Picture of Charlton pitch (1937) shows what can be played on

Absurdistan

When men were men.



Picture of two Preston players leaving the surface at half-time during a match against Charlton at The Valley in 1937. We won the game 3-1, on the way to finishing second in Division One that season

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2295492/Footballs-golden-years-Think-pitch-Blackpool-poor-shape-You-look-little-lot-.html

limeygent

Soggy footballs weighed about 20 pounds back then, too.

Norfolk_Addick

Different game back then. If you got injured playing on a waterlogged pitch it doesn't mean you're not a man.

Absurdistan

No cover for the packed crowd either.



Another picture from The Valley, this time from 1951 - Billy Kiernan forces the ball home in a Division One game against Stoke in 1951. Charlton struggled for large part of the 1950-51 season, eventually finishing 17th. Stoke didn't fare much better, finishing 13th in the table

Airman Brown

There's a match at The Valley about 1960 shown by the BBC with Frank Bough as commentator. The pitch is nothing but puddles.

Mundell Fleming

Parts of the pitch yesterday may not have been entirely conducive to the type of football we are now used to seeing, but it was not unplayable.

From the comments I've read, it seems that the referee may have been primarily concerned by safety issues. It would be nice to know what the thinking was.

paulsturgess

I think the date of these pictures answers the questions that those posters are asking. We re referring to photographs 60-80 years old here. People were still using outside toilets back in them days. Shinpads hadnt been invented. Both football and life in general were completely different back then. Standards today have changed hugely, and on the whole for the better. Those matches are irrelevant comparisons.

Mundell Fleming

paulsturgess said:

I think the date of these pictures answers the questions that those posters are asking. We re referring to photographs 60-80 years old here. People were still using outside toilets back in them days. Shinpads hadnt been invented. Both football and life in general were completely different back then. Standards today have changed hugely, and on the whole for the better. Those matches are irrelevant comparisons.

Take another look at the dates under some of the pictures. Love the bit about outside toilets and shinpads!! Why no reference to Cave painting?!!

Absurdistan

I watch a bit of South American football, quite a few games are played with loads of water on the pitch.
Last night Independiente played goais in Brasil A league, puddles all over the pitch, but they played. The players on the pitch worth way more than ours or Donnies. eg Leandro (bloke Spurs have bid 20 odd million for). No injuries, Independiente came back from 3-1, final score 3-3. Ball was sticking in puddles all over the pitch but they coped. Was the same for both teams.

RedPanda

Absurdistan said:

I watch a bit of South American football, quite a few games are played with loads of water on the pitch.
Last night Independiente played goais in Brasil A league, puddles all over the pitch, but they played. The players on the pitch worth way more than ours or Donnies. eg Leandro (bloke Spurs have bid 20 odd million for). No injuries, Independiente came back from 3-1, final score 3-3. Ball was sticking in puddles all over the pitch but they coped. Was the same for both teams.

Even when they do get called off the fans have a laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzLvf2yGCJQ

thai malaysia addick

Were goalmouths always mudheaps in mid-winter back in the 60s and 70s? Or, is it just my imagination?

March51

Airman Brown said:

There's a match at The Valley about 1960 shown by the BBC with Frank Bough as commentator. The pitch is nothing but puddles.

Actually 6/3/65, Airman. The match was played in blizzard conditions and ended in a 1 - 3 defeat to Bolton, a young Francis Lee ploughing through the mud to get two of them, Frank bough's commentary could be called 'minimalist', as he didn't seem to know any of the player's names! Can supply a copy if you ever want to see it again.

soccergibbo

Charlton's pitch was always heavy wet or dry. It was very different to other pitches which took its toll on your legs, similar to wembely.

soapy_jones

Just make the overpaid under performing twats play on it. Fuck h&s and just get the fuck stuck in, studs n all !!!

"Ooahh no, these £250 pound pink boots are going to get all scuffed!"

"How's my perma-tanned WAG wannabe slapper of a girlfriend gonna get from the bling 4x4 in the car park to her seat if her fucking great arse tattoo gets wet on the way?"

meldrew66

There is no such thing as an 'unplayable' pitch; every condition is, of course, playable. The fact is, the pitch on Saturday simply did not meet current 'minimum standards' and, therefore, warranted postponement. If you were there, you would have seen that 2 of the 3 Donny goals were absolutely down to the waterlogged pitch; maybe even all 3, arguably. We will never know how well we would have turned the shocking home goalmouth and the 10-man opposition to our advantage. A part of me would have loved to see the second half. However, a bigger part knows that we 'had a result' with the abandonment at 1-3 down AND given how poor we are so far this season.

Off_it

paulsturgess said:

I think the date of these pictures answers the questions that those posters are asking. We re referring to photographs 60-80 years old here. People were still using outside toilets back in them days. Shinpads hadnt been invented. Both football and life in general were completely different back then. Standards today have changed hugely, and on the whole for the better. Those matches are irrelevant comparisons.

Agree with the sentiments of this. I would also add that football back in those days was a cheap form of entertainment for, mainly, working class people who had physically more demanding lives than we have today in the main. So they would expect people to get "stuck in" more and not be too concerned about the pure entertainment value - arguably a game on a pitch like that is entertaining enough, though not in pure footballing terms.

Plus, the players. Back in those days they were largely cannon fodder, what with the maximum wage and all that. People didn't really care too much if they got injured as they were cheap to replace. Nowadays they are highly valued assets that are wrapped in cotton wool to a large extent and, arguably, the balance of power has shifted too far rthe other way.

Even comparing things now to the 80's is different. How many times do you hear of players having injections before the game to enable them to play with a broken toe, neck, back etc! The likes of Bryan Robson needed injections before virtually every game!

ME14addick

If we had carried on, the pitch would have taken quite a lot of punishment and then we would be moaning about the state of the pitch for weeks to come.

Chris_from_Sidcup

Absurdistan said:

I watch a bit of South American football, quite a few games are played with loads of water on the pitch.
Last night Independiente played goais in Brasil A league, puddles all over the pitch, but they played. The players on the pitch worth way more than ours or Donnies. eg Leandro (bloke Spurs have bid 20 odd million for). No injuries, Independiente came back from 3-1, final score 3-3. Ball was sticking in puddles all over the pitch but they coped. Was the same for both teams.

Aren't they Argentinean?

Chris_from_Sidcup

Independiente i meant