oldUSAfan

What a difference between today and 1950. The last time I was in attendance for a Feyenoord game was 1952. Feyenoord was still an amateur club. A ticket behind the goal was 50 cents. In 1953 I moved to the USA. It is no different here. To see a game one has to virtually mortgage his house. Personally I blame the owners. Their willingness to pay players ungodly sums of money is one big reason for the high price of a ticket.

Why is there so much fuss being made over opposition fans? Living in the USA, I have attended numerous sporting events where there were as many visitor fans as home team fans. I have never witnessed any kind of problem. Any disagreement is always snuffed out by the stadium security or a uniformed police person. Stadium security is dispersed in the crowd. Thus they can observe the actions of the fans and react immediately.

My fondest memory is the generosity of a stranger. In 1950 or 1951 the square nickel (vierkante stuiver) had been taken out of circulation. When attempting to buy my ticket at he gate, (25 cents at that time) all I had was two dimes and the now worthless nickel. The ticket agent refused to give me a ticket. The next person in line gave the new round nickel. A very small amount, but for a 10 year old boy is was a gift of a lifetime.

In my judgement the offside rule needs to be adjusted. Being offside by a finger is crazy. It should be more in the order of half body or a full body. Something a little clearer to see.

It is hard to believe the conditions that are in place at stadiums across the Netherlands. I was a child of nine years when I went to my first game at Feyenoord stadium. The year was 1949. Entry cost was 50 cents. Football was still amateur. From 1949 to 1952 I was at nearly every game at Feyenoord. Never was there any kind of disturbance. Did all this change because of professionalism? Or are the patrons that bitter when their team loses?

As a boy I lived in Rotterdam, in the shadow of de kuip. At that time Feyenoord was still an amateur club. I remember great players signing with professional clubs in other countries. What happened when football became professional in the Netherlands? Did it become an out and out business? How do you buy and sell players as if they were a car?

I know that the Dutch are open minded and quite liberal. There have been several instances of bad fan behavior in Dutch stadiums. What I can't understand is how this can go on time and time again. Here in the United States it is impossible to bring any sort of fireworks into a stadium. Every patron goes through a metal detector, bags and pocketbooks are checked. Security inside is trained to spot any person making trouble. That person is removed on the spot. Should something happen that can not be contro...