Old Football Tournaments To Watch

Chris Davies

Chris Davies

Chief PESsimist
Staff
14 May 2003
UK
Tranmere Rovers
Considering the current coronavirus crisis, I was browsing Twitter the other day, and this popped up on my timeline:


I think it's an absolutely fantastic idea - not just for my generation, but for everyone of all ages who is missing football with a heavy heart right now.

Sadly, it didn't gain enough traction for anybody to take it seriously - but it's something I'd like to do at home.

Turns out there is a website, called Footballia.net, where you can stream entire World Cups and Euros - but sadly (for me), the majority I can find have commentary in a non-English language over the top, and I find it really difficult to watch like that (and I'd appreciate the input from the commentators, I barely remember the tournaments I was alive for, and know nothing about any before Euro 96)...

Hopefully the above link is useful to some - but I was wondering... Does anyone else know of anywhere I can grab whole tournament videos, or even truncated matchday highlights that cover every match in a tournament so that I can see every game (in some form) of an old tournament?

Thanks guys.
 
Spain 1992 is imo the best I’ve ever seen.
It had everything:
a young Maradona,
the best team that never won it ( the last Brazil team I really liked),
lots of controversial matches (West- Germany - Austria, the match of the sheik Kuwait - France).
great underdogs who where robbed: Algeria with Djamel Zidane.
the emergence of Cameroon as a football nation

And perhaps the best WC match ever: the semi-final between West Germany and France featuring a fantastic French team, a great German comeback, the murder attempt by Schumacher on Battiston and the best player on the pitch missing the deciding penalty (Maxime Bossis). If you would only watch one football match in your life, it would be this one.

Also fantastic goals by one of my alltime favourite players: Brazil’s Eder. Always wondered what happened to him after that WC, he vanished...

The first big tournament i watched was the 1970 WC, with that fantastic Brazil team with Pele, Rivelino, Carlos Alberto (that goal in the final!), Jairzinho and Tostao.

Also liked the West German team that won 1974 EC in Belgium: Beckenbauer, Muller, Netzer (he was great), Breitner, Höness and others...

And of course Holland in 1974, the second best team that never won it.
 
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If you are insterested solely in English commentators, I can't help you there.

But generally, rutracker.org has everything when it comes to major tournaments. Full matches, extended highlights, goals only, review/talk shows etc.

Most commentary is Russian, of course, but some full games have several audio tracks with alternative languages. It's never sound on top of other sound to my knowledge, just different channels you can switch manually

Yeah, you are welcome
 
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@Chris Davies I was thinking about that the other day. Considering here BBC and ITV have shown all the games between them I thought wouldn't it be great if they started with 1966 and showed every world cup between them (showing the games in the correct order). They could probably get through one every week, particularly the early ones before it got to 32 teams. Each Sunday could be the next World Cup Final.
 
mattmid said:
@Chris Davies I was thinking about that the other day. Considering here BBC and ITV have shown all the games between them I thought wouldn't it be great if they started with 1966 and showed every world cup between them (showing the games in the correct order). They could probably get through one every week, particularly the early ones before it got to 32 teams. Each Sunday could be the next World Cup Final.
Click to expand...

Just read this thread. I was all over this too, but apparently the costs are extraordinary. I'm sure someone said on HIGNFY that the repeat of the England vs West Germany 1990 semi alone cost the Beeb £100,000s. You know FIFA.
 
On old football and nostalgia - I'm beginning to think that - if you're of a certain vintage with enough memories in the bank - 'current' football is almost redundant.

Having been deprived of the game it's dawning on me that my love isn't for football per se but for the emotions it brings. Given my age (although not old enough to remember THE experience, 37 years ago this very day) and the vast amount of footage available those emotions, through memory and Google, are easy to access.

Sure, they're not as spontaneous and I do miss the social aspect of matchday with family and friends, but I almost feel as if football has run its course for me. It's not the tune I thought I'd be playing when Motherwell vs Aberdeen was called off on 13th March hours away from kick off.
 
Buzzy said:
A bit off topic.....not a tournament but a couple of cup finals, good to watch after all these years, these are two of the earliest i saw...... Btw good to hear Brian Moore again (if you can remember him)

Final FA Cup 1977 - Liverpool - Manchester United - YouTube

Final FA Cup 1979 - Arsenal - Manchester United - YouTube
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Amazing. Haven't seen a full match of so old age.
What's amazing, the extatic tempo, it reassembles a lot modern day games, regarding pressing, although players were more technically gifted back then.
It's also remarkable, that due to high pressure, defenders do not exploit passes to their goalkeepers.

I remember a giveaway DVD I had, Liverpool - Panathinaikos, I think it was old CL semi final of 1985 and most of the match was unwatchable, cause every second attempt for build up, was a pass from the defender back to his keepers hands.
Thankfully in those matches between 2 English clubs, they seem to be afraid and not have time to pass back.. Fortunately this rule changed, as it was nerve breaking time wasting opportunity.
 
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