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[Deutsch Wolf]

If there was a massive howler of a decision in the 90s, unless it was your team, or a televised game you probably wouldn’t hear about it. Now, you look at your phone, and it’s there.

Spot on.

30 years ago, if our game wasn't on live TV (regional ITV only), then you had three windows to see our goals. Either if they'd managed to get the tape to be ready for Central Goals Extra at ~5.15pm on Saturday (about 50/50 on this one happening for away games), or Central News would have a brief roundup on Monday night, or Endsleigh League Extra at about 3am on some random weekday morning. Pretty much just the goals too and no replays. Well, four. You can wait for the end of season VHS review.

The world doesn't work like that now.

 

[fansagainstvar]

Harking back to the 90's is for flag shaggers and luddites.

The world has changed.

I'm not sure pointing out the standard of refereeing was probably similar in the 1990s as an argument that bad decisions is nothing new is "harking back to the 90's"

Flag shagger is such a weird term. I've only ever seen it on forums and social media, and when I click on the profile of people calling others "flag shaggers" they almost always have their own flags in their descriptions!!

Luddite I can accept. I don't think progresses in technology are always a universally good things. I'll move with the times but I will question whether things are good for society.

On harking back to the 90s... the 90s seem pretty class to me as someone who was 4 or so when they ended

Good music
Economy largely going well
Football in a better place than today
No social media so probably people were less angry!
Oxford at the Manor Ground!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Actually a 90s gripe of mine - Oxford being included in the Central region and taking up televised games! I have no issue with Oxford but get out of our schedule, you're not from round here

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Actually a 90s gripe of mine - Oxford being included in the Central region and taking up televised games! I have no issue with Oxford but get out of our schedule, you're not from round here

And in the 90s, they often seemed to beat us. That 4-0 away (94?) - ugh...

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

And in the 90s, they often seemed to beat us. That 4-0 away (94?) - ugh...

Don't think we won there at all until Aug 98

Sep 97 with Simon Coleman and Isidro Diaz, with Lipstick Darren missing an open goal in a 3-0 defeat and McGhee saying 'that's as well as we can play' was the nadir

 

[fansagainstvar]

Actually a 90s gripe of mine - Oxford being included in the Central region and taking up televised games! I have no issue with Oxford but get out of our schedule, you're not from round here

Oxford is a strange area, fans from Banbury describe Oxford as being in the South Midlands, giving the clubs 'casual' element a rather strange name, south midland hit squad.

Fans from places like Thame consider Oxford to be in the South East.
Fans from places like Witney consider Oxford to be in the South West.

There is an absolutely bizarre jumble of accents at Oxford games I'll say that!

Amazed we were on the same televised region as Wolves though! Amazing we were playing Wolves in the late 90s. By the time I started watching us we were in the fourth division, by 2007 we were relegated into non-league. Until Oxford get a new stadium I think lower Championship is the limit for us. I'd love to play Wolves but just without VAR!

 

[Tony Towner]

There were some strange 'Midlands' teams then. Peterborough, Oxford, Swindon, Northampton. Luton were in East Anglia

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

There were some strange 'Midlands' teams then. Peterborough, Oxford, Swindon, Northampton. Luton were in East Anglia

Crewe as well

 

[sycophantia]

I think 'midlands' is a bit like 'black country' they're not really actual places with borders, depends how you want to 'identify' I suppose.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

They're not part of or particularly close to either, but I would say Oxford has more in common with London than Birmingham.

The way the ITV regions were divvied up played a part. I would have said Crewe belonged in Granada not Central, with the other three Cheshire clubs at the time (Stockport/Macclesfield/Chester).

 

[Tony Towner]

Yes at the time the Central area was split in 3 - East, West and South but from a football perspective they were rolled into one when it came to live matches. ITV were strange in the way that they referred to areas based on the TV company which ran it. For instance on Bullseye Jim wouldn't say here's Bob and Terry from Newcastle, he'd introduce them as from being from the Tyne Tees area

 

[jd1981]

They're not part of or particularly close to either, but I would say Oxford has more in common with London than Birmingham.

The way the ITV regions were divvied up played a part. I would have said Crewe belonged in Granada not Central, with the other three Cheshire clubs at the time (Stockport/Macclesfield/Chester).

Remember the presenter of the central match live asking Jimmy Greaves how the teams would cope with so many local derbies in the midlands Jimmy politely told him “ you can’t class Stoke v Oxford as a Derby”.it was the 93/94 season so the CML covered Stoke, Wolves, Albion, Blues, , Oxford, Peterborough, Leicester, Derby, Forest & Notts county from Division 1 almost half the league.

 

[jd1981]

If memory serves me right you would have a game going on simultaneously in either NE or SE and they’d show highlights at half time. 1405 kick offs before the 1600 super Sunday on Sky.

 

[HanDoJin]

They're not part of or particularly close to either, but I would say Oxford has more in common with London than Birmingham.

Fred Thursday would agree. Mind how you go

 

[fansagainstvar]

They're not part of or particularly close to either, but I would say Oxford has more in common with London than Birmingham.

The way the ITV regions were divvied up played a part. I would have said Crewe belonged in Granada not Central, with the other three Cheshire clubs at the time (Stockport/Macclesfield/Chester).

Like I said Oxford is a strange one. West Oxfordshire sound like farmers (Gerald from Clarksons farm - set in Oxfordshire) and consider themselves west country.

People from Thame just sound like Thames Estuary to me.

People from Banbury and North of it who support Oxford sound like Brummies to me. Met fans from Claydon who have a Brummy twang.

The "city accent" is divided between people from the south of the city who have a weird cockney-Bristol twang and people from the North who sound like they buy their shopping on Ocado.

A strange place with a strange football team!

Maybe I'm in a minority but I love the Wolves accent. Have friends from Wombourne which is closeby, love their way of speaking. Sounds friendly to me.

No doubt Wolves is west Midlands. I guess when you get as far west as Shrewsbury the accent becomes a bit different?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

West Mids is a maelstrom of mini-accents! Wolves sounds nothing like Walsall which sounds nothing like West Brom which sounds nothing like Dudley which sounds nothing like Birmingham. Before you start getting out into Shropshire and the like!

Helpfully, to add to the confusion, I don't have a West Mids accent at all

 

[fansagainstvar]

West Mids is a maelstrom of mini-accents! Wolves sounds nothing like Walsall which sounds nothing like West Brom which sounds nothing like Dudley which sounds nothing like Birmingham. Before you start getting out into Shropshire and the like!

Helpfully, to add to the confusion, I don't have a West Mids accent at all

Would an outsider be able to tell the difference? I can tell the difference between Birmingham and Wolves.

Is a classic Shrewsbury accent farmerish?

I'm not from Oxfordshire just have family ties there. From London. Hope accents don't die out as they are interesting.

In London all the kids want to sound like extras from Top Boy. No matter what background they're from!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'd say there's enough of a difference, yeah. Though I'm a linguist by trade so I listen out for it more. Shrewsbury definitely more rural.

 

[HanDoJin]

My old man reckoned he could distinguish between Upper and Lower Gornall. I certainly couldnt.

Would drive him half mad that the country at large lump Dudley, Wolverhampton and Birmingham together.

 

[fansagainstvar]

I'd say there's enough of a difference, yeah. Though I'm a linguist by trade so I listen out for it more. Shrewsbury definitely more rural.

How do you mean by linguist? Like a languages teacher?

I find it fascinating. I read politics but minored in sociology, I took a module on accents. The passion for the subject of the seminar leader was incredible.

Learnt everything from Norman invasions, Viking, Celt, Germanic and Latin influence on our language all the way to industrial revolution and its impact. The history geek inside me couldn't get enough of it.