Your favourite era of football

[JSArsenal]

I had this idea for a thread but then realised I have no idea what span of time an "era" should be. Try not to focus solely on your own team's success, which is hard to do I suppose when talking about favourite eras but the quality of football on a whole.

For me it's 2006-2012. I don't think football has ever been better quality wise. The game had somewhat moved away from the thuggery of the likes of Keane and the Crazy gang but had yet to devolve into the CrossFit fest that is modern football.

Great players, top managers who all had different styles and brilliant games that were brilliant for more than the number of goals scored. I also feel those six years had the biggest talent pool of past and present stars all playing at the same time.

Outside of England, there weren't any monopolies as well. I could be wrong but I also feel like the top league sides were more consistent. Now Spurs can be second one season and sixth the next. Back then, the top sides were the top sides by and large. With Everton close behind.

 

[Reditus]

1990 - 2013

 

[Jim Beam]

For me it's 2006-2012. I don't think football has ever been better quality wise. The game had somewhat moved away from the thuggery of the likes of Keane and the Crazy gang but had yet to devolve into the CrossFit fest that is modern football.

Am actually offended.

 

[elnorte]

2006 - 2008

 

[Lee565]

95-99

 

[GueRed]

I stopped reading after "thuggery of the likes of Keane"

 

[youngrell]

I’d say the late nineties were my favourite because I was obsessed with Championship Manager around that time which meant I had a big interest in all the big leagues around Europe as well as United.

It felt like there was barely a team or player I didn’t know everything about and I loved that.

There was also France 98 and all the great players around then. The Treble just capped it off.

 

[Mibabalou]

Going to agree with the whole 2006ish to 2012ish


Football has turned into a fitness event and all too calculated now - off the pitch dont even get me started its Oil State FC vs FC Oilgarch at this point - all too centralized for the big teams.

 

[Reditus]

I stopped reading after "thuggery of the likes of Keane"

And coming from an Arsenal fan. Vieira was no saint. And then the old Arsenal club of Adams, Keown, Winterburn etc..

 

[led_scholes]

I am not so sure how we can define an era. For example is 2010-2020 Ronaldo-Messi Era or crazy inlfation, sugar daddy clubs era etc.

Anyway if I limit an era in a span of 10 years then it is 2000-2010, as I feel it is the decade with the most amazing players ever.

 

[OleBoiii]

I'm gonna limit myself to a 5 year period to make it a little harder for myself.

2006 - 2011

We start off with a bang: Zidane's headbutt in the final of a really high quality world cup overall. Mourinho has made Chelsea a powerhouse and won the PL twice in a row. The quality of the PL over other leagues is apparent, and it's only going to get better in the years to come. Football is about to reach a new level of tempo and professionalism that we haven't seen before. At the same time, we have iconic players that are fun to watch like Ronaldinho, Beckham, Henry, Kaka and Zidane.

Then we have Fergie's greatest team ever. As United supporters there's no need to elaborate much further here. Meanwhile, Ronaldo and Messi are at the beginning of their dominance. And their early days are especially fun to watch. The PL reaches its strongest point ever. Seeing 2 PL teams in the CL top 4 is pretty much standard procedure. Some years it's even 3 teams.

Then, perhaps controversially, we have an iconic World Cup in South Africa. I've written a thread about why I love this WC so much, so I'm not gonna elaborate more in here. Link: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/what-is-the-most-memorable-iconic-world-cup-to-you.453978/

As United supporters, this era ends with us winning the PL for the 4th time in 5 years and reaching our 3rd CL final in 4 years. It's a bittersweet end, but that Barca team is a worthy opponent to Fergie's greatness and I'll never forget that team. The midfield in particular.

 

[Feed Me]

This is a shit thread.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

1990 - 2013

The correct answer.

 

[Lay]

2006-2013

The best time for the EPL. The traditional top 4 were strong with no glaring weaknesses.

Messi and Cristiano were on fire

Barcelona were great to watch.

Milan and Inter both won the champions league.

Dortmund rose from bankruptcy and played great football and actually won things

Euro 2008 was fun.

The 90s era was replaced adequately by the late 00s players and definitely enhanced.

Barcelona v Real Madrid was pure theatre

Number 10s were all the rage

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Like with most favourite things in my life, it's got to be the 1990's.

Man United were beginning our success under Fergie, the decade culminating in the 98/99 treble. And Rangers were winning 9 in a row in Scotland, with the likes of Laudrup and Gascoigne a joy to watch. Great times.

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

For me it's 2008-12

Those four years, I Literally spent the weekends mostly watching football with some of my best mates. Hardly any game that we missed. Fantasy premier League was great fun to play too.

Pizza, beer, football, rinse, repeat.

Now I mostly watch United games and the big ties of other teams. No longer have the time or dedication to be a true PL fan.

 

[giggs-beckham]

95 - 04

 

[GueRed]

1995-2000

Still the golden era for Serie A.

Channel 4’s coverage of Italian Football. I really miss it.

Manchester United dominating the Premiership.

The Treble Season. What an amazing ride!

Some actual real top-class talent in those Glasgow Rangers and Celtic teams.

A majority of teams playing two strikers.

Zidane, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Batistuta, Figo, Baggio to name but a few

Euro 2000. IMO the best International Tournament in the last 35 years or so.

 

[jesperjaap]

1995-2000

Still the golden era for Serie A.

Channel 4’s coverage of Italian Football. I really miss it.

Manchester United dominating the Premiership.

The Treble Season. What an amazing ride!

Some actual real top-class talent in those Glasgow Rangers and Celtic teams.

A majority of teams playing two strikers.

Zidane, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Batistuta, Figo, Baggio to name but a few

Euro 2000. IMO the best International Tournament in the last 35 years or so.

Id go for similar but to the mid 00's. Personally think this era was passed the golden era of Italian football which was the early 90s. Had the amazing Milan sides and Juventus were also just passed there real dominant peak....But we did get:

Euro 96
France 98
Zidanes Headbutt
The last good Brazil side in 2002 - Watching football in the pub at 7am, beating Argentina, the game v Brazil, great world cup
The short lived but fantastic young Ajax side
The Galaticos
The start of Rijkaars Barcelona
The start of Mourinho with Porto
The last great Milan side with Kaka, Seedorf, Pirlo and Gattuso
Liverpools comeback against the great Milan side
The Invincibles
Utds Treble winning season

Above all though we had the Ferguson v Wengers club tussles. Without doubt this was the best period of the premiership for me and for individual players, tempo, competitiveness on the pitch and between the managers, the level of entertainment has never been matched since. DOnt want to get into a debate on it, but for me the football we played the season after the treble campaign and the football of the invincibles season....still the two best sides in premiership history for me

 

[2cents]

92-94, from the signing of Cantona to the 4-0 FA Cup Final against Chelsea.

 

[Jeppers7]

I had this idea for a thread but then realised I have no idea what span of time an "era" should be. Try not to focus solely on your own team's success, which is hard to do I suppose when talking about favourite eras but the quality of football on a whole.

For me it's 2006-2012. I don't think football has ever been better quality wise. The game had somewhat moved away from the thuggery of the likes of Keane and the Crazy gang but had yet to devolve into the CrossFit fest that is modern football.

Great players, top managers who all had different styles and brilliant games that were brilliant for more than the number of goals scored. I also feel those six years had the biggest talent pool of past and present stars all playing at the same time.

Outside of England, there weren't any monopolies as well. I could be wrong but I also feel like the top league sides were more consistent. Now Spurs can be second one season and sixth the next. Back then, the top sides were the top sides by and large. With Everton close behind.

Was interested until I got to here. No interest in filling the thread of someone with no idea about football anyway.

 

[SirAF]

2006-2013.

5 PL titles, 1 CL and two additional final appearances.

 

[Bebestation]

Serie A football from early 90s.

It has gotten put down quite a bit because of the match fixing - yet for me I have never seen defensive capabilities of individuals and teams be so high in a league.

It was beautiful to watch. To break down such a capable defensive ability the attacking players needed heavy technical ability as much as they could get.

I dont think il ever be as excited by watching a
1-0 or 1-1 game like I did watching Serie A. It was nail biting stuff rather than speedy entertainment ending up at 4-2 most of the games with needing certain teams to step up or catch up.

Serie A was a very tactical and mental game that made me feel like I was watching 2 teams playing a game of Chess.

 

[duffer]

Try not to focus solely on your own team's success

Lots of people didn't try.

 

[The Boy]

For football in the top European leagues, I would say, the late 90s and early 2000s for me as there was a revolution in the way the game was played that spread across Europe and made football far better to watch.

Personally right now, Brighton have never been better!

 

[e.cantona]

ca 2003 - 2013. Loved watching Barcelona with peak Ronaldinho. "Birth" of Ronaldo, Rooney and the following years up to SAF retiring

 

[ashneel]

1998-2008.. Peak United

 

[Bebestation]

Alot of people seem to say the exact same period (including me).

I do think there was a less reliance of speed in the players game and much more variation in abilities used in a players game.

For example David Beckham, when people talk about him now people say that he would be a central midfielder but back then he was a great winger playing a totally different game to someone like Ryan Giggs on the opposite side.

There was pure physique in midfield (as @JSArsenal tried to call thuggery), the strikers had it too but & could head a ball equal to the height of the defenders. You also didnt creativity all over the pitch the way you see ball playing defenders, wingers who play through balls, strikers who play as false 9's and deep lying playmakers all on the same team; you could do with just one or 2. The central defenders used to slide tackle like they were all related to Wan Bisaaka.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

Our rivalry with Arsenal was my favourite. Around that time, I literally consumed football from as many countries as possible. Loved it.

 

[passing-wind]

Early 2000's then 08-09

 

[Tom Van Persie]

The game had somewhat moved away from the thuggery of the likes of Keane

 

[youmeletsfly]

95-2005 surely must be the best period with the best players
post 2005 football became a bit of a fitness and social media wankfest.

In terms of the highest level of football, it must be 2008-2016.

 

[90 + 5min]

I would say 90's. The amount of legends and hereos around the world from that decade is hard to beat. Great quality of players and managers.

Football was enormous, still a peoples sport where game was more important then money and the games were played with passion.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Early 90s to early 00s

 

[Chairman Steve]

2005 - 2011

It felt like it was the first time in a long time when English clubs could really compete against the traditional Spanish and Italian teams who most of the time would run rings around English teams.

The fading embers of tough physical battles between teams were still there, but the diving/simulation was starting to become a lot more noticeable

Champions League games were free to air on ITV still, but Sky gave you the opportunity to see all the games, as well as it was just Sky who you had to pay for.

The traditional Top 4 (Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea) were all fairly fiercesome teams who all went to at least one Champions League final during that time and were regularly in the CL semi finals. It’s quite an amazing feat Utd managed to pull off 3 league titles in a row during that era to be honest. I swear Liverpool and Chelsea played each other every year in the CL, and the majority of the games were amazing watches from a neutral perspective.

Social media was still in formative years and the amount of cringe you saw (from players, clubs and fans) on it was minimal.

 

[red4ever 79]

95-99

92 - 99. Our double winning team of 94 was my favourite Utd team.

 

[Gavinb33]

92 - 99. Our double winning team of 94 was my favourite Utd team.

Absolutely this time before the game became what it is now, you could say the start was 98/99 when Sky tried to buy United from then on it became so money driven to what it is today

 

[Razvan]

99% of the answers will be whichever period coincided with the poster's childhood/teens.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

1990 - 1999

Serie A in the 90s was the place to be. Unreal talent, incredible kits, proper football with tactics, thuggery and grace. Baggio, Ronaldo, Zidane, Davids, Batistuta, Desailly, Seedorf, Gullit, Nesta, Maldini just world class.

You had united in their pomp with the class of 92 and Cantona. Flying wingers, smashing teams, blood and thunder football, counter attacking like a freight train.

Euro 96, it's coming home. I mean, has international football ever been better? It peaked here for us (bar 66).

The PL was incredible, the rivalry between United and Newcastle, United and Arsenal, Blackburn and United.

Wednesday nights (THE CHAAAAAAAMPIONS) European football on ITV, watching my team play Inter Milan or Fenerbache at some amazing looking stadium as a boy, under the floodlights, goosebumps!

The overall aesthetic. I'm all for long hair, perms, black boots, bright, garish kits, yeah, inject into my veins.

So yeah, 1990-1999.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

99% of the answers will be whichever period coincided with the poster's childhood/teens.

Bang on the money.