Welcome to Issue 270 of Red All Over The Land.
Since issue 269 came out things have been a bit mixed to say the least. Sky’s biggest game of the season, the one you are advised not to miss ended 0-0. The proud long unbeaten home league run ended – all unbeaten runs end sometime but why against bloody Burnley? As expected we’re out the FA Cup after losing in Salford; but we don’t usually stay in the FA Cup too long these days so no surprise there. The pessimists were starting to outnumber the optimists but then we go and win back to back games in London playing more like the team we were a year or so back. To cap it all, just as the clock was ticking we signed not one centre half, but two. Then came Brighton. Just so you don’t get too depressed that’s the only mention that game will get in this Issue but it will be mentioned in Issue 271. Sorry, but that’s how Fanzine life is. We’re not going to win the league so it’s all about the Champions League now; and qualifying for it next season. It won’t be easy.
This Issue contains articles that show how much we miss going to games. There are a lot of articles coming in about how it used to be. The fact we can’t go to football matches is still hard to take in; something I, and thousands like me, have taken for granted since we were kids in short trousers. I first went to a game in 1955 and since then, whether it was professional football or park football, from August to April my weekends have been about football. I know from a worldwide perspective millions of fans satisfy their lust for Premier League football via a television screen but from where I sit, it’s light years from being an alternative to the real thing. From a Fanzine and a social point of view, going to, and being at, the match is where so much of life is. It’s where you meet like-minded people and rightly or wrongly, life often revolves around the game. Celebrating a win or drowning sorrows on your own will never feel right. I couldn’t even get upset when we lost those home games.
FSG have had a few darts thrown at them in recent weeks over what was seen to be their reluctance to spend money on new players. Nobody actually said who they should be spending the money on, and reading a few accounts not too many clubs were thinking of selling players either. How many clubs are actually spending money right now? Even the big shots across the continent of Europe aren’t splashing the cash so it’s not just FSG sitting tight. Maybe it’s making the leagues more interesting, which pleases the TV moguls even though it doesn’t do a lot for such as me.
I’ve said all along, if we can get through this season and if there is a sense of normality ahead then that will be the time to judge whether keeping the money in the pocket was the wisest thing to do or not. Liverpool, like the others, are losing millions in match day revenue and that is impacting throughout the city, in the hospitality sector and even public transport – ask a Merseyside cabbie. When all of this is done, if we’ve got the same owners, the same manager and the same players, that in itself will be a crumb of comfort.
Finally thanks to monies raised in the pre-Chrimbo draw we’re now able to support The Florrie – a locally based project. See the final page for details of our plans. Also look out for Red All Over 1965 and Red All Over YouTube!!!!
JJP: I was so depressed the other day I played a Leonard Cohen LP to cheer me up.