Dunno why I wrote this, just did, forgive me if I ramble, it was a tad off the cuff.
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Football used to be my life. The be all & end all. I ate, slept, & breathed the game. When we won the UEFA Cup in 2001 I thought I could never be so happy. I was in shock & elated. Then when we won in Istanbul my heart nearly exploded. That was it, the happiest, most joyful moment of my life.
Except it wasn’t.
Only a few years later, I look back & take faint amusement in that thought. The most important & happiest moment of my life was my son’s birth last April. Everything else, including Liverpool Football club fade in comparison.
That’s not to say I don’t love the club any more. I do. I still love football too. But my priorities have changed. I miss the odd game, though last season I only missed watching two of our games. It’s the other matches that suffer. I have better things to do.
Football, & our club have undergone massive changes since I fell in love with the game. It’s grown fat, greedy & corporate. Kids no longer get to the game as much, if ever, the atmosphere is dying in each & every stadium & Sky’s ceaseless, merciless identity theft is sucking the individuality out of both fans & clubs.
You still get magic though, not unlike Jan Molby in a testimonial, the now-bloated game suddenly spins & performs a feat you didn’t see coming that blows you away. Very often our fans are involved in such events, & they usually happen during those oh-so magical European nights at Anfield. Real Madrid last season being the last such one.
These magical occurrences are part of the reason I still watch football. Nostalgia is another, as is the social factor. The main reason though, is that football is a constant in my life. Nowhere near as important as my partner & son, but still there. An always.
I watch Sunday league football down the road quite often, it’s a better feeling standing in the fresh air watching 22 kids play their hearts out for the game they love then sitting at home watching 22 millionaires perform on manicured carpets for money. My feelings for our club transcend this revulsion I often feel, I cant allow it to spoil my bond to Anfield & those that pull on our shirt, but it’s truth remains, albeit it buried away, & we all know it deep down.
I felt true joy when Luke first said ‘Daddy’, like nothing I can describe. Yet I felt an equal emotional response, albeit different, when Luke wore his Liverpool kit. He’s now entwined with LFC, as am I. I cant imagine not watching football, it’s something I’ve always done, & always will do.
Liverpool Football Club is a grounding presence, it’s part of me, & part of my world. Something to bind me to others & to bind me to my city. Something to attach memories too & make more memories with. Football isn’t as important to me as it once was, it will never be, but it, & LFC, will always be there.
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Football used to be my life. The be all & end all. I ate, slept, & breathed the game. When we won the UEFA Cup in 2001 I thought I could never be so happy. I was in shock & elated. Then when we won in Istanbul my heart nearly exploded. That was it, the happiest, most joyful moment of my life.
Except it wasn’t.
Only a few years later, I look back & take faint amusement in that thought. The most important & happiest moment of my life was my son’s birth last April. Everything else, including Liverpool Football club fade in comparison.
That’s not to say I don’t love the club any more. I do. I still love football too. But my priorities have changed. I miss the odd game, though last season I only missed watching two of our games. It’s the other matches that suffer. I have better things to do.
Football, & our club have undergone massive changes since I fell in love with the game. It’s grown fat, greedy & corporate. Kids no longer get to the game as much, if ever, the atmosphere is dying in each & every stadium & Sky’s ceaseless, merciless identity theft is sucking the individuality out of both fans & clubs.
You still get magic though, not unlike Jan Molby in a testimonial, the now-bloated game suddenly spins & performs a feat you didn’t see coming that blows you away. Very often our fans are involved in such events, & they usually happen during those oh-so magical European nights at Anfield. Real Madrid last season being the last such one.
These magical occurrences are part of the reason I still watch football. Nostalgia is another, as is the social factor. The main reason though, is that football is a constant in my life. Nowhere near as important as my partner & son, but still there. An always.
I watch Sunday league football down the road quite often, it’s a better feeling standing in the fresh air watching 22 kids play their hearts out for the game they love then sitting at home watching 22 millionaires perform on manicured carpets for money. My feelings for our club transcend this revulsion I often feel, I cant allow it to spoil my bond to Anfield & those that pull on our shirt, but it’s truth remains, albeit it buried away, & we all know it deep down.
I felt true joy when Luke first said ‘Daddy’, like nothing I can describe. Yet I felt an equal emotional response, albeit different, when Luke wore his Liverpool kit. He’s now entwined with LFC, as am I. I cant imagine not watching football, it’s something I’ve always done, & always will do.
Liverpool Football Club is a grounding presence, it’s part of me, & part of my world. Something to bind me to others & to bind me to my city. Something to attach memories too & make more memories with. Football isn’t as important to me as it once was, it will never be, but it, & LFC, will always be there.
