Sorry, We Need To Talk About 'Barclays' Nostalgia

[@senorpython2262]

Sorry Alfie, We need to talk about my mail order bride from Laos.

[@QueerChica]

Lived on the Laos border for a while. They wouldn't waste their time, sunshine 🤣😛

[@mandolfc9549]

The stage is yours, let’s hear it

[@JJJackson777]

did you keep the receipt

[@spmoq]

Ahh how was the Laos selection? I heard good things about the Belarus selection.

[@seemourbutts6679]

👌

[@rimram3250]

I love the obvious influence of FIFA soundtracks on the music choices in these compilations

[@TylerAven10]

You accidentally bring up a great point, in 5-15 years, people are going to be extremely nostalgic about the branding of FIFA since the game changed its branding.

[@Billiamwoods]

Frankly this only proves we need Jermaine Pennant x Girls Aloud

[@jackbennett2269]

Ikr! And it’s like fifa 10-15 as well

[@JJJackson777]

Flashbacks by Ram Di Dam, She's got me Dancing by Tommy Sparks, Black & Gold by Sam Sparrow & Empire Ants by Gorillaz, all legendary FIFA tunes

[@RickyPro888]

@@JJJackson777 Empire Ants wasn’t on Fifa, you’d be thinking of Rhinestone Eyes

[@joggle0]

If a HITC vid starts with “sorry” you know it’s going to be a banger!

[@YesOkayButWhy]

"Apologies,..."

[@nocunoct]

I just like the aesthetics from the "Barclays era" more. I love the old fonts. There was an air of elegance that was lost with the change to the current logos and league identity. The old lion on the sleeve patch looked imposing and intimidating.

[@itim777]

All the clubs seem so “corporate” aesthetically so sterile

[@Lilleh__]

The glossy effects on the logos and scoreboards too. Back when the big aesthetic trend among corporations wasn't bland and featureless.

[@shawklan27]

Preach it's infinitely more aesthetically pleasing than the corpo nonsense of the new ones

[@PTS-Maid]

If it was JUST the lion as the logo, then yeah it would be sick. But the random big ass square and barclay logo ruins the aesthetic. The current lion face logo is much cleaner and overall better.

[@Lilleh__]

@@PTS-Maid ngl the way the incorporated the barclays logo as like a platform the lion's standing on is kinda neat.

[@albertmiller2electricbooga897]

Part of that era that I really like is how smaller clubs made the finals of the cups more often, Fulham in the UEL, Cardiff vs Portsmouth in the FA Cup final, Wigan beating City, Bradford playing Swansea when in League One, and Brum beating Arsenal

[@Lilleh__]

I too miss seeing underdog cup finalists like that.

[@LoCoAde87]

Tbf, Coventry should have been in the FA Cup Final last season. ​@@Lilleh__

[@F1Krazy]

Bradford were in League Two, even! And as a Millwall fan I definitely have nostalgia for us reaching the FA Cup final in 2004. Giggs, van Nistelrooy, and Cristiano Ronaldo vs Darren Ward, David Livermore, and Paul Ifill. Wouldn't happen nowadays.

[@Eric_Hunt194]

Remember Chesterfield getting robbed in a semi-final too

[@exsandgrounder]

Off the top of my mid 40s head, I saw Wimbledon and Coventry winning the Cup in the late 80s as well as Watford reaching the final in 85, Spurs - Forest in 1991(?), Sunderland in '92 and Palace making the final in 1990 after beating Liverpool 4-3 in the semi (having lost 9-0 and 2-0 in the league to them that season), with the final going to a replay that year after a 3-3 draw with Man Utd. Oldham also reached the semi final that season too, they were pretty good for a few years back then

[@brianmckee2267]

The babestation story was gold

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

I promise you that his male friends fancied him

[@headleybiker]

Nick Clegg edit went crazy

[@lordxavnoodlebrain2286]

I didn’t think I wanted it, turns out I did.

[@RespecTheLevYT]

🥶🥶🥶

[@fin-ed6oj]

When I woke up this morning, I didn't think I'd be watching a Nick Clegg hip hop edit on a HITC Sevens video

[@thewheezingdead]

Nostalgia is heroin for the old.

[@YesOkayButWhy]

HOOK IT TO MY BRAAAAIN

[@chlcrk]

Hooray we're old Also, nice Dara O'Briain reference

[@octavianpopescu4776]

Frankly, it should be treated as a mental illness past a certain point.

[@riichobamin7612]

Don't you dare call me old 😭😭😭

[@metallicbigtoe3949]

"It'll happen to youuuu!" 🫵 Grandpa Simpson 😂

[@yonuqu]

alfie learning to put video clips in his videos is the best thing to happen to football youtube 😂😂

[@Shortdood]

speaking of being nostaligic for Carling, i genuinely am nostalgic for the days when the League Cup was called the Carling Cup as it was during the peak Barclays era (2003-2012)

[@Jam-iv6xz]

I still call it the Carling cup sometimes

[@ThatBritishSnep]

The intro Sky Sports did for the Carling Cup will forever remain legendary

[@MakTheNormalOne]

I'm 41 years old and lucky to have watched football from the late 80s until today. I miss the Premier League, German League, Seria A and Spanish league between 1995 - 2009. In my opinion this was the best football era.

[@thecodex0994]

A few years young then yourself I agree with you

[@stonecoldtakes]

If you've started from the 80s and missed an era which was down into money, then you're just nostalgic lol

[@MrAtzu]

A huge part of the BPL nostalgia, at least in my opinion, is the fact that the Premier League used to be much more competitive and big clubs weren’t as dominant as they are now. Sure, Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea were basically guaranteed to always finish in the top 4 but unlike Pep’s Man City, they weren’t capable of winning six Premier League titles in seven years.

[@maciejbala477]

yeah, that's the only part I really dislike about the current Premier League. Man City is just too good. Of course, not their fault that they're so good, credit to them, but even the best opposition can barely ever step up. It's still fun in many ways, but the title is basically sown up before the season starts, unless someone plays out of their skin, and even then, they'll probably lose (like Arsenal did). And I guess you could argue that the promoted teams are worse, and the inequality is too big financially. But it's not massively worse than before imo

[@shishsuke]

Man Utd won 5 in 7 years between 2006-13 though

[@stonecoldtakes]

We have Newcastle and Villa finishing in top 4 now. Those days, the top 4 was fixed until City and Spurs broke through

[@Folkenheath145]

Teams in the league were less diverse then. It was the same size clubs being relegated and re promoted every season. And the era of Bolton V Birmingham 1-1 draws 🥴

[@kevinkibble8342]

@@shishsuke Even Man Utd's dominance was never on the level of Man City's now. There was always an Arsenal or a Chelsea to occasionally wade in and nick the title from them, and remember they went four years without winning the league in the '00s. The league is so much less competitive now.

[@lukealvarez3744]

Vardy is the last Barclays baller

[@pbsuite]

Can't agree more

[@ScottFree-GB]

Wilfred Zaha was the last Showman, now you need more tactical awareness rather than freedom of expression

[@lukealvarez3744]

@@ScottFree-GB True but he's not in the prem anymore. Vardy is the last real prem baller from Barclays era

[@robbutterill1426]

@@lukealvarez3744he’s still playing in the prem and he scored at the weekend👍

[@ScottFree-GB]

​@@lukealvarez3744Vardy isn't a showman, he's like a Haaland. Players like him haven't gone extinct in the Prem whereas players like Hazard, Okocha, Taarabt have in the Prem with Zaha being the last one who was allowed to play Football in that way. Grealish at Man City is an illustration of that player being non existent now

[@Cream147player]

I enjoy reflecting on that era of the Premier League (though I hate associating it with the sponsor, no thanks), but I also enjoy watching the Premier League of today. I do get a little tired of everybody thinking that everything peaked in the years that just so happened to coincide with them being about ages 13-21.

[@YesOkayButWhy]

This right herrrrre 👆🏼

[@HHHBFResurrected]

I don't think it's a nostalgia thing, the way football's played at the top level now has changed. It's gotten ALOT tactically, physically & technically better than it used to be, but it feels a little bit hollow. The best way I can describe the difference to me, in the "old days" it felt like watching two highly skilled humans playing chess (full of inaccuracies, but rich in personality & artistry) vs. now a days where it feels like watching two bots playing each other (very clinical patterns with little freedom of expression). This is a natural evolution so I'm not exactly complaining, ironically it's also happening in professional chess lol, but I'd be lying if I said football hasn't lost a bit of it's charm as a result.

[@bassmin954]

​@@HHHBFResurrectedbasketball coach once said the players now are quicker, stronger, better with the ball, but still not better players

[@Skumtomten1]

​@@HHHBFResurrectedThe heart and soul of the game is gone. There is no rivalry anymore, they just pretend to hate each other but we all know its an act and they will hug each other after the game. The League is entirely international now with players from all over the world that will always leave their club if a better opportunity present itself. There is no loyalty, passion and soul in the game now, though you could say it was mostly gone in the mid 2000s as well tbh. The quality and pace is indeed much better now, like bots playing as you put it nicely. It has to be said that the game is alot more soft know though. Cant even tackle properly anymore or it's a foul, diving etc. They decided to protect the skilled but fragile players, and prevent injuries, but this comes at a heavy cost and the identity as being the toughest league in the world is long gone now. I still enjoy watching the games today, but there is no denying that it has become pretty coorporate, international and soulless.

[@yourmum955]

@@HHHBFResurrected It's nostalgia. I couldn't give a fuck about this era, I watched it but when I had limited interest in football and I don't have any fondness for it and prefer football now.

[@AntoniusTyas]

Alfie is getting even more unhinged these days and I am all for it

[@theawfulgambler]

The Clegg compo went on for an awkwardly long time 😂

[@jessegarcia423]

Barclays era was not better in terms of skill, but in interest and entertainment.

[@RFC87]

No, it was better in terms of skill as well.

[@RFC87]

Compare the players from that era compared to now. Different level back then.

[@bradleyowusu9589]

@@RFC87 Nostalgia merchant spotted

[@FahimHoq]

@@bradleyowusu9589 recency bias spotted

[@learntooilpaint]

I’m not sure about skill, I suspect skill levels are very similar at the very top. Modern football though is fucking dire to watch. Most games are now both side trying to playing controlled possession, making as few mistakes as possible, with a high press. Most goals come from mistakes rather than great passages of play, either that or they are strikes from range. There is no flowing counters, no fast inter play, it’s all slow back and forth until someone makes a bad pass and the opposition score. It’s absolutely more boring. Now on the other hand some of the lower end games in the Barclays era were absolutely shocking to watch.

[@FinW.]

alfie could have been a model, bro was majestic 😭

[@lordxavnoodlebrain2286]

Still is.

[@FinW.]

@@lordxavnoodlebrain2286 aint seen his beautiful face in a while but those "throwback" photos GOT ME ACTING UP.

[@jesusshuttleworth6301]

Chill bro 😭😭

[@mismisimognomo101]

He's a treat, no doubt about it 🖤

[@YesOkayButWhy]

Literally hasn't changed.

[@David-qq9bk]

in case you find it interesting, that phenomenon has already crossed borders. here in portugal, football twitter has been flooded with “sagresmen” posts, full of nostalgia for when sagres was our league’s main sponsor (liga sagres/ liga zon sagres eras), which coincided with the barclays era

[@Veaseify]

Has Super Bock ever been the sponsor? Sagres is the superior lager but I think Bock has the bigger sales...

[@MercedesSL3]

But wasn't portugese football genuinely better then? I seem to remember Portuguese teams regularly getting to UEL finals and usually doing pretty well in UCL too, whereas now it's one team in the Quarterfinals at best

[@David-qq9bk]

@@MercedesSL3 there was never a time in this century when multiple portuguese teams getting to the ucl quarter finals in a season was a regular thing (i don’t even think it even happened once). it’s literally still the same today as it was 10 years ago

[@AndréPara-d7w]

@@MercedesSL3 teams did better for two reasons. They could get better players without the big clubs vulturing around and the league having less teams and games made it easier to rotate and be fresher for those european competitions.

[@danielmacgregor8721]

It was Football Italia on channel 4 in the 90’s and the first few years of the champions league on ITV… yeah, I’m old

[@bricktop.]

Football Italia was absolutely mint back in the day. Loved that.

[@Phoney72]

Ahh football Italia. Absolutely peak TV football

[@thecodex0994]

The time when I knew more about seria a then I did the English game,

[@danielmacgregor8721]

@@thecodex0994 same here, was obsessed with it, they had the majority of the best players in the world, and technical and tactical aspects were just beyond anything I’d seen before, was like footballing Nirvana

[@Veaseify]

Football Italia as a cultural thing was incredible, nothing like anything in British sport. Whisper it quietly though, the games weren't always that good and the half empty stadiums unless two top teams were playing each other was a giveaway that things weren't as great as they seemed.

[@bwilliams4703]

Icl this is hard for me to say as I have a crippling addiction to KZbin But Alfie you may actually be the best creator I hv ever had the pleasure of watching

[@iamjoestafford]

One of your best videos yet Alfie - I hadn't picked up on right wingers and left wingers both feeling nostalgic about the Barclays era for entirely different reasons, but you are so right!

[@vman99]

It’s simply because a lot of football fans in Gen Z started watching football around that time and nostalgia is powerful. Even I feel it.

[@picklerick1080]

Now I know how all your videos end up longer than half an hour. You go on so many tangents, I forget what the video was about in the first place. Never change Alfie 😂

[@slimjimhelper]

Love your channel Alfie, it's really got me to love the sport all over again. I grew up in Barclays era too, and lost interest until recently. There's so much amazing football happening that I can't let nostalgia stop me from enjoying how amazing the game is now as it was back then.

[@YevOnegin]

Sometimes its not nostalgia, things were just more enjoyable. Today's corporate league is tedious. I don't care much about fitness, transfers or training to automate the play. The only positive I can say about the modern prem is that it makes sports betting very easy and very profitable. English football, its not about whether its "better" today than it was, the problem is its boring. Its plastic, distant, repetitive. Its the NFL. The differences in people's experiences (not "projection" as you put it) is because it varied massively, as opposed to today, where we all have the same experience of a dull league.

[@_Mandolorian]

have you actually watched the nfl?

[@yourmum955]

I don't find the premier league dull at all except from the fact we know City will win the league every year.

[@RandoOnline133]

Dull ? Are we watching the same sport ? There's nothing dull about it

[@YevOnegin]

@@RandoOnline133 Every team plays the same way, no player stands out, and the results are predictable. If you can find entertainment in that, I envy you, truly.

[@footballunplanned]

Football magic is seeing those streets won't forget moments. If everything is so predictable it kinda gets boring. We need that spontaneous moments and pure football emotion.

[@brianduru3753]

No, football magic is being young. It's as simple as that. There is more than enough spontaneity and magic today in football. The problem is that you become more jaded and cynical. Life gets in the way and you get a job, have to pay bills, have kids.....responsibilities catch up with you. Believe me, this boring era you believe we are in, 20 years from now you will be saying you miss it. Nostalgia is ever present.

[@joshuafrimpong244]

Bar the winners, how? Chelsea are rubbish, so are Man U, Villa have gotten good, Leicester were relegated even though they won the PL a few years back.

[@joshuafrimpong244]

In fact, scrap the winners, they were predictable as well

[@lvademetre6792]

except georgia

[@mecha.comrade]

Look, I'm 23, im Italian, never had the pleasure to live exciting football until Napoli won the scudetto, i have great memories about some historic goals that will be remembered forever, and last may... I think that Lookman performance will be hard for the streets to forget

[@HonestTom1892]

The videos are so much better with the random clips.

[@YesOkayButWhy]

I disagree. For once. That's every other KZbinr.

[@briangallagher8881]

I've watched 3 games today and every single game has seen a team concede a goal from arseing about with the ball on the edge of their own box. It's simply a trend and a crap one at that.

[@KitmanBoga]

Same happened yesterday🤣

[@Not_Sal]

I’ll say this again: football, much like every other aspect of our lives has become all about efficiency above all else

[@Adrian-xb5fq]

nobel prize incoming for alfie's thesis on the Sean Dyche Sumatran Orangutan Problem? the bit about swansea and var and literally everything else in the video was excellent by the way, truly someone who knows and remembers football

[@bricktop.]

FIFA 15 premier league , best pre match presentation ever.

[@FootyMaster12]

Yeah it was so shiny 😅

[@samt366]

Could you ever imagine Aston Villa’s back up goalkeeper getting pegged nowadays? That’s why there’s nostalgia for this era

[@bricktop.]

Tbh , that's not something I would ever imagine. It's a very niche p*rn category at best that.

[@waleedalarmanazi159]

what?

[@Based_aadmi]

?????

[@samt366]

Stefan Postma was his name

[@DiscGolfLeagueMVP]

Modern footballers probably get pegged all the time

[@jackbennett2269]

I like you because you put a true effort into honesty unlike most people

[@matthewbudija2732]

In Australia during the 'Barclays era', you could wake up before school and watch the champions league for free on a station called SBS. I had forgotten about that until this video.

[@EncoreASMR]

The music and culture of 90s and 00s was much better than today's tiktok whatnot. The social culture of life was clearly better too. None of endless talk about mental health and bal kan isat ion

[@taraskshevchenko]

I definitely try to cherish the era I grew up in, and what's gone through my youth. That said, I couldn't agree more!

[@Skumtomten1]

Social media ruined people. Everything was more real, pure before it existed. Worst thing to ever happen to society.

[@yourmum955]

Yeah and all that's evidently done is turn you into a miserable bell who thinks its bad that people don't want to endlessly suffer before killing themselves.

[@colmd7680]

Imagine giving a shit about your own and other peoples well being

[@zaydjawad3653]

​@@colmd7680 Mental Health? More like utter woke nonsense - OP probably

[@nikoshurricane]

The more videos i watch from you Alfie the more i admire you as a person. Your opinions and humour makes me think you are an intelligent and honourable character. Respect 👍

[@siowamamako5927]

Still Highly Rate Liverpool Carlsberg sponsorship Days as a Gooner

[@JayTechZM]

Good old days, Chelsea with umbro/ Adidas. United with umbro/ Nike, Ns Liverpool with Reebok/ Adidas. Peak Barclays and now just realising that arsenal had pretty much Nike sponsorship from the beginning of the premier league era until 2014 is crazy

[@danieleatwell7757]

The era I'm most nostalgic for (even though I was born in 97) is the 90s and early 00s because it felt like the perfect compromise with it being after the hooliganism and disasters of the 70s and 80s but before the corporatization, commercialization and increasing top heaviness that came afterwards, the 90s were the last time that football was truly a fair and balanced people's game!

[@lordxavnoodlebrain2286]

Your description of Carlingmen is way more generous than what came to my mind.

[@MJScrivens89]

It’s very much a nostalgia thing for me, as I was a teenager throughout the Barclays era and the peak years of it coincided with 6th form and going to uni for me. Memories and the longing for days you wish you could relive always fuel this kind of thing. I have a similar thing for Nationwide Football League Division 1 and, increasingly so, for the Coca-Cola Championship. I never thought I’d be saying that when the name changed 20 years ago, and yet here we are.

[@skyline07355]

Im 15 and a big PL and LFC fan in Year 11, any tips (O Level/GCSE year)

[@xeones]

I think the biggest "tangible difference", for me at least, is that Guardiola came in the season after the Barclays era quite literally ended. And he is recognised as being a huge reason as to why that whole mindset/style/whatever came to an end.

[@connorupton4200]

Alfie you’ve been making so many amazing videos these last 6+ months. I so wish you’re working on another book I would love to read another full length nonfiction work from you!!! ❤❤

[@idk-s5r9u]

Definitely wasn't expecting this video but it's exactly what I need on a Saturday afternoon

[@nicolassalamanca8051]

4:20Am for me❤

[@psalms519]

Gotta appreciate the social commentary on 7s vids

[@madridfan89]

The streets will never forget that jersey patch

[@houseofvenusMD]

the regular Freddy Adu mention gets me every time😂🤣Love from DC Alfie. Proper channel💯

[@nathanjm000]

The uniformity and lack of contrasting styles of the modern game makes the Barclays Era better and will likely make the current era better than the future eras more than anything else Same reason college football is more entertaining than the NFL though college football is becoming slightly more uniform too I wish that Mike Leach's Texas Tech had to play a service academy every year as the contrast in styles would have been insanely intriguing

[@musayibghani3986]

There's more contrasting styles now than there was then

[@callumwoodward1591]

Soccer AM is also a massive part of the Barclays era. Loved the hairy strikers and the skills show.

[@Proxic0n]

Alfie just released the "They not like us" equivalent if Kendrick vs Drake was Alfie Potts Harmer vs Barclays the global corporate bank

[@ryangriffin18]

To borrow a phrase...Alfie is absolutely cooking here. The sitting down to watch MOTD at a party then chucking on babe station prank was my era 🤣 I feel so seen.

[@oceanmike8516]

10:34 is that Alfie with women?

[@lordxavnoodlebrain2286]

Must be digitally altered.

[@CaptDeadpool32]

Wow, Amir Zaki. Not thought about him for a while. Still remember that over head kick he scored against us

[@SportsFan838]

Honestly it isn't nostalgia. And even if it was it isn't the bad kind people on the internet keep arguing about. I genuinely enjoyed the Barclay's era of the Premier League. Every club gave it they're absolute all. And it was more often that the bigger clubs were taken down by the likes of Portsmouth, Blackburn and even Wigan.

[@yourmum955]

It's nostalgia,

[@ashleyw6728]

This is how generations work you enjoy what you grew up with the generation before would say the 80s and 90s was best because that's what they grew up with

[@chlcrk]

That Clegg-hop compilation went on for longer than I thought. Although reminded me of the famous parody when his apology for going along with raising tuition fees was autotuned into a hip-hop song

[@adamaalto-mccarthy6984]

2005-2015 best time of my life. So I have big nostalgia for this period and Im in my forties. It’s not only you youngsters who love this period.

[@jackbennett2269]

I’m glad I don’t have to watch this stuff on social media, but I’m more glad that you’re calling it out.

[@T.E.S.S.]

why

[@yatman6305]

For me, the real nostalgic years of the league were the "Carling premiership" aka 1993-2001

[@Eric_Hunt194]

The current game may be "better" but it isn't nearly as much fun. I remember when Matt Le Tissier had his own "Goal of the Month" competition on Match of the Day. Nowadays he'd be bombed out as a "luxury" player. Southampton fans called him 'Le God' which was only inaccurate in the sense that Matt Le Tissier exists.

[@EncoreASMR]

We don't have players like Le Tiss, Gazza, Rooney, Juninho or Vardy anymore. Just systems, high presses and low blocks

[@maciejbala477]

@@thenegotiator1630 yeah, it's just personal bias speaking. It's fun now too. Just different. If you can adapt, then it will still be enjoyable, but if you can't, it won't be. Then again, everyone has different opinions on everything. Alfie dislikes VAR and would dump it, I feel like it makes games much more pleasant to watch since the amount of injustices in the game always bothered me. Not that they don't exist now, but I feel like they are far less frequent, and more to do with weird interpretation of football laws rather than not even trying to apply them, because the ref missed it or ignored it.

[@klay1955]

@@EncoreASMR Vardy is literally in the Prem right now...

[@joegilbert3149]

If matt le tissier just got the vaccine people would remember him in a great way life is so stupid honestly.

[@yourmum955]

Yeah well Le Tissier is a lunatic and a bellend so good riddance.

[@Mac10Demarco]

Put together a compilation of best moments of the PL this season and I doubt anyone is gonna look back it as much as the Barclays era, not even 20 years from now. No one is saying that each match was 90 minutes of pure box office entertainment but those moments we still look back on today left some of us floored. Can hardly say that today.

[@skyline07355]

Couldn't disagree more

[@christiansimbarashe]

wake up babe, yorkshire man has dropped another fire vid. He was talking like a Gen Z in his last vid so I'mma do the same

[@speedfreak5616]

The watching your team (mine being Stoke City) in the prem with your old man and CL on ITV, MOTD, Babestation is most accurate thing I've ever heard, pure nostalgia right there 😂

[@garblepunt]

Maybe I'm wrong about this but I don't think that people genuinely think that the #barclaysmen 'era' had better football than we see today, if anything it's the opposite. It's definitely fuelled by nostalgia of people's childhood years watching football and the rose-tinted glasses that people look back on it with, but I also think that people are nostalgic for scrappy, messy football that was inherently unpredictable and allowed for some very special players to create some incredible moments for otherwise mediocre-to-dreadful teams. There's a reason why the trend barely includes comps of players from the Big 6 - because it was never about nostaglia for truly great teams. I think we will see the same thing in 10 years time celebrating the mid table teams of today.

[@DaveSeville-sf1ku]

It's the entertainment. I think the top players and teams were better than now, but the dross being worse. I.e. better strikers and number 10s but better full backs or ball playing goalkeepers

[@musayibghani3986]

​@@DaveSeville-sf1kuIt's not true, the epl has better players than it's ever been. The gap between the championship and Premier league proves this. Klopp said something last year saying that the teams have become better in the time he was there.

[@cholst1]

Blessed existence. I wasnt even aware that it wasnt called the Barclays Premier League anymore.

[@OfficialFingazMC]

No idea... I've only got youtube now. Quite glad I've sat this one out actually.

[@randomguy1401]

same lol

[@elibaumann9718]

I can't wait to see a Yoane Wissa goal comp set to 'Sprinter' by Central Cee 10 years from now

[@The_Gaming_Bristolian]

Am Nostalgic for the days when someone other than Manchester City would win the Premier League.

[@ermfwp]

Very Hull centric even for you Alfie. Good work!!

[@ijenslin6292]

Only Alfie could compare Wigan’s forward line to the queen

[@nickdavis9978]

Magnificent, Alfie! Thoroughly enjoyed this.

[@awakeprogram9619]

The reason this while thing started was because of the international break so i blame that more than anytging else

[@albertmiller2electricbooga897]

We love the old family pics for the gaps in the vid, should do it more often

[@dqf9830]

Football was fun when wingers would take ppl on. And defenders would defend. Now wingers pass back and whole teams defend

[@sususegar]

Totally agree on this fair and balanced view. I'm fast approaching 40 and I'm sick of many of my peers preaching about how "football was better back in the day", buying into the social media nonsense that peddles it. I've seen the original Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Cantona, Zidane, all the way to Hazard, Messi, CR7, etc. While the ceiling has risen in smaller increments, the floor has upped far higher which is why there are fewer mavericks or flair players thriving these days. They've been systematically and successfully marked out of or played around in games, and need to be truly outstanding to stand out. Even someone like Messi who's the best of the best couldn't win more UCL than he did in the mid 2010s onwards. Go watch a full 90 minutes of some of the biggest clashes like United vs Arsenal from the early to mid 2000s, they are now a real pain to watch compared to the modern standards we're accustomed to.

[@ezraezra2928]

Premier League (the Barclays sponsors). La Liga (the old LFP logo). Serie A (the TIM sponsors). Well, the 2000s was probably the peak of football leagues when it comes to branding. It's shame that all of them had their own rebrandings today, which is sucks.

[@theostaff2348]

jean-philippe mateta comps 10 years time will go otherworldly

[@moze2324]

don't ruin this for me alfie

[@georgebrindley1752]

I got an advert for Barclays before this video. Not sure if that's a total coincidence or KZbin's algorithm *almost* understanding the concept.

[@Mjwara]

Always remember that nostalgia makes people look at the past for what they want it be.

[@eliaticca]

With all the aspects of Barclays Premier League nostalgia, I'd mention also a greater variation (according to who feels nostalgic, obviously) between the clubs who won the Premier League title throughout that period (now many are convinced that Manchester City has made the Premier League boring), even though, as you said, it's always the personal perspective determining the feeling. As Italian, I'd really love to watch a video about the nostalgia for Serie A in the 2000s❤

[@celtic69]

can’t wait until Gen Z discover Premier League Years, especially the news segments

[@ctid7037]

u do know that gen z are already 27 yr old adults to 12,right?

[@celtic69]

@@ctid7037 right? what’s that got to do with the price of fish?

[@owenwhitlow7609]

Discover? We grew up watching them

[@MasonGreenWeed]

Is this gen z present in the room right now?

[@vman99]

Bro, a lot of us aren’t kids anymore. I’m 25

[@bioLarzen]

As performers - artists, athletes etc. - are getting more and more perfect because of more and more money is spent on making them perfect, it bacomes more and more obvious that while you can marvel at and applaud perfection - you can olny truly love imperfection... because that makes these demi-gods human-like and relatable. And footballers of these bygone eras were truly imperfect, even the best ones - and so much more readily likeable, even loveable. And that's where true affection comes from ;) That's why matches between your local village team and the neighbouring hamlet's team can be so damn entertaining, even if you may not see a decent cross all game.

[@ifan_1234]

please talk about the Welsh premier league. despite having the 4th oldest football association in the world, Wales didn't have our own domestic league until 1992, and since then they have been ignored, however, the champions of the Welsh prem have recently qualified for the Europa conference. are things looking up for the Welsh domestic leagues?

[@Stones265]

Love the video and all of your others - just noting that Warner Bros Discovery jointly have the rights to Champions League games in the UK with BT - it was solely BT a few ago.

[@TheGlaveror]

"If you ask me nostalgia is not what it used to be", simply brilliant and the kind of stuff why I love this channel. Besides all the interesting stuff about football ofc 😂

[@T.E.S.S.]

do you think he came up with that line? lmaoooo.

[@Aitch26]

I actually agree with the nostalgia. I personally stopped watching football around 2017. I think it was around the time that this channel changed it's name to HITC. During the 2000's, football was honestly larger than life. My grandparents, parents, the youth, basically every generation absolutely all loved football. These days it's very different. There's so many different avenues of entertainment to compete with. Kids these days have moved away from sports and participation tanked. Every other generation also has much better ways to spend their time. A big epiphany of that to me is that football videos barely crack over a million views. Several hundred at best. If it was the 2000's, it'd easily get a several million without even trying. Every big game was like an occasion and was talked about the entire week after. Not anymore. It might just be anecdotal, but i feel the popularity has diminished a lot. Clubs and indoor courts around me have also been closing up

[@skyline07355]

True, as someone born in 09, your right to an extent

[@CeemPlay]

Don't you dare try & ruin this for everyone

[@Kriscur20]

This channel is for that exact reason😂

[@Nicofanis]

Yea disliking the edits won't make you not afraid of aging either Mr. Sevens!

[@Rachl1284]

what u said abt the queen and your analysis of her as a blank canvas for people’s believes and nostalgia is genuinely brilliant

[@Evemeister12]

There are old timers out there who remain nostalgic for 1980s football, crap stadiums, hooliganism, heavy handed policing, crap players and all.

[@jonpirovsky]

Depends entirely on what type of 80s football you are talking about. Becausa Brazilian 80s football was amazing...

[@fabioduarte3301]

I truly like your sense of humour, awsome channel

[@andrewbarbarash3116]

Every era said it was better (entertainment authenticity wise). Nostalgia is both powerful and distorted.

[@RFC87]

You know this era is shit and all about money.

[@emekaoguguo5023]

@@RFC87I mean , you just did exactly what the video described It’s fine to have preferences Your kids will probably look at this era as the best one , assuming you choose to have kids ………

[@maciejbala477]

@@RFC87 so was the previous era.

[@RFC87]

@emekaoguguo5023 this is the worst era of football in my 36 years of being alive. I would say the golden era was the early to mid 2000s. It's been on a steady decline ever since.

[@RFC87]

@@maciejbala477 was better before the oil money and more competitive.

[@adamfysh-foskett961]

Good video again - mixing football with odd bits of social commentary. I just read a good 1998 book called Extra Time (by Kevin Sampson) journalling a Liverpool fan's experiences of the 1997/98 season, and several times he brings up how he feels football was better in (what was then) the past. He also adds how The Kop had been previously been a hotbed, but he believes by 1970(!) it had become merely a 'big game' crowd, and that older fans liked to romanticise the 70s and pretend the 'taming' hadn't yet happened. Basically illustrating your point that nostalgia is nothing new.

[@russellslaney7098]

hey I love Bob Dylan too Alfie. What is your favourite album by him?

[@kiriakoz]

Happy to say this is the only social media i follow so had no idea about this stuff. I have had plenty of nostalgia for prime barclays though tbf.

[@shyone8386]

Who gave Alfie a time limit? What do you mean you ran out of time.

[@thetattedpharmacist3215]

For me, the premier league nostalgia hits when I remember watching the weekend’s highlights on SBS on a Monday night, 7:30pm til 9:30pm, then cheekily staying up and watching South Park. I’m in Australia and even back then, we only got PL full matches on Foxtel or Austar subscription TV. My family couldn’t afford this so we got The World Game on a Sunday and the highlights Monday night. This was from circa 1999 to 2005.

[@Valleypaeligna]

Oof you have reopened a memory - back then at my school there were so many man utd fans around I kinda had a liking of man city to buck the trend, imagine doing that now…

[@ultrainstinctshaggy669]

Next video title: Sorry, We need to talk about Uefa's Heineken's Champions League sponsorship

[@robertsmith4830]

I am one of those fortunate few who shun social media, so this 'Barclays' nostalgia came as a complete surprise. On a related note, the Windass volley is etched in my mind forever more, probably because I was watching the game with my dad and brother.