[Pompey_in_Derby]

A bit bored, so been reading up on how football coped with Spanish Flu - which was much more deadly than Covid.

No evidence of any disruption to games - for players or fans! Guess people were made of sterner stuff in those days!

What really hacked me off though was that Pompey finished Champions of the Southern League and were then promoted into Football League Division 3 South as was the entire league.............. apart from Cardiff City who finished behind us in 4th place yet were elected to Division 2.

Seems as though corruption was rife back then - e.g. Arsenal were 6th in div 2 yet were promoted to div 1 (and never been relegated since!) rather than teams such as Barnsley and Wolves who finished above them

[Deebo]

Good post PiD. I guess those old boys had survived a terrible war and had no protection from a host of diseases such as tb, diptheria, polio, gangrene etc which meant they were used to risk and chuffed to just be playing football.

As for promotion issues maybe it was as much about the status of the club, resources and facilities rather than playing abilities as the leagues were in a rapid state of flux after the war.

Nowadays instead of be grateful for the support and care we are given we just bleat about it. Different times.

[essentialmix75]

No evidence of any disruption to games - for players or fans! Guess people were made of sterner stuff in those days!

The first thing I would say, is the power of the media to control the masses with FEAR is the problem.

Second thing, people could stand on their own two feet, not dependant on the government.

When you dependant, you're compliant.

We have grown men in their 30s, living at home with their Mum and Dad, adult children.

People refuse to take responsibility, for them self and expect other people to do it for them, they wish to be looked after, and told what to do, because it's easy.

[Santa release Claus]

When the Spanish Flu was raging in 18/19 the football league had been suspended and replaced with regional competitions and wartime travel restrictions were still in place, with attendances down 75% compared to pre-war levels. No evidence of disruption apart from that though, granted.

That aside, the 50-100m dead across Europe, a 10% mortality rate amongst a vaccine-less population and a quarter of a million deaths in the UK (a third of the total killed in action in WWI) might suggest to those who aren't interminably retarded that the Spanish Flu may have been handled better, and we perhaps shouldn't be looking to take too many lessons from it when it comes to informing our Covid response a century later.

'made of sterner stuff'... No flies on you, Gumbo

[exgaffer]

When the Spanish Flu was raging in 18/19 the football league had been suspended and replaced with regional competitions and wartime travel restrictions were still in place, with attendances down 75% compared to pre-war levels. No evidence of disruption apart from that though, granted.

That aside, the 50-100m dead across Europe, a 10% mortality rate amongst a vaccine-less population and a quarter of a million deaths in the UK (a third of the total killed in action in WWI) might suggest to those who aren't interminably retarded that the Spanish Flu may have been handled better, and we perhaps shouldn't be looking to take too many lessons from it when it comes to informing our Covid response a century later.

'made of sterner stuff'... No flies on you, Gumbo

‘Could have been handled better’, faf.

Back then people didn’t have the luxury of working from home or sitting on the sofa watching Netflix, In most cases they had to work to eat.

Your grasp of history is somewhat lacking Santa.

The Spanish (it wasn’t Spanish but hey) flu was a pandemic worthy of the name and the only weapon they had in those days was isolating the sick and dying.

The response to the current virus has been hysterical and illogical and seems to be based on the twin myths that the state can defeat viruses and that all deaths can be prevented. Neither of those is true and only the terminally deluded would believe them to be.

[Pompey_in_Derby]

When the Spanish Flu was raging in 18/19 the football league had been suspended and replaced with regional competitions and wartime travel restrictions were still in place, with attendances down 75% compared to pre-war levels. No evidence of disruption apart from that though, granted.

That aside, the 50-100m dead across Europe, a 10% mortality rate amongst a vaccine-less population and a quarter of a million deaths in the UK (a third of the total killed in action in WWI) might suggest to those who aren't interminably retarded that the Spanish Flu may have been handled better, and we perhaps shouldn't be looking to take too many lessons from it when it comes to informing our Covid response a century later.

'made of sterner stuff'... No flies on you, Gumbo

Not sure about your figures mate: "50-100m dead across Europe, a 10% mortality rate amongst a vaccine-less population and a quarter of a million deaths in the UK"............ bearing in mind that the UK had more than 10% of Europe's population back then!

Also, WW1 didn't end until November 1918 so the regional competitions that attracted small crowds in 1918/19 were not set up because of the Spanish flu - millions of our soldiers remained in and around the battlefields de-militarising the enemy. They couldn't hop on a Eurostar or catch an Easyjet flight to dash back home!

The 3rd wave lasted most of 1919 yet the football season restarted that summer without major hiccups.    

[DeepBlue]

Not quite sure why the lack of containment measures being taken leading to millions of deaths is being lauded as a good thing ?