Today I'm going back 31 years to 8th July 1990 and the World Cup final between West Germany and Argentina in Rome. As you can see, I've run out of programmes, official magazines and brochures from that tournament to show you so I thought I'd share my ticket stubs from the Final, England's Semi-Final against West Germany in Turin and England's Quarter-Final against Cameroon in Naples. I think I've mentioned previously that old tickets are frequently more valuable than the related programmes. I assume that this is because many people regard old tickets as being throw away items whereas they see programmes as being more collectable. I believe that the three shown would go for at least £75 each to a collector, not that they are for sale!
The contrast between paper tickets and the tickets in use for the Euro 2020 tournament couldn't much more stark. Tickets for the current Euro tournament are entirely electronic. There is no physical paper copy, at least not until after the tournament when, as I understand it, a paper souvenir version will be sent to those who are prepared to pay extra for the service. Instead, ticket holders must install a Euro 2020 ticketing app onto their smartphone and an electronic ticket is then sent to lucky purchasers. The phone based ticket must be taken to the stadium to be activated and then the QR code appearing must be scanned at the turnstile. I have to say that I thoroughly approve! Tickets can be sent instantaneously no matter how close to kick off they were purchased as I found out when I got a late ticket from the FA just 4.5 hours before kick off for the England v Germany game recently. It's great not having to rely on the postal system.
The other thing that I like is that tickets are fully traceable. It is possible for a ticket to be transferred to another person, although not in the case of tickets bought through the England Supporters Travel Club where tickets are for the use of the purchaser only and are not transferable. UEFA are aware at all times of who is in possession of a ticket and tickets appearing on the black market can be easily cancelled if required. That doesn't mean that there is no resale of tickets happening on the black market but it does mean that illicit sales can be followed up more easily at any time later if required.
I can't see mention of the price of the tickets shown but I'm pretty sure that I paid US $500 for my Final ticket which was face value and obtained through the FA. At the time it was a small fortune for me but I consoled myself with the thought that I would get to witness a World Cup Final in the flesh. It almost became the ticket for England's second ever World Cup Final appearance but, sadly, that was not to be. Instead I got to watch one of the worst games that I have ever seen and, in terms of value for money, that Final ticket was possibly the worst investment that I ever made.
Holders Argentina had progressed through the tournament playing to their strengths which seemed to be solid defence and gamesmanship. They had barely escaped their Group in third place having famously lost their opener to eventual Group winners the Cameroon before beating the Soviet Union and drawing with Romania. In the Round of 16 they beat Brazil 1-0 before going through on penalties against Yugoslavia in their Quarter-Final after a goalless draw. They needed another penalty shootout in the Semi-Final to dispose of their Italian hosts. They had reached the Final without playing very well and scoring only five goals to get there. Despite the presence of world superstar Diego Maradona, all lovers of football despised Argentina and their tactics and were rooting for their opponents. This time the opponents were West Germany.
I've saved you from wasting several minutes of your life that you won't get back by attaching only a 49 second highlights reel of the Final. There really was only the penalty incident and the penalty itself worthy of being called "highlights" that night. The game was truly dreadful with Argentina seemingly hoping for penalties right from kick off. Thankfully their strategy was doomed to failure as Andreas Brehme stepped up and slotted the penalty home.
It was the fourteenth World Cup Final and, just my luck, was the lowest scoring Final ever. By a distance. The meagre single goal compared to previous Finals which had never seen less than three goals scored. Incredibly, Argentina became the first finalist to fail to score in the Final itself. So I packed up my disappointment and headed home wishing that England had been there as they surely would have beaten this Argentina side. I'm glad that nobody was on hand to tell me that it would be another 31 years before I would get a chance to see England in a tournament Final!
CRB Match No. 668
Comments
Post a Comment