Outside Looking In

For me I’m not sure where it all started to go differently, like Christina Ricci’s ‘Prozac Nation’ it was gradually at first..then suddenly.

To call myself an addict during my childhood years I think is fair. Like so many millions of other kids around the world, the shape of the world was not lost on me, football was the world. I headed FA Cup Winning Goals in my sleep, I cut out hundreds of pictures of then present day legends like Mabbutt, Thorsvedt, Klinsmann, and going back futher to the good ‘ole days of Clive Allen, Mitchell Thomas and the mid-80′s ‘Team Tactix’ greats. 2 million quid for big Clive, extortionate in those days, GM Vauxhall Conference prices now (do they still even call it that?).

As you may have guessed I breathed Blue and White, September 1994 was the pinnacle, getting drubbed 4-1 by Nottingham Forest at White Hart Lane on my virginal pilgrimage to North London still would nearly reduce me to tears. Years later when I went back on a weekend visit to London, I popped up to High Road to see if the magic was still there and even the unexpectedness of getting caught in the filming of an episode of ‘Footballer’s Wives’ wasn’t enough to stoke the embers of those glory days.

Why is it that for some people, that childhood love of the game will never leave? From the pulsating crowd at Windsor Park crushing the inferior ‘Pommes’ on a fine night in Belfast (even that kind of good news reaches us here in Australia in a split second, the joys of modern technology) to a kick-about down at the local park with more empty beer cans than spectators. The high which made us breathe as youngsters still makes the menial jobs more tolerable, the wives less annoying and the weather less dispicable because ‘When Saturday Comes…’

To judge it from the said pinnacle era of early ? mid 90?s to the present day is quite a huge difference. I never missed a game back then, Saturday afternoon, 5p.m., homework- forget about it; clean my room- no chance. This was my time to watch the results robotically magic on the screen via the ?teleprinter? and then on final round-up mimic the dry tones of the announcer, ?Rochdale..3 Preston North End?(wait for it, wait for it)..nil.? Aargh no way they could?ve won they had 4 first team players injured and Steve X or Jimmy Y was suspended. Where did this wealth of seemingly useless knowledge come from, if they had put Algebra and Trigonometry into football terms on a Saturday Afternoon then maybe Abstract Mathematics wouldn?t have been such a lost cause,? If x= 4 and y= 3, and 3x + (3 x Queen of the South) = Swansea? 4y? Ahhh now I get it!

To juxtapose that with now when I probably on average see 2 full games a year in the flesh or on TV, depending where I am in the world, if I am at home then a bit of banter and a BBQ to see the FA Cup Final but on the whole I couldn?t tell my Jol?s from my Ferguson?s, my Vialli?s from my Linguini?s. A couple of scenario?s or questions which pop into my head as to the theory of why football fans stay faithful (or lose permanent interest) in the so-called, ?beautiful? game.

#1: No matter how much it is in the heart, your local community and schools must support it in order to make it accessible to enjoy without having to travel long distances to see games or rely on Sky TV/ Foxtel to see competitive football.

#2: Did the death of Football end the day the first of the major sponsorship deals were signed. Was it ok to have been sponsored for a new kit by ?P.Hurst- The Family Butcher? but not so when companies like Reebok and Telstra (Similar to B.T. in Australia) make provisions to change the name of the Stadium to honour their fine Multi-Nationals?

#3: When this influx of money come into the game did it portray a false image to young people that by playing football you can have millions of pounds, sports cars and hang out with Fifty Cent on the weekends when in the good old days, it was just pure luck that you got paid as well as having the honour of wearing the Claret and Blue or Red and White Jersey at 3p.m. on a Saturday afternoon.
#4: What is the future of football now, does there exist a group of forward thinkers who have the potential to stop the rot caused by the saturation of Financial groups and bring it back to what it should always have been about and in the process maybe bring back the magic to old fans like me who would love to feel the spark again of walking into a stadium on a Saturday afternoon or the joys of a 5-a-side game with the creaks and moans of friends long-bloated and damaged by the downfalls of Alcohol, Fast Food and Cigarettes.

From my area of interest the Music Industry is going through a shift from the Large Major Record Labels to those fast thinkers pushing the boundaries of the Internet and bringing it back to where it belongs, in the hand?s of the grassroot gigging musician. I suppose to put it plainly, ?Can Football be saved???