ARCHIVE - DECEMBER 2010
WHY DO WE LOVE FOOTBALL? Will, 20/12/10
Hello and welcome to my very first Fresh Air Football blog! As this is the first one, I thought it would be a good idea to begin with the fundamentals of following a football team. So, today we will tackle (probably more like Paul Scholes than Paolo Maldini) the question ‘Why do we love football?’
One major reason is that it gives men something to talk to each other about. That is not to say that I think women cannot converse adequately on whether West Brom will stay up, or if Owen Coyle really has changed Bolton’s style of play. But, as a man, I can say that frequently the awkwardness of silence has been rapidly changed into in-depth discussion when football is brought up. Be it with a housemate’s boyfriend, a quiet work-colleague or even your Dad.
Football is its own little world, where gossip flits back and forth, not about who is sleeping with who, but about whether this manager has ‘lost the dressing-room’ or whether that player has been ‘tapped-up’. Indeed, these phrases sound like they would be more suited to a movie, but the fact that this is real life makes it more intriguing.
Just like in the movies, football also has its fair share of goodies and baddies. The fact that players can actually go to prison and upon release still get employment in the game stuns fans, but also gives us the opportunity to have a pantomime villain to pick on.
The soap-opera aspects of football would appear to be just as popular as actual matches, with most newspapers dedicating at least a page every day to transfer speculation. What is great about such speculation is that it does not matter if it turns out to be false.
This form of escapism helps us get away from our own problems for a while. The stories we read about in the national newspapers regarding the lives of highly-paid footballers seem so removed from everyday life that is easy to forget that they are real people. It is not even surprising to read about romps with prostitutes – it is more a question of ‘who’s next?’
All of these sideshows show how modern professional football is not really just about 22 men and a ball, and maybe it never was. But, they also highlight all the different facets of the parallel universe that football fans inhabit – a world where wanting to move to a new employer in order to receive higher wages is greeted with outrage, but also where someone can become a real hero to thousands.
However, I feel that the main reason that football is so popular is that it helps to give an area a sense of community. In an ever-fragmented society the shared emotion of a last-minute victory can help everyone through the week. Yet the shared disappointment of defeat can also bring people together, expressing solidarity through complaining about someone at the club or the injustice of decisions and the thoughts of what might have been.
One major reason is that it gives men something to talk to each other about. That is not to say that I think women cannot converse adequately on whether West Brom will stay up, or if Owen Coyle really has changed Bolton’s style of play. But, as a man, I can say that frequently the awkwardness of silence has been rapidly changed into in-depth discussion when football is brought up. Be it with a housemate’s boyfriend, a quiet work-colleague or even your Dad.
Football is its own little world, where gossip flits back and forth, not about who is sleeping with who, but about whether this manager has ‘lost the dressing-room’ or whether that player has been ‘tapped-up’. Indeed, these phrases sound like they would be more suited to a movie, but the fact that this is real life makes it more intriguing.
Just like in the movies, football also has its fair share of goodies and baddies. The fact that players can actually go to prison and upon release still get employment in the game stuns fans, but also gives us the opportunity to have a pantomime villain to pick on.
The soap-opera aspects of football would appear to be just as popular as actual matches, with most newspapers dedicating at least a page every day to transfer speculation. What is great about such speculation is that it does not matter if it turns out to be false.
This form of escapism helps us get away from our own problems for a while. The stories we read about in the national newspapers regarding the lives of highly-paid footballers seem so removed from everyday life that is easy to forget that they are real people. It is not even surprising to read about romps with prostitutes – it is more a question of ‘who’s next?’
All of these sideshows show how modern professional football is not really just about 22 men and a ball, and maybe it never was. But, they also highlight all the different facets of the parallel universe that football fans inhabit – a world where wanting to move to a new employer in order to receive higher wages is greeted with outrage, but also where someone can become a real hero to thousands.
However, I feel that the main reason that football is so popular is that it helps to give an area a sense of community. In an ever-fragmented society the shared emotion of a last-minute victory can help everyone through the week. Yet the shared disappointment of defeat can also bring people together, expressing solidarity through complaining about someone at the club or the injustice of decisions and the thoughts of what might have been.
IN-GER-LAND - WE WAS ROBBED! Greg, 5/12/10
Was our 2018 bid more suitable than the rest? Probably. Did we lose because of political rather than footballing reasons? Definitely. Did we DESERVE to host it, as many have claimed? In my opinion, no. What gives us the right to demand it be held here? Why do the English fans and media have such a 'superiority complex?'
I can barely stand to watch Champions League games in the company of Townsend, Tyldsley, Pleat and the mob as they spew jingoistic nonsense about how the Premier League is the best and these dirty foreigners are out to grab and cheat their way to what they can get. Earlier this year I read in a well-respected newspaper that the likes of Rooney and Gerrard were better than Xavi because he didn't score many goals and simply kept possession. How dare he.
Look at the facts – in the thirty-two European Championships and World Cups the England team has entered, they have failed to qualify eight times. They have reached the semi-finals five times in those thirty-two, of course winning the World Cup once. Certainly not the worst record, but definitely not one to envy.
But what about the players? English players have surely always been amongst the best in the world? Well no, and don't call me Shirley (RIP Leslie Neilson). How many times has an English player won the Ballon d'Or? Five – in fifty three years. Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan (twice) and Michael Owen most recently in 2001 (somehow). Hardly smacks of world domination.
The Premier League and it's enormous marketability is one of the major attractions of English football. This season may be the most exciting and open for years, but is it really so much better than everywhere else? Are the world's best players here? Are they nellies – some very good ones are, but the true greats of the modern game (Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi etc.) will not be here in their prime. Ronaldo reached the pinnacle at Man Utd., then left to take the next step up. If he wins the Champions League in Madrid then he will consider that the highlight of his career – the domestic game's biggest prize at the world's biggest club. Get over it United – Real are bigger and always will be. Did Zidane, Figo or fat Ronaldo dream of England? No. Go further back – Platini, van Basten, Maradona?
Finally, moving on to our love affair with the game. It is undeniable – many kids play every weekend, and 5-a-side leagues, Sunday league and after-work games are all going on every day. But that is true of almost every country in the world. However, the number of licensed coaches in the UK is dwarfed by the numbers across Europe, and most junior teams are successful with the biggest, strongest players who can bully their way through matches. This attitude filters up to the highest level – who are England's three most revered players? Gerrard, Terry and Rooney. What are they most often praised for? Bravery, effort and endeavour. Admirable qualities yes, but at the top level today skill, nous and tactical ability comes out on top.
In my opinion, we need to learn from the rest of Europe and realise that maybe we aren't as good as we'd like to think. But that won't happen – we are England, we invented the game, and we know best. We are stronger and better than everyone else and don't let any greasy foreigner tell you otherwise.
I can barely stand to watch Champions League games in the company of Townsend, Tyldsley, Pleat and the mob as they spew jingoistic nonsense about how the Premier League is the best and these dirty foreigners are out to grab and cheat their way to what they can get. Earlier this year I read in a well-respected newspaper that the likes of Rooney and Gerrard were better than Xavi because he didn't score many goals and simply kept possession. How dare he.
Look at the facts – in the thirty-two European Championships and World Cups the England team has entered, they have failed to qualify eight times. They have reached the semi-finals five times in those thirty-two, of course winning the World Cup once. Certainly not the worst record, but definitely not one to envy.
But what about the players? English players have surely always been amongst the best in the world? Well no, and don't call me Shirley (RIP Leslie Neilson). How many times has an English player won the Ballon d'Or? Five – in fifty three years. Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan (twice) and Michael Owen most recently in 2001 (somehow). Hardly smacks of world domination.
The Premier League and it's enormous marketability is one of the major attractions of English football. This season may be the most exciting and open for years, but is it really so much better than everywhere else? Are the world's best players here? Are they nellies – some very good ones are, but the true greats of the modern game (Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi etc.) will not be here in their prime. Ronaldo reached the pinnacle at Man Utd., then left to take the next step up. If he wins the Champions League in Madrid then he will consider that the highlight of his career – the domestic game's biggest prize at the world's biggest club. Get over it United – Real are bigger and always will be. Did Zidane, Figo or fat Ronaldo dream of England? No. Go further back – Platini, van Basten, Maradona?
Finally, moving on to our love affair with the game. It is undeniable – many kids play every weekend, and 5-a-side leagues, Sunday league and after-work games are all going on every day. But that is true of almost every country in the world. However, the number of licensed coaches in the UK is dwarfed by the numbers across Europe, and most junior teams are successful with the biggest, strongest players who can bully their way through matches. This attitude filters up to the highest level – who are England's three most revered players? Gerrard, Terry and Rooney. What are they most often praised for? Bravery, effort and endeavour. Admirable qualities yes, but at the top level today skill, nous and tactical ability comes out on top.
In my opinion, we need to learn from the rest of Europe and realise that maybe we aren't as good as we'd like to think. But that won't happen – we are England, we invented the game, and we know best. We are stronger and better than everyone else and don't let any greasy foreigner tell you otherwise.