Following the theme of last Monday’s blog, “10 Things I
Love About Football”, I thought it would make sense to do a follow up post
about the things I do not love about football, or more precisely, the things I
hate.
There are many frustrating aspects of the game often
carrying with them excruciating pain, extreme pessimism and unnecessary rage.
It’s not “only a game” – it is way, way more than that, and anyone who begs to
differ ought to stop reading this right about now.
Without sounding sickeningly clichéd, football is a way
of life. There are no two ways about it. When you’re a football fan, whether
you like it or not, the game pretty much rules your life. When you’re awake you’re
watching it, complaining about a decision, reminiscing a goal from three
seasons ago, or analysing the tactics used last weekend. When you’re not awake,
you’re likely dreaming about it.
Sometimes, the overarching rule of football on life is
actually pretty rubbish. It makes you miserable, and erm, miserable.
So here are ten of my misery provoking things in football.
1. Dodgy Owners.
I’m a Blackburn Rovers fan, so this was inevitably going
to crop up. Dodgy owners in football are possibly the most frustrating thing
known to fans. Why? Because there’s nothing you can do about it. Yes, you can
boycott, but who really wants to boycott their team? Practically, I could quite
easily have boycotted Rovers as protestation to the owners as I live over two
hours away. Emotionally though, there was no way I could. So I had to get on
with it and endure the misery. Ronaldinho, they said. Champions League, they
said. Top Ten, they said. In Venkateshwara Hatcheries language this translates
as Danny Murphy, being knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Carlisle on
penalties, and narrowly avoiding relegation to League One. Great job.
2. Business.
Oligarchs, corporates, lucrative sponsorship deals – all things
which epitomise modern day football. It’s funny because it’s all I've ever
known. I've never experienced standing on a terrace, or life without Sky
Sports. Nevertheless, it’s frustrating to see the game so many of us love
become exploited for the goldmines of cold, hard cash that we inject into it. The
timing of last season’s FA Cup Final, BT Sport and their Champions League, fans
being priced out of the game. Truth be told, it’s an absolute joke. Then
again so is AMF, so there’s not a fat lot we can do about that issue either.
3. Bad refereeing decisions.
Before I get lynched by a mob of young, ambitious, and admittedly
hard working referees – can we please just accept the recent evidence? Allowing
a goal despite the ball being taken when it was in the keeper’s possession. Wes
Brown’s red card against Stoke City. Mirallas and Rooney walking scot free
despite their reckless tackles. Of course, officiating a football match is
ridiculously difficult, nobody proclaims otherwise, but bad refereeing
decisions are occurring more and more frequently and it needs to stop.
4. Relegation.
My first season of having a season ticket at Ewood park,
we beat Arsenal 4-3, Swansea 4-2, (All scored by the mighty Yak) and then we
got relegated. Prior to that we lost at home 3-2 to Liverpool. I wasn’t there;
I watched it on the TV. Two goals from Maxi. A Doni sending off. A saved
penalty. A Yak header. A scored penalty to equalise. Then an Andy Carroll winner in the 90th minute. I cried. A couple of weeks later
we got relegated by Wigan Athletic. A chicken was released on the pitch too. It
was horrendous. I felt empty. I cried then as well. I actually cried once more
that season; we beat Sunderland at home and it was our first back to back win
and clean sheet of the season which says it all really. Seriously though,
relegation is possibly the most upsetting thing that can happen to a football
fan.
5. Losing.
Self-explanatory. Nothing good, ever, ever comes from
losing. 7-1 at the Emirates. Pederson scored a beauty of a free kick. Did it
matter? I got absolutely shredded for weeks about that score
line. Actually, there is one thing worse than losing, and that is, having a two
and a half hour car journey home with a ranting Dad after you lose.
6. Disappointing yet expensive players.
It’s not necessarily a players fault for carrying a
glittering price tag, but it is their fault when they don’t perform. When we
signed Danny Murphy and Leon Best before last season I was quite excited at the
prospect of two well respected players, who could add a bit of experience, and
a bit of oomph into a lacklustre team. Boy did I get it wrong. Turned out Leon
Best acquired a cruciate injury in a pre-season friendly and has since
struggled to impress. I don’t even want to discuss Danny Murphy. But even the
Venky’s knew one season was enough to warrant a termination of his contract, and
that’s saying something.
7. When games are postponed.
I really hate this, especially when you only hear the
announcement when you’re already half way up the M6. It’s highly disappointing.
It’s even more disappointing when come the postponed match David Goodwillie
ends up giving a penalty allowing Brighton to equalise in the 97th
minute. Still wondering where those seven minutes even came from.
8. The lack of democracy.
One thing that I would love to change within the football
industry is to provide fans with a voice. For example, before a football club
hires a new director of football, giving the fans a chance to vote for who they
think would be most suitable for the role, rather than ending up with Joe
Kinnear who believes one of NUFC’s players is called Kebab. I really think that
fan ownership would be one of the most beneficial changes football could make.
To read why I think this in more detail click here.
9. Wages.
30k a week is ludicrous. Preposterous. Abhorrent. Repugnant.
Sickening. Unjustifiable. The most infuriating thing about indefensibly high
wage packets is that for the majority of the time, they are undeserved. Fans invest
a hell of a lot of money into their football club in tickets, merchandise and
support – and it is shameful that many of them are repaid by certain players
who are more than happy to pick up such a high wage packet,
despite giving a less than mediocre performance on the pitch.
10. The
inability to detach.
As I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post, it is
a universally acknowledged truth that football is more than a game. You can’t
forget about it. When you win, your week is brilliant. When you lose, every
minute of the week is filled with sadness. Football has power over your moods,
your tempers, and your wallet. It is extraordinarily difficult to remove
oneself from the game.
Although maybe, in a sense, that’s one thing we love
about it.
That’s that. 10 Things I Hate About Football. Feel free
to rant about your pet hates in the comment section below.
Great post Anna. I used to be a nightmare when Scunny lost. I would come home, storm through the house, stomp up the stairs - into my bedroom and lock myself away for around two hours. Back then, the result was all that mattered. Poor refereeing decisions naturally pissed me off and I often aimed one or two expletives in his direction, but it all boiled down to the result for me. Nowadays the bigger picture is insane. I have a huge soft spot for Liverpool (childhood team) and when Hicks & Gillett took over they absolutely killed the club. Thankfully they were forecefully nudged away and the new guys really are the bees knees. I do feel sorry for the likes of Blackburn with their chicken people in charge; as far as I'm concerned they should never be allowed anywhere near a football club, but it seems our powers are powerless to prevent it.
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