Very interesting. I think that in the 1950s football was more tribal. A larger proportion of the men in a city would go to a match - fewer women. The men you had gone to school with and the men you worked with would be there. The footballers would often have gone to local schools and most had been at the club most of their career; they lived locally and arrived at the ground on the same bus as the fans.It was the local team. However, the tribalism was less negative. I seem to remember Puskas playing at Wolves and being cheered. He was arguably the best player in the world and had shortly before destroyed England at Wembley. To have criticized him for being a great footballer would have seemed ridiculous to football fans. About ten years ago Ronaldhino played at The Walkers in a friendly and was boosed -presumably for having played well against England shortly before.There was an affection toward Matthews as fans laughed at the futile efforts of their local left back to cope with him. It may well be an urban legend but I was told that an Arsenal once had a left back called Dennis Evans who had been given a total runaround by Matthews. In the last minute with the result no longer in doubt Matthews got the ball and Evans just waved him past - a gesture that was cheered by Arsenal fans. It would not happen today. Nevertheless I think the fans are better now than they were in the 1970s. In 2002 (I think) we played a match with a black referee and at half time a girls football team paraded round. I did not hear a single racist or sexist comment. It is easy to take this for granted but in the 1970s there would have been some very unpleasant words used. Of course in one way 1970s fans were wiser. When a 1970s fan said Frank Worthington was an excellent striker they showed good judgement. Some of todays fans say the same thing about Beckford
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