DEAR Football,
It’s been about 17 years since things got serious with you. I discovered that I liked you the most when you were hanging out with your mates at Liverpool FC and I decided that’s where I would come to visit you most.
We’ve had our ups and downs, but I’ve usually been able to put the bad times to the back of my mind and focus on the good. For every loss at home to Blackpool, there were the memories of the Champion’s League final in 2005 to see me through.
As a 28 year-old woman, my days of going to the circus are pretty much behind me. I’d much prefer to watch sport over soap operas, too. In our house, the dive for the remote if the opening credits of Eastenders are heard coming from the TV makes Alan Partridge closing that drawer look nonchalant. I have no tolerance or time for ‘reality’ TV shows like TOWIE and my own life has had enough crap in it.
So, Football, you’ve been my little escape from all that, haven’t you. Until now.
Where did it all go wrong? In the early 90s, you had your head turned by some money offers, and I don’t blame you for that. The outcome could only be good for both of us, surely?
The Premier League was formed and players were earning more in a week than the average person would earn in a year. As modern technology developed off the pitch, you remained true to your roots, preferring to keep yourself moving and relying on those who were your match officials to make the right call.
At first I supported your decision, but these days when the TV studios spend approximately 12 days replaying the same frame-by-frame footage in super slow motion in order to support or disprove a referee’s decision on whether it was or wasn’t a penalty/foul/dive/the assassination of JFK, I can’t help feeling it’s all pretty pointless.
But still, I have persevered and remained loyal. I still come and see you in Liverpool, and when I can’t, I watch at home – despite the fact that watching you on TV is like watching a really shite chick flick on the Hallmark Channel, not the sports channels supposedly dedicated to you.
So much money has been put in your hands that you no longer know what to do with it. You’ve whored yourself out so much you make Moll Flanders look like a nun. A really good, well behaved nun.
You’ve taken every penny thrown at you, and breeded the ugly bastard that is the modern day football fan. They all want their club to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, yet happily ignore that he has been in charge at Old Trafford for over 25 years and was about to be sacked before he turned things around all those years ago with a win over Hereford United.
How can I make you understand that this need for instant gratification is no good for you, for us? Look at Stamford Bridge, where the ‘fans’ are given plastic flags to wave in the desperate hope of creating an atmosphere. Keeping up with who is manager at Chelsea is like trying to keep up with who Katie Price is dating this week, as Roman Abramovich desperately tries to achieve the same success as S’rAlex, yet doesn’t follow the business plan.
I’d feel sorry for the fans who were there before the money, but if someone unquestionably supports a team with John Terry in it, pity is a difficult emotion to muster.
The thing is, Football, I’m sorry, but I think we’ve hit a dead end. These days, in addition to the pre-match build up, match coverage (obviously including the constant replays), and post-match analysis from experts on TV, your fans are also blessed with the ever-faithful opinion-peddlers in the papers and the newer, exciting, social networks. Between them, they create more than enough hot air to heat every home in Britain until the end of time, and probably Hell beyond that.
The people who seem to know everything about you as they spout their opinions on Twitter are probably the kids who got picked to play last and never even played for their school’s first team, let alone had any top-flight experience. I doubt they would manage to dress themselves independently or cook a meal, let alone manage a football club. But of course, they do have years of experience playing Football Manager on their PC, and the two can’t be that different…can they?
I suppose there were always going to be two sides to the Internet Terrorists; the people who love you. In simple terms, the ones who helped save Liverpool Football Club from destruction from Gillett and Hicks were the good guys, like the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars. Although the dark side of the farce are a minority, they are ever vocal and annoying; wading their way into online conversations in ways they wouldn’t dream of in person, ever ready to abuse anyone who doesn’t agree with them as they spew their bile and hatred over what is essentially 22 lads kicking a ball around.
It would seem that winning the first trophy in six years and securing a place in Europe after a season without is no longer progress. An FA Cup semi-final on top of that isn’t good enough either. I feel sorry for anyone who is related or married to these people. I’d imagine that living with them in real life would be more traumatic than Eastenders on Christmas Day.
Fans of other teams regularly tell me what I should think about you; what the ‘facts’ are. They know, because they obviously take the time to read the papers and swallow the spoon fed opinions of others.
My own thoughts are often dismissed because they don’t conform with what the cool kids are saying. I’m told I don’t understand because I am a girl, and I have never played the game (often said without asking me if I’ve ever played)…but of course, Ladies Football will never be accepted the way that you were by those who claim to love you, and female fans will continue to be treated as though they don’t matter by clubs and male fans alike.
The more I think about it, the less I like what you’ve become. It’s not me, it’s you. The other day, Sian Massey was trending on Twitter because she made the right call during match as an assistant referee.
People were more amazed that a woman can work with you and succeed than they were that the away team’s striker in that match cost more than the ground he was visiting. The other night, so-called Liverpool fans were trying to get ‘#KennyOut’ trending, as they show a total lack of respect to one of the greatest ambassadors in the history of the club they claim to love. You’ve allowed this to happen, football. You’ve changed.
I’d still like to come and see you at Anfield, where I can enjoy a game without the soap opera and plentiful opinions of those who are the experts. But I refuse to feel guilty for not wanting to watch you embarrass yourself on TV anymore. I will more than likely avoid those sharing a single brain cell between them on Facebook and Twitter after the match.
The sad thing is, I’m not on my own in feeling like this, but I doubt you even care whether I, or those who feel the same way, like you anymore or not. You’ll just keep counting your money and enjoying the attention from the others.
Football, it’s been emotional.
Dee (@deemontague)
Republished with the kind permission of Dee. First appeared on her blog, here
Interesting post….however I can’t help but disagree…in the main.
It’s not football that has changed, it’s the people that follow it…and even they are in victims of an era.
Football is still football, we still ride the same emotional roller coaster where one minute you want to swear it off and the next there’s nothing better in the world.
What has changed is the media within which it exists. We have so many outlets of information we simply cannot handle this much information without feeling the NEED to comment or assert or own opinion. Everyone has an opinion, so why shouldn’t I have mine?
Added to this cauldron is this celebrity culture we have become obsessed with where people of not talent are placed on our TVs and become overnight “successes” living the lifestyle we supposedly dream about. We’re effectively told that this is what we should be aspiring too.
Everyone wants everything NOW. It’s not a football thing, it’s the age of the digital 24/7 media era where one comment, one act, one moment by someone very ordinary can be sent around the world in seconds and make you an instant “star”.
i agree with the writer. The so called LFC supporters these days don’t appreciate what King Kenny had contribute in the rebuilding process of our beloved club. People always said that the Roman does not built in One Day. The internet age has changed people the way of thinking and action. This is called evolution.
They always want the fast result. We can always said that the kids is like this and that. But have we thought how to change their perception. We can all moan how nuisance they are, but have we done enough to teach them the history and facts of real life? or we just ignore them because like at home the opinion of the kids is does not matter.
Football now has the sky/talksport baggage, the question is to what extent you put up with this, and at what point do you say, `thanks, but no thanks.` Last weekends FA Cup match was a joy to watch, all 4 cup games were screened live on French TV (France 4) no commentators with axes to grind or facts to spout and with most LFC matches available on line you can normaly choose between sky, espn america or sometimes a spanish or italien chanel.
I like it in Spanish because it sounds like Rafa telling you the names of the players, the rest i do not understand so even if it is drivel then it does not annoy
Interesting point of view.
I am one of those horrible football fans that only know of the Premier League having been about 5 when it was formed.
Totally agree about the need for things to happen, and for them to happen now. But at the same time, if some aint right and it isnt working why hang around till the end of the season. In the case of AVB – no one seemed happy so it made sense to get rid of him – even if it did cost around 20 million for 8 months work!
One thing, in the last couple of weeks, that I ask Liverpool fans is ‘If Roy Hodgson was still in charge and he had spent 100 million and the club was in the same position as it is now, would you be happy? Or would you be calling for his head?’
but back to the article, will leave in a age where everyone has an opnion and they also have a way through twitter and facebook to raise it. The problem is that there is so much noise out there that the only way to get noticed is to say something stupid, and then becuase it gets them noticed, more people join in and then all of a sudden it is a trend and it grows.
Footy’s shite.
I think you said it best when you said: “”They all want their club to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, yet happily ignore that he has been in charge at Old Trafford for over 25 years and was about to be sacked before he turned things around all those years ago with a win over Hereford United.” I find myself constantly reminding anyone with a knee jerk reaction to a poor result of this fact … sadly the money divide between EPL and the Championship means short term solvency of the club overrides the long term viability of the ‘football’ at a club in most owners minds … the amount of times I hear we can only afford to be out of the Champions League for one more season and its over … how can it be over LFC will still be there … it’s your club, not your alterego …
Absolutely brilliant
Great piece. But. You can dress up the Carling Cup win as ‘Progress’ (and treat the concomitant re-entry into Europe as if it’s a separate bit of success, if it makes you feel better), but I believe that the cons of Dalglish’s reign so far seriously outweigh the pros. I’m not looking for a quick fix, (it took Shankly a couple of seasons to get things going when he took over), I’m looking for astute transfers, intelligent team selections, clever strategy backed with tactical nous – all the things you would expect from a manager of KD’s provenance and experience. If KD gave us that, and the team was still struggling, I’d be happy to say ‘Lay off, he’s trying’. But what I’m seeing is the polar opposite of that – piss poor buys (face it, Carroll, Henderson, Adam and Downing would have been poor business even if they’d been free), bewildering team selections, third rate tactics and shambolic substitutions. Add to that a litany of whingeing about luck in increasingly embarrassing press conferences and I’m afraid my patience is almost at an end.
I don’t want KD to go, I want him to do himself and the club a favour and start acting like a proper Liverpool FC manager.
Excellent post.
I totally agree that football is a pale imitation of what it was in the 70’s or 80’s. Alright the pass back is gone now, leading to quicker & faster games, the grounds are probably a safer place in the main & there is a neverending highlight reel on 24hr news channels… but what is the cost of all this?? Where is the passion & commitment that was once taken for granted, Tommy Smith had socks that played in more games than what some players now count as a spell at a club, loan transfers & undisclosed fees now paste over what is little more than players & agents making sure their bank balances are bulging with zeros.
The recent Arsenal game really highlighted this to me, I was disgusted for days after, How we could totally outplay a team from start to finish & still come away with defeat to a side that took two shots against us(not the first time I felt this way). I was barely able to look at at football or restrain myself from breaking my big toe off the nearest lampost, when I lookup online to see video footage of the tunnel after the game.
In an act of desperation I tunned in just hopin to something, anything that would indicate that the very players I’d spent the previous few days racking my brains & brooding over every pass & tackle of the game would in some way display the same kind of emotions & frustration as I had to anyone of my that unfortunate enough to run into me over those few days , Pepe sticking his fist through the dressing room door, pizza slices being slung from one dressing at another or at the least some kind of anger or regret on display for all to see… what I found sickened me, players laughing & joking with sponsors, smiles & handshakes the norm.
Maybe it was a realisation moment for me, an eye opener to the reality, but one thing is for sure & its is as obvious as the 000’s on their paychecks that the passion & commitment that the fans display is distinctly lacking from the players once champions of the people, pillars of the community, repected & admired by all …as they now relish in their Pop star status as they retreat to the quiet seclusion of their massive mansions in Wavertree, Stockport & Chester