By Stuart Broom

Former captain of Lyme Regis Football Club

I KNOW that many of you who will be reading this article are of similar age to me and played football in the 1960s and 70s, and will easily empathise with my thoughts on the way our beautiful game has changed, whilst the younger generation will have no idea what I am talking about.

Okay call me old-fashioned, and many will, but the simple game has changed beyond comprehension from its humble beginnings to what we see on our screens now, and the people in charge continue to try to make it more complicated by thinking up more ludicrous rules.

The need to change the" two jumpers for goalposts" required updating with a goal frame that clearly indicates whether a goal had been scored, and as now, the whole of the ball had to be over the goal line to be legal. This was sometimes difficult for a referee or linesman to see, and so some kind of equipment like the goal line technology now used is an asset; about the only good change that I can see.

The old offside rule applied to any attacking player beyond the last defender in the opposition's half when the ball is played forward, regardless of whether they are interfering with play or not, making it easy for the linesman to detect. There is none of this complicated reasoning about whether the player had run back from being offside and waiting for the offending player to touch the ball before signalling an offence. What a waste of time that is!

Slide tackle is now virtually eliminated

Whilst the game half a century ago was much more physical, in general I don't believe it was as bad as it has been painted by modern experts. Yes there were some real hard men around then such as Ron "Chopper" Harris, Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton and many more, who ruled by fear of a hefty thwack from behind. However, there are several in the modern era who still have the same reputation.

I agree that it needs to be reined in to ensure players' safety, however the rules have gone too far again in my opinion. The slide tackle from the side has been virtually eliminated from the game now, but correctly executed it is one of the safest and finest weapons in a defender's armoury. The art of stretching and sliding your foot around the front of the ball to take it off the opponents toe usually only resulted in the attacker falling over your foot.

I was never booked or red carded in my career for anything, but I think I would have been dismissed every week if I playing today for slide tackles.

Back in the day, the penalty rule was simple. It was awarded if the referee considered it was a deliberate handball, or if he adjudged a player had clearly fouled an opponent. Now we have VAR checking the referee's decision to see if he was right. Play is held up whilst it decides on a number of ludicrous situations like whether the defenders arm is in an unnatural position.

It is becoming a farce. The referee is not in charge anymore, I don't know why they don't have a robot instead. VAR rules re spoiling the game that we knew. Players instinctively race off in glee after scoring a goal only for three minutes later the VAR referee in a hut outside Wembley stadium to change the decision, or ask the referee to look at the monitor, suggesting he has got it wrong.

It's all too much – bring back the jumpers, and don't forget to pick them up before you go home!