me the excuse to post my favourite (but lesser known) goal of that time that summed up our team then...

 

[Suspect Device]

1 hour ago, Bob Mahelp said:

I didn't realise that there was any other decade than the 80's. 

I was lucky enough to be in Munich, Genk for the semi final, and then Gothenburg. The buzz will never leave me. 

Chuck in a few league titles, some Scottish cups, a couple of league cups,  a European super cup, Spandau Ballet and Wham, and it wasn't a bad time. 

 

 

WTF?

 

[Dunfermline Don]

Predictably it has to be the 80s. After the disappointment of losing two league cup finals in 79 I finally got to see the Dons win the title at Easter Road in 1980.
Cup Finals day in May started to be taken for granted and Europe’s finest also started to fall at our feet.
It was also a time when I moved on from going to the games with my Dad to going with my pals. Things could also get a bit ‘tasty’ on the terraces and outside the ground in those days.
Moving down to London to work in the late 80s opened up a possibility of going to see a different team every week. In those days you could just turn up at grounds on the day, all ticket games were the exception.
Living in South London I was also able to see Wimbledon and Palace both reach Cup Finals.
In 1990 I followed the National team to the World Cup before going off to work on cruise ships in July that year. By the time I gave that up in 98 football had totally changed.

[SouthLanarkshireWhite]

The 70s

1. I was young enough to not suffer from cynicism and watched football with an optimistic eye.

2. Scotland were good, Wembley 77 being the best.

3. Players played for something other than money

4. Clyde were still visiting grounds like Tynecastle, Dens, Tannadice & Fir Park

5. Terracings

6. It was cheap.

[betting competition]

3 hours ago, Suspect Device said:

 

WTF?

 

I was hoping picks for Orange Juice and Josef K 

or even this band early stuff

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by betting competition

[Archie McSquackle]

1990's for me. Some of it is obvious given we won the cup in that decade but Tommy McLean's "next" good team (Tommy Coyne, Paul Lambert, Brian Martin, etc) is still my favourite 'Well team I've ever seen. I made it to Germany (on a bus) to see us play Dortmund in the Uefa cup, which to this day is a massive highlight. Seeing Motherwell finishing at the top end of the league was a new thing for all of us and was brilliant fun.
In a more abstract sense, the '90s was also the end days of "old fitba" which stuck me hard when I watched the replay of the 91 final on the BBC a few months back. The 90's contained the last days of the terracing experience for top level clubs, the end of which ripped a lot of fun out of matchdays for me but also saw the end of true shithole facilities that we used to put up with (I'm looking at you Old Tynecastle).
Football was ridiculously cheaper then but the signs were there of the restrictive practices that arrived with the advent of the Champions League and "Premierships"  and the move away from Football being an affordable working class pastime to the comparatively  more middle class thing it is today.  The 1990s were also the end of clubs being able to genuinely challenge the OF for the title (setting Aberdeen up for a tilt at it in 1991 by beating Rangers 3-0 at Fir Park in the penultimate league game was great times).
When I rewatched that '91 final (which was the first time I had watched it in it's entirety for at least 20 years) - it felt way more anachronistic than I expected. Obvious things like the passbacks being allowed dated it - but it was also clear that the game was just different. Tackles were harder (which I fucking loved), players were a bit less obviously conditioned/athletic and there was a greater variation in their physical characteristics that allowed things to be pleasingly random. Football before the law of diminishing returns kicked in was just more fun in my opinion. 
From a personal point of view - although I still go to most games in a season, the first half of the 90's was the time when I went to the football every week and had less other stuff that got in the way  - some of those seasons I made it to every game and as I didn't have a car then, it was all pished bus and train trips and I've got brilliant memories of it. 
Also gives me the excuse to post my favourite (but lesser known) goal of that time that summed up our team then...
 

Totally agree with all of that. As an illustration of the increase in cost, accepting it was terracing and 30 years ago, an adult ticket for the 91 cup final was £7!

I remember that goal against Thistle well. We could have scored a barrel load that day. I met up with a mate who's a Jags fan for a few drinks after it and he was amazed at how good we'd been.

The game that followed that on my YouTube feed was a 2-1 win which kept us up and relegated Falkirk. Another one that perfectly captured all that is great about football at our level - some wonderful play (Cooper's passing [emoji7]), bonkers goalkeeping from Sieb, goalmouth scrambles and a great crowd (including a huge Falkirk turn-out) and atmosphere.

I'm getting all sentimental!

[Swello]

41 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said:

Totally agree with all of that. As an illustration of the increase in cost, accepting it was terracing and 30 years ago, an adult ticket for the 91 cup final was £7!

I remember that goal against Thistle well. We could have scored a barrel load that day. I met up with a mate who's a Jags fan for a few drinks after it and he was amazed at how good we'd been.

The game that followed that on my YouTube feed was a 2-1 win which kept us up and relegated Falkirk. Another one that perfectly captured all that is great about football at our level - some wonderful play (Cooper's passing ), bonkers goalkeeping from Sieb, goalmouth scrambles and a great crowd (including a huge Falkirk turn-out) and atmosphere.

I'm getting all sentimental!
 

I was *shiting myself* before and during that game - wasn't so nervous again until the Rangers playoff.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

There's no way I'm watching that. Please tell me it's not the one where Martindale single handedly took it upon himself to f**k us up?

[Swello]

13 minutes ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

There's no way I'm watching that. Please tell me it's not the one where Martindale single handedly took it upon himself to f**k us up?

It's worse - it's the one where we relegated you (and avoided a playoff with Airdrie in the process) - probably don't watch it.

[Archie McSquackle]

Don't have any idea what game you're talking about but I think the ref was Waddell.

[Archie McSquackle]

Did we beat Airdrie in the previous game to set this game up?

[Andy_K_97]

I started watching Killie in 96/97, I'm too young to remember the days of Tommy Burns and the revival of the club after going down to the second division. I do remember the buzz around the town when we got to the final and the buzz that was there for a good while afterwards, so for me that was pretty good.

The early 00s were alright - other than the cup final disappointments of 01 and 07 and the disappointment of being utterly gash and Gretna saving us in 08, it was a largely stable period where we had good youth prospects making it to the first team.

The 10s started with a big let-off for us, but the cup final win over Celtic was absolutely magic. Unfortunately a year later started the dross that came under Johnston, then the near-escape from relegation in the play-offs, then a bit of stability under Lee Clark. After that came the gloom of the McCulloch tenure, but when Steve Clarke came it started probably the most enjoyable time I've ever had as a Killie fan and I only wish it had lasted a bit longer. Since then it's been a bit of a hangover from then - but to answer the question I'd have to say despite the lows the 10s were my favourite time as the highs more than made up for it. 

[PauloPerth]

Mostly 90's, but I've cheated a bit. The end of the Totten era and the subsequent Mclelland era in the early 90's I would bin to make way for the last two at Muirton which I have to include.

The second last season (87-88) at Muirton, we were in the bottom league and had an epic struggle with Ayr for the title. Played some great football and the games between Saints and Ayr at Muirton and Somerset all had crowds over 5000 at them.  We finished runners up and all piled on the pitch after a Willie Watters hat trick saw us gub Arbroath and the whole team threw their strips to the crowd, to get a row later on for the cost!

The final season at Muirton was great in the old first division. Great away trips to East End, Brockville, Firhill, Cappielow, Starks Park, old Douglas Park, Somerset etc. We made a Scottish Cup semi final for the first time in decades(?) as a part-time team and held rangers 0-0.

Onto McDiarmid and one of the most entertaining teams we've seen at the new stadium, won the first division title. Sell-outs for top of the table clashes at home to Thistle and an epic title decider v Airdrie, and an average crowd of 6000 in the second tier.  It's so hard to believe now, but McDiarmid was absolutely rocking back then.  Some brilliant away days as well.

Into the 90's and a run of 5 games which involved hammering Aberdeen, drawing v Celtic and rangers and winning at Tynecastle and Tannadice, unheard of for a newly promoted team against the big 5.  That game at Tannadice was magic. There were a fair few arabs i knew in Perth who'd taunted Saints throughout the 80's as we were shite and they were doing great in Europe.  We took probably the biggest away support I've ever been at for a Saints league game, about 4500 packing the Raymond Stewart enclosure and round behind the goal as we beat them.  Sure the average at McDiarmid that season was over 9000, the record season at the new ground.

The mid 90's had a brilliant first division title race.  I think 4 teams were in the running right up to the last few weeks. Utd, Dunfermline, Saints, Morton (?) and I think Dundee had a decent season as well.  Under Sturrock we went back up a year or so later.

Late 90's saw us finish 3rd, watching Saints play in Monaco in the UEFA cup, and reach a league cup final.

It's such a cliched thing to say, and I'll deservedly get stick for it, but it's hard to describe how good going to the football was back then to fans who never experienced it. So much more freedom, there was sing songs at games by most sets of fans, and the terracing made it.  The games seemed more attacking, but that might just be how I remember it.  Age might come into it as well; as a teenager going with your mates it's obviously going to be memorable.  The 90's was also the best decade for music, and football was just starting to be popular in the media and on tv again after Italia 90.

 

In terms of the success of the team, the 2010's were phenomenal. 

 

[Arch Stanton]

It's got to be the 80s. 

Finished 3rd in the league,  4 seasons in Europe, Anglo-Scottish Cup win, Scottish Cup win, around 15 wins against the OF.

[ropy]

My favourite decade was the extra time the last time we won at Parkhead.

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

The 2010s will be almost certainly be as good as it gets for a County fan. League Cup winners, Scottish Cup finalists, 2 promotions to the top flight and a couple of top six finishes as well.

[tarapoa]

The 80s (no surprise for a Dons fan), but leaving that aside........

World Cup, Euros and European football felt glamorous and special - not just another part of the uber saturated coverage of this day and age.

Picked up these babies off ebay recently - so much more fun to read about football in those days - and the 'iron curtain' slant made football in the USSR, Yugoslavia, DDR far more interesting than the current day equivalent of the seven Brazilians who have pitched up at Shakhtar Donetsk.

 

 

[WilliamBragg]

3 hours ago, tarapoa said:

The 80s (no surprise for a Dons fan), but leaving that aside........

World Cup, Euros and European football felt glamorous and special - not just another part of the uber saturated coverage of this day and age.

Picked up these babies off ebay recently - so much more fun to read about football in those days - and the 'iron curtain' slant made football in the USSR, Yugoslavia, DDR far more interesting than the current day equivalent of the seven Brazilians who have pitched up at Shakhtar Donetsk.

 

 

There is no better football magazine than World Soccer.

Have been reading it every month since 1993 and is great for those who don't just want to read about the English Premiership. 

Is worth getting a hold of their 60th anniversary edition from a few months ago to see their features throughout the years.