Tony Pulis on 70s-80s football bonding: Beer and Blackpool
Former manager Tony Pulis compares modern football training camps in Spain with the rugged 1970s Blackpool beach trips, beer sessions, and team bonding.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Tony Pulis highlights that taking squads away remains vital for team building
- Contrasts modern luxury Spanish camps with rugged 1970s Blackpool trips
- Beer culture and social pubs helped forge genuine dressing room togetherness
- Modern managers face new distractions like mobile phones during team meals
While various elements of football management have evolved over the decades, the fundamental concept of taking a squad away to a fresh environment for intensive bonding remains unchanged. Former manager Tony Pulis recently shared his perspective on team cohesion, reflecting on how current Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi utilized a warm-weather training camp in southern Spain to integrate nearly ten new signings following a summer transfer spend exceeding 250 million pounds.
Pulis noted that such trips serve a dual purpose beyond tactical drills in the morning and afternoon. They allow coaching staff to closely monitor individual personalities away from the training pitch, helping managers truly understand the strengths and weaknesses of each player both on and off the field before crucial fixtures.
Pre-season or winter training camps are strategic necessities for Premier League clubs dealing with high roster turnover, allowing new players to acclimatize to tactical philosophies while isolating the squad from everyday external distractions to foster deeper chemistry.
Reflecting on his own managerial tenure at Stoke City and his early playing days, Pulis contrasted today's luxurious first-class accommodations with the gritty realities of the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, a typical pre-season involved a three-day trip to Blackpool where players shared three-quarter beds in local guest houses—an unorthodox arrangement that certainly brought teammates closer together.
The daily routine in those eras consisted of morning running drills directly on the sandy beach, followed by afternoon seven-a-side matches on local pitches after clearing away dog waste. Evenings offered players the freedom to head out for a few beers with no strict curfew enforced, provided everyone was downstairs and ready to hit the beach sharp at 8 AM the following morning.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
This lifestyle reflected a widespread drinking culture running deep across English football leagues during the 1970s and 1980s, including dominant outfits like Liverpool, Manchester United, and Arsenal. Socializing in pubs after matches and midweek training sessions naturally integrated players into ordinary society, keeping them far more grounded than modern professionals living inside football's insulated bubble.
"I used to go mad if I walked into a dining room at the training ground or a hotel to see a group of lads looking at their phone and not engaging with each other."
Tony Pulis
Today, while excess drinking is tightly managed, contemporary managers must navigate entirely new distractions. Pulis expressed relief that his generation did not have to contend with mobile phones at the dinner table, emphasizing that genuine human connection, shared stories, and dressing room camaraderie remained his ultimate guiding principles throughout his managerial career.
Source: BBC Sport
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