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In 50 years


parsforlife

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Theres plenty of fans in their 70s + who go to games watching a sport that has changed dramatically in their lifetime, so with the majority on here being fairly young there is a good chance many posters will be in that position in 50 years time, but what will be watching? How will the sport change? How about grounds, the structure of the game etc.

This isn't about what you want to happen, more a prediction of how the sport will change.

I think we could see the following

International movement of refs, i'm slightly surprised this hasn't begun to happen, I could defiantly see it occurring within the next 10-15 years, leagues competing with each other to have the best refs in their league.

Dramatic Increase in technology- this is for things that are a matter of fact only, i don't think it will take long before the current goal-line tech is expanded to cover the full area of the park, but it will take longer for anything else to be done, never the less i'd expect things like offsides and handballs to be covered by the time the 50 years is up.

"worldwide" pyramid, at some point i could see a decision to move away from national leagues and more movement towards having the best clubs playing each other every week.

Artificial surfaces to be the norm- i could easily see a point where we see artificial pitches , with a standard pitch size at every ground, no matter what ground you play at the pitch will typically play almost exactly the same as every other.

I'm sure theres many more things that could be thought of, over to you p&b, lets hear your inaccurate predictions.

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I recently acquired a run of the 1950s & 1960s editions of "Football Champions" which could best be described as 'the thinking boy's football annual', and it is interesting to see what their columnists thought would be happening half a century later - namely, now.

Some things they got right - examples include the full usage of floodlights and 3pm kickoffs; undersoil heating; all-seater stadiums; widespread TV coverage; substitutes; freedom-of-movement; air travel; and no 'maximum wage'.

Some things they got wrong - for example we don't have a European League; promotion/relegation hasn't collapsed in favour of a Super League; there aren't 2 refs, 1 for each half; nor a Ministry of Football; and there isn't a summer season.

Some things they didn't predict - like penalty shootouts; sponsorship; or the influx of foreigners.

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The rules of the game are the rules of the game, I don't see any major changes happening really so a game of football will be pretty much like a game of football today. Really, at this stage all the possible tactical and formation developments have happened and player fitness isn't likely to improve by any tremendous amount. Look at athletics, many records are long standing and those that are broken are usually by very small margins. I think we are already pretty much as far as we can go in terms of developing the human body without science fiction stuff like bionic legs or widespread drug use.

The main differences will be economic, architectural and technological. Stadium design will become more and more advanced and that will filter down even to semi professional level. Synthetic surfaces will become the norm and only the elite level clubs will still use grass. It's probably only a matter of time before replays are used to referee matches, ball technology will probably be used to indicate if a ball has cross any line of the pitch, be it the goal line or throw ins, corners etc. I think linesmen could become extinct as offsides will be detected automatically.

The economic changes are much harder to predict but one thing is sure, it will either expand or contract. Right now it looks like the football economy will probably contract. Most elite level clubs already have enormous debts or are dependent on individual patrons to pay the bills and I suspect that the bubble is bound to burst sooner or later. If there are moves towards more health lifestyles and more government investment in sport we could see football become more local and community based again rather than centered around a two dozen behemoths.

Also I think it is inevitable that football will become less popular as a spectator sport. Even today most kids would rather play FIFA than actually watch a real match and advances in computer game technology, perhaps even realistic virtual reality systems, or other technological advances that we have no concept of presently will eat away at footballs audience by providing alternatives.

Even in my time, although football has a much larger media footprint, I think it's noticeable how it no longer has the same monopoly over the culture as it did in the 1970's or 1980's. Modern life is about variety and making individual choices and as people get more and more variety and are able to make more and more choices, we will see more fragmentation in interests, something that I think is already apparent now.

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ball technology will probably be used to indicate if a ball has cross any line of the pitch, be it the goal line or throw ins, corners etc. I think linesmen could become extinct as offsides will be detected automatically.

That could require some change in the rules, though, as the 'inferring-with-play' element of offside is currently very subjective.

Even in my time, although football has a much larger media footprint, I think it's noticeable how it no longer has the same monopoly over the culture as it did in the 1970's or 1980's. Modern life is about variety and making individual choices and as people get more and more variety and are able to make more and more choices, we will see more fragmentation in interests, something that I think is already apparent now.

Interesting point, that.

Fully expect super clubs to be formed through mergers and super leagues to be formed between them.

It may well happen. What I do find interesting, though, is that people were expecting club mergers and international leagues 50yrs ago and they haven't happened yet.

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Rangers will still be the most successful club in the world, fact.

Linfield? Beyond that pedantry I suspect in 50 years time the major clubs will have broken away from FIFA and there will be an NFL type setup in Europe with no pro/rel. The Old Firm will be on the outside looking in because of their inability to move with the times by merging. Scottish football will be a bit like failed statelet football is now. Still watched by a hard core but with most armchair interest being in the big euro league.

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Something that occurred to me last night - will we see a change in the way teams are managed? A weak point in football at the moment is possibly a reliance on 1 man to be picking the team, motivating the players, making signings, and so on. And this leads to inordinate numbers of sackings every season, in likes of EPL & EFL.

Could we see a gradual move to 'corporate' decision making, by a group of people, perhaps even in team selection?

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