comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 3 hours, 9 minutes ago
Have I got this wrong? Is football still as important to you now as it was during your younger days?
Not even remotely. When I was younger a loss would bother me a lot. Now 20 minutes after the final whistle in a loss I couldn’t give a fook unless of course it’s the mighty ROI
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Same here. I really do not care as much as I used to.
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 1 minute ago
Like most on here the older I have become the less I sulk after a defeat.
This season I am not even remotely bothered the way things have gone because I can see it for what it is. The exact same thing happened to the dips a few years back.
It also helps with having other interests outside of football like Golf and Cricket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually prefer golf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great weekend last week Irish. The big man came good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was brilliant. Absolutely compelling viewing
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 1 minute ago
Like most on here the older I have become the less I sulk after a defeat.
This season I am not even remotely bothered the way things have gone because I can see it for what it is. The exact same thing happened to the dips a few years back.
It also helps with having other interests outside of football like Golf and Cricket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually prefer golf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great weekend last week Irish. The big man came good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was brilliant. Absolutely compelling viewing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I watched on my phone whilst playing golf
I'll say this.
Its not that football is not important, some on here are going to be on the divide of going to the match and boozer or swathing tv
what I will say is this. in the 90s the FA cup was still important. (no dig at utd for noting ebing in it one year) Genuinely it was important until the real money flowed and its a nothing. the fa treated it shabbily.
In the 90s and 00s international football was ok. now its a complete borefest and corrupt and unattractive.
football is what its been made into. One or two competitions really matter and the rest don't. the clubs treat it as such. Its not even hard to win away from home like it was in the 90s.
Its more than money doing it, its attitude too.
comment by moreinjuredthanowen (U9641)
posted 24 seconds ago
I'll say this.
Its not that football is not important, some on here are going to be on the divide of going to the match and boozer or swathing tv
what I will say is this. in the 90s the FA cup was still important. (no dig at utd for noting ebing in it one year) Genuinely it was important until the real money flowed and its a nothing. the fa treated it shabbily.
In the 90s and 00s international football was ok. now its a complete borefest and corrupt and unattractive.
football is what its been made into. One or two competitions really matter and the rest don't. the clubs treat it as such. Its not even hard to win away from home like it was in the 90s.
Its more than money doing it, its attitude too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
International football corrupt? Compared to domestic football?
Reading all the comments here I can only concur, I’m in my fifties now and the things I worry about are more serious than the next Liverpool result.
Having said that I always feel more cheerful in a weekend Liverpool get a win.
I think one other now is that the football world is a lot more competitive and it’s getting more and more unlikely that one team will rule for decades like the old Liverpool and Utd teams. The expectation has changed here too…
OP, you only experience these feelings because you’ve got used to United being completely shiiiit. I know it because I’ve felt it for 10+ years with Arsenal. Last year Arsenal were good and suddenly every game matters to you because something is riding on it.
I don’t get why you are using the word ‘important’ though.
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 40 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 1 minute ago
Like most on here the older I have become the less I sulk after a defeat.
This season I am not even remotely bothered the way things have gone because I can see it for what it is. The exact same thing happened to the dips a few years back.
It also helps with having other interests outside of football like Golf and Cricket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually prefer golf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great weekend last week Irish. The big man came good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was brilliant. Absolutely compelling viewing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There was just that brief period where I thought the Yanks could run the lower order of games but Fleetwood and Macintyre calmed the nerves a bit.
comment by Vladimikel Artutin - committing war crimes aga... (U18355)
posted 11 minutes ago
OP, you only experience these feelings because you’ve got used to United being completely shiiiit. I know it because I’ve felt it for 10+ years with Arsenal. Last year Arsenal were good and suddenly every game matters to you because something is riding on it.
I don’t get why you are using the word ‘important’ though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure how true that is from my perspective. Our first CL win blew my mind in a way that our second CL win simply can't compare to.
The only thing that bothered me is going to the champions league final twice (2018, 2022) and watching us lose twice.
Didn’t go in 2019 as had other commitments so think I shouldn’t go to the next one
How important is watching Liverpool? I dropped everything I had scheduled (couldn’t in 2019) and flew into a chithole of a place fearing for my safety after the game as I was an Asian looking person and alone for 2018 and for 2022 flying half way across the planet for one day just for the match to have glass bottles thrown at my direction as soon as I walked out of stade de France
Weekly results are more of: great pool won, oh pool lost meh, though
Well Diafol, we're about the same age and my experience is the exact opposite!
Up to the age of 14 it was good times for me and then the vast majority of my match going days were spent watching unfulfilled potential and teams that went close but just fell short!
Now we've got good again I have a family and all sorts of commitments!
But I still consider myself fortunate. In my lifetime my team has won everything, most fans never get a fraction of that.
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
Well Diafol, we're about the same age and my experience is the exact opposite!
Up to the age of 14 it was good times for me and then the vast majority of my match going days were spent watching unfulfilled potential and teams that went close but just fell short!
Now we've got good again I have a family and all sorts of commitments!
But I still consider myself fortunate. In my lifetime my team has won everything, most fans never get a fraction of that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You'd be the guy in the Hitachi/Crown Paints/Candy tops that I'd avoid on a Monday!
Vladimikel - using 'important'. Part serious/part jest.
I split this into two. Going to games is as equally important to me as it’s always been, it’s nowadays I go with my son rather than me with my dad. As much as ok the pitch (and the stadiums!) have changed, the overall experience hasn’t much and that’s what I most enjoy.
I don’t watch as much football as I used to though. Never watched much as a kid, watched shedloads after I stopped playing and now gone back to not watching it much again.
I think football vans who haven't yet should read Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. Not the film... thats crap. He descibes well (and what is was also like for me as a United supporter growing up) himself as a fan of Arsenal who underachieved when he was a child (didnt win anything) and the pain and touture that caused him and affected his outlook on life. Until one day when he got older after he had given up all hope they unbelievably won at Anfield on the final match in the season and won the Football League. And how after that, finding that not winning didnt seem quite as important and almost bearable. Not to be read by anybody connected to Gus Ceasar.
comment by RB&W - Whiteside has done it again (U21434)
posted 6 minutes ago
I think football vans who haven't yet should read Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. Not the film... thats crap. He descibes well (and what is was also like for me as a United supporter growing up) himself as a fan of Arsenal who underachieved when he was a child (didnt win anything) and the pain and touture that caused him and affected his outlook on life. Until one day when he got older after he had given up all hope they unbelievably won at Anfield on the final match in the season and won the Football League. And how after that, finding that not winning didnt seem quite as important and almost bearable. Not to be read by anybody connected to Gus Ceasar.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Poor Gus Caesar
It's a great book, would definitely recommend any football fan who hasn't read it to do so post-haste.
I did enjoy the film though. I just think you have to judge it on its own merits rather than compare it to the book.
Remember the Derby fan on old 606 who did a article about his did after he died, going to matches and stuff? Got like a million 5 stars.
Memories of my Dad
Championship Derby County
by vidalslastapostle (U9499391) 07 June 2010
Two weeks ago I made a long trip with my sister to North Devon to scatter my Dad..
Can't find the rest
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
Think this is it Barry:
"
Two weeks ago I made a long trip with my sister to North Devon to scatter my Dad’s ashes on a path overlooking the sea, in the same spot where we had done the same for my Mum. They had chosen the spot themselves as this was where we had spent our summer holidays virtually every year when we were growing up, the happiest times of their lives.
It was the most beautiful day and as I stood looking out to sea, summoning up memories of my Dad, I found that the ones which had stuck most were those relating to watching football. The first, on black and white TV, the 1970 World Cup quarter-final, two-nil up against West Germany, before Alf's substitutions, Gerd Muller and disaster. I was 6 and inconsolable, crying in my bed when Dad issued the immortal words: “Don’t be upset, it’s just a game”. I remember thinking then what a stupid thing that was for a father to say!
He supported Derby for over 60 years, and when he started taking me with him at the age of four it was the beginning of the glory years. We used to get into the Baseball Ground at one o’clock so that I could put down my stool at the front of The Paddock, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see anything. He had to somehow keep me entertained for the interminable two hours before kick-off. It was a season and a half before I saw us lose.
When my Mum died he seemed to visibly shrink. He still came to the games, but for a long while he seemed almost disinterested in the outcome, and I realised the main reason he came was to spend time with me and my own two lads. Eventually, though, he recovered, and my last strong footballing memory of him is in the immediate aftermath of the play-off final, a look of utter jubilation on his face. Most precious of all for me is thinking about May 8th 1972. It being a school night, I had been sent to bed while Wolves played Leeds and Arsenal played Liverpool, but with twenty minutes to go he woke me up and I was allowed to come halfway (only halfway, mind you!) downstairs while we listened to the radio and prayed that Leeds would not score. At about a quarter past nine, father and son went bonkers as The Rams claimed the title and I have always blessed him for making sure that I witnessed our greatest triumph.
With his death I have come to realise that in waking me up on that night, he also had a selfish motive. As a fan who had supported Derby through some very dark days, this was for him the moment of supreme triumph, and to make his joy complete, he needed his lad to be with him. As well as giving me the ultimate memory, he was doing the same for himself: the joy of sharing the greatest moment of his life with his son.
My reasons for laying this on you are also pretty selfish: it's therapeutic just to write these things down. I don't care if you comment or not. I also feel there's no harm in occasionally putting forward the belief that football should be about the simple emotions of joy and sadness rather than bitterness, rage and hatred.
My kids are now about the same age as I was on that wonderful night. If England win the World Cup next month I know where I want to be: jumping up and down on the stairs with my boys, not legless in a pub somewhere. If and when we get knocked out, we'll share the pain, and maybe in forty years' time they'll remember how it felt to do this with their Dad.
"
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 minute ago
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did you find it?? Very similar sentiment to my football going experiences. Apart from the winning parts
comment by Malachi Boateng (U1734)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 minute ago
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did you find it?? Very similar sentiment to my football going experiences. Apart from the winning parts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did I find the going with him? Or not going anymore?
The matches with dad have changed in my memory tbh. I used to think it was the atmosphere, the moments of joys (and sadness) that was so addictive. The feeling of belonging, being part of a crowd. But it wasn’t, not really. It was the thing that bonded me to dad. It was our thing. What we did together.
I thought I’d miss going to games but I don’t really. Not least because I just don’t have time to take a day out of my weekend! My wife thinks I’ll get back into games if my kids grow up and want to start going. Maybe I will, but I doubt it.
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Malachi Boateng (U1734)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 minute ago
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did you find it?? Very similar sentiment to my football going experiences. Apart from the winning parts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did I find the going with him? Or not going anymore?
The matches with dad have changed in my memory tbh. I used to think it was the atmosphere, the moments of joys (and sadness) that was so addictive. The feeling of belonging, being part of a crowd. But it wasn’t, not really. It was the thing that bonded me to dad. It was our thing. What we did together.
I thought I’d miss going to games but I don’t really. Not least because I just don’t have time to take a day out of my weekend! My wife thinks I’ll get back into games if my kids grow up and want to start going. Maybe I will, but I doubt it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry meant to reply to the one above that posted the article.
Always important,but on different levels.
Starting with the neighbour taking me to see the Busby Babes, I fell in love with the game.
Then two decades watching every home game, and most away games with mates Mick and Ray, probably the best two decades of my life. I got married, chose a date that didn't clash with the footie, England won the WC on my 21st Birthday, two years later United won the European cup. Bought a car, bought a house, loved life loved football.
Later became busier, couldn't go to all the games, Fergie rekindled the love. Then retired to Grance, eatch most games, post on here.
United have provided the backdrop to my life . I'm hoping for a good win tomorrow to get some momentum.
comment by manusince52 (U9692)
posted 3 minutes ago
Always important,but on different levels.
Starting with the neighbour taking me to see the Busby Babes, I fell in love with the game.
Then two decades watching every home game, and most away games with mates Mick and Ray, probably the best two decades of my life. I got married, chose a date that didn't clash with the footie, England won the WC on my 21st Birthday, two years later United won the European cup. Bought a car, bought a house, loved life loved football.
Later became busier, couldn't go to all the games, Fergie rekindled the love. Then retired to Grance, eatch most games, post on here.
United have provided the backdrop to my life . I'm hoping for a good win tomorrow to get some momentum.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
France, watch*
Sign in if you want to comment
When football was important
Page 3 of 4
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 3 hours, 9 minutes ago
Have I got this wrong? Is football still as important to you now as it was during your younger days?
Not even remotely. When I was younger a loss would bother me a lot. Now 20 minutes after the final whistle in a loss I couldn’t give a fook unless of course it’s the mighty ROI
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Same here. I really do not care as much as I used to.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 1 minute ago
Like most on here the older I have become the less I sulk after a defeat.
This season I am not even remotely bothered the way things have gone because I can see it for what it is. The exact same thing happened to the dips a few years back.
It also helps with having other interests outside of football like Golf and Cricket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually prefer golf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great weekend last week Irish. The big man came good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was brilliant. Absolutely compelling viewing
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 1 minute ago
Like most on here the older I have become the less I sulk after a defeat.
This season I am not even remotely bothered the way things have gone because I can see it for what it is. The exact same thing happened to the dips a few years back.
It also helps with having other interests outside of football like Golf and Cricket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually prefer golf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great weekend last week Irish. The big man came good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was brilliant. Absolutely compelling viewing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I watched on my phone whilst playing golf
posted on 6/10/23
I'll say this.
Its not that football is not important, some on here are going to be on the divide of going to the match and boozer or swathing tv
what I will say is this. in the 90s the FA cup was still important. (no dig at utd for noting ebing in it one year) Genuinely it was important until the real money flowed and its a nothing. the fa treated it shabbily.
In the 90s and 00s international football was ok. now its a complete borefest and corrupt and unattractive.
football is what its been made into. One or two competitions really matter and the rest don't. the clubs treat it as such. Its not even hard to win away from home like it was in the 90s.
Its more than money doing it, its attitude too.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by moreinjuredthanowen (U9641)
posted 24 seconds ago
I'll say this.
Its not that football is not important, some on here are going to be on the divide of going to the match and boozer or swathing tv
what I will say is this. in the 90s the FA cup was still important. (no dig at utd for noting ebing in it one year) Genuinely it was important until the real money flowed and its a nothing. the fa treated it shabbily.
In the 90s and 00s international football was ok. now its a complete borefest and corrupt and unattractive.
football is what its been made into. One or two competitions really matter and the rest don't. the clubs treat it as such. Its not even hard to win away from home like it was in the 90s.
Its more than money doing it, its attitude too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
International football corrupt? Compared to domestic football?
posted on 6/10/23
Reading all the comments here I can only concur, I’m in my fifties now and the things I worry about are more serious than the next Liverpool result.
Having said that I always feel more cheerful in a weekend Liverpool get a win.
I think one other now is that the football world is a lot more competitive and it’s getting more and more unlikely that one team will rule for decades like the old Liverpool and Utd teams. The expectation has changed here too…
posted on 6/10/23
OP, you only experience these feelings because you’ve got used to United being completely shiiiit. I know it because I’ve felt it for 10+ years with Arsenal. Last year Arsenal were good and suddenly every game matters to you because something is riding on it.
I don’t get why you are using the word ‘important’ though.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 40 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 1 minute ago
Like most on here the older I have become the less I sulk after a defeat.
This season I am not even remotely bothered the way things have gone because I can see it for what it is. The exact same thing happened to the dips a few years back.
It also helps with having other interests outside of football like Golf and Cricket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually prefer golf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great weekend last week Irish. The big man came good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was brilliant. Absolutely compelling viewing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There was just that brief period where I thought the Yanks could run the lower order of games but Fleetwood and Macintyre calmed the nerves a bit.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Vladimikel Artutin - committing war crimes aga... (U18355)
posted 11 minutes ago
OP, you only experience these feelings because you’ve got used to United being completely shiiiit. I know it because I’ve felt it for 10+ years with Arsenal. Last year Arsenal were good and suddenly every game matters to you because something is riding on it.
I don’t get why you are using the word ‘important’ though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure how true that is from my perspective. Our first CL win blew my mind in a way that our second CL win simply can't compare to.
posted on 6/10/23
The only thing that bothered me is going to the champions league final twice (2018, 2022) and watching us lose twice.
Didn’t go in 2019 as had other commitments so think I shouldn’t go to the next one
posted on 6/10/23
How important is watching Liverpool? I dropped everything I had scheduled (couldn’t in 2019) and flew into a chithole of a place fearing for my safety after the game as I was an Asian looking person and alone for 2018 and for 2022 flying half way across the planet for one day just for the match to have glass bottles thrown at my direction as soon as I walked out of stade de France
Weekly results are more of: great pool won, oh pool lost meh, though
posted on 6/10/23
Well Diafol, we're about the same age and my experience is the exact opposite!
Up to the age of 14 it was good times for me and then the vast majority of my match going days were spent watching unfulfilled potential and teams that went close but just fell short!
Now we've got good again I have a family and all sorts of commitments!
But I still consider myself fortunate. In my lifetime my team has won everything, most fans never get a fraction of that.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
Well Diafol, we're about the same age and my experience is the exact opposite!
Up to the age of 14 it was good times for me and then the vast majority of my match going days were spent watching unfulfilled potential and teams that went close but just fell short!
Now we've got good again I have a family and all sorts of commitments!
But I still consider myself fortunate. In my lifetime my team has won everything, most fans never get a fraction of that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You'd be the guy in the Hitachi/Crown Paints/Candy tops that I'd avoid on a Monday!
Vladimikel - using 'important'. Part serious/part jest.
posted on 6/10/23
I split this into two. Going to games is as equally important to me as it’s always been, it’s nowadays I go with my son rather than me with my dad. As much as ok the pitch (and the stadiums!) have changed, the overall experience hasn’t much and that’s what I most enjoy.
I don’t watch as much football as I used to though. Never watched much as a kid, watched shedloads after I stopped playing and now gone back to not watching it much again.
posted on 6/10/23
I think football vans who haven't yet should read Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. Not the film... thats crap. He descibes well (and what is was also like for me as a United supporter growing up) himself as a fan of Arsenal who underachieved when he was a child (didnt win anything) and the pain and touture that caused him and affected his outlook on life. Until one day when he got older after he had given up all hope they unbelievably won at Anfield on the final match in the season and won the Football League. And how after that, finding that not winning didnt seem quite as important and almost bearable. Not to be read by anybody connected to Gus Ceasar.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by RB&W - Whiteside has done it again (U21434)
posted 6 minutes ago
I think football vans who haven't yet should read Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. Not the film... thats crap. He descibes well (and what is was also like for me as a United supporter growing up) himself as a fan of Arsenal who underachieved when he was a child (didnt win anything) and the pain and touture that caused him and affected his outlook on life. Until one day when he got older after he had given up all hope they unbelievably won at Anfield on the final match in the season and won the Football League. And how after that, finding that not winning didnt seem quite as important and almost bearable. Not to be read by anybody connected to Gus Ceasar.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Poor Gus Caesar
It's a great book, would definitely recommend any football fan who hasn't read it to do so post-haste.
I did enjoy the film though. I just think you have to judge it on its own merits rather than compare it to the book.
posted on 6/10/23
Remember the Derby fan on old 606 who did a article about his did after he died, going to matches and stuff? Got like a million 5 stars.
posted on 6/10/23
Memories of my Dad
Championship Derby County
by vidalslastapostle (U9499391) 07 June 2010
Two weeks ago I made a long trip with my sister to North Devon to scatter my Dad..
Can't find the rest
posted on 6/10/23
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
posted on 6/10/23
Think this is it Barry:
"
Two weeks ago I made a long trip with my sister to North Devon to scatter my Dad’s ashes on a path overlooking the sea, in the same spot where we had done the same for my Mum. They had chosen the spot themselves as this was where we had spent our summer holidays virtually every year when we were growing up, the happiest times of their lives.
It was the most beautiful day and as I stood looking out to sea, summoning up memories of my Dad, I found that the ones which had stuck most were those relating to watching football. The first, on black and white TV, the 1970 World Cup quarter-final, two-nil up against West Germany, before Alf's substitutions, Gerd Muller and disaster. I was 6 and inconsolable, crying in my bed when Dad issued the immortal words: “Don’t be upset, it’s just a game”. I remember thinking then what a stupid thing that was for a father to say!
He supported Derby for over 60 years, and when he started taking me with him at the age of four it was the beginning of the glory years. We used to get into the Baseball Ground at one o’clock so that I could put down my stool at the front of The Paddock, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see anything. He had to somehow keep me entertained for the interminable two hours before kick-off. It was a season and a half before I saw us lose.
When my Mum died he seemed to visibly shrink. He still came to the games, but for a long while he seemed almost disinterested in the outcome, and I realised the main reason he came was to spend time with me and my own two lads. Eventually, though, he recovered, and my last strong footballing memory of him is in the immediate aftermath of the play-off final, a look of utter jubilation on his face. Most precious of all for me is thinking about May 8th 1972. It being a school night, I had been sent to bed while Wolves played Leeds and Arsenal played Liverpool, but with twenty minutes to go he woke me up and I was allowed to come halfway (only halfway, mind you!) downstairs while we listened to the radio and prayed that Leeds would not score. At about a quarter past nine, father and son went bonkers as The Rams claimed the title and I have always blessed him for making sure that I witnessed our greatest triumph.
With his death I have come to realise that in waking me up on that night, he also had a selfish motive. As a fan who had supported Derby through some very dark days, this was for him the moment of supreme triumph, and to make his joy complete, he needed his lad to be with him. As well as giving me the ultimate memory, he was doing the same for himself: the joy of sharing the greatest moment of his life with his son.
My reasons for laying this on you are also pretty selfish: it's therapeutic just to write these things down. I don't care if you comment or not. I also feel there's no harm in occasionally putting forward the belief that football should be about the simple emotions of joy and sadness rather than bitterness, rage and hatred.
My kids are now about the same age as I was on that wonderful night. If England win the World Cup next month I know where I want to be: jumping up and down on the stairs with my boys, not legless in a pub somewhere. If and when we get knocked out, we'll share the pain, and maybe in forty years' time they'll remember how it felt to do this with their Dad.
"
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 minute ago
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
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How did you find it?? Very similar sentiment to my football going experiences. Apart from the winning parts
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Malachi Boateng (U1734)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 minute ago
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
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How did you find it?? Very similar sentiment to my football going experiences. Apart from the winning parts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did I find the going with him? Or not going anymore?
The matches with dad have changed in my memory tbh. I used to think it was the atmosphere, the moments of joys (and sadness) that was so addictive. The feeling of belonging, being part of a crowd. But it wasn’t, not really. It was the thing that bonded me to dad. It was our thing. What we did together.
I thought I’d miss going to games but I don’t really. Not least because I just don’t have time to take a day out of my weekend! My wife thinks I’ll get back into games if my kids grow up and want to start going. Maybe I will, but I doubt it.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Malachi Boateng (U1734)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 1 minute ago
I’ve never been to see Liverpool without my dad. Just coincidental that he was the one that always got the tickets…
I’ve been to other matches without him but never Liverpool. He’s no longer with us and tbh, I doubt I’ll ever go and watch Liverpool again. Just wouldn’t feel right. And besides, there’d just be me in the middle of a crowd in tears. Everyone would think I was having a breakdown!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did you find it?? Very similar sentiment to my football going experiences. Apart from the winning parts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How did I find the going with him? Or not going anymore?
The matches with dad have changed in my memory tbh. I used to think it was the atmosphere, the moments of joys (and sadness) that was so addictive. The feeling of belonging, being part of a crowd. But it wasn’t, not really. It was the thing that bonded me to dad. It was our thing. What we did together.
I thought I’d miss going to games but I don’t really. Not least because I just don’t have time to take a day out of my weekend! My wife thinks I’ll get back into games if my kids grow up and want to start going. Maybe I will, but I doubt it.
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Sorry meant to reply to the one above that posted the article.
posted on 6/10/23
Always important,but on different levels.
Starting with the neighbour taking me to see the Busby Babes, I fell in love with the game.
Then two decades watching every home game, and most away games with mates Mick and Ray, probably the best two decades of my life. I got married, chose a date that didn't clash with the footie, England won the WC on my 21st Birthday, two years later United won the European cup. Bought a car, bought a house, loved life loved football.
Later became busier, couldn't go to all the games, Fergie rekindled the love. Then retired to Grance, eatch most games, post on here.
United have provided the backdrop to my life . I'm hoping for a good win tomorrow to get some momentum.
posted on 6/10/23
comment by manusince52 (U9692)
posted 3 minutes ago
Always important,but on different levels.
Starting with the neighbour taking me to see the Busby Babes, I fell in love with the game.
Then two decades watching every home game, and most away games with mates Mick and Ray, probably the best two decades of my life. I got married, chose a date that didn't clash with the footie, England won the WC on my 21st Birthday, two years later United won the European cup. Bought a car, bought a house, loved life loved football.
Later became busier, couldn't go to all the games, Fergie rekindled the love. Then retired to Grance, eatch most games, post on here.
United have provided the backdrop to my life . I'm hoping for a good win tomorrow to get some momentum.
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France, watch*
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