Football? Good grief.

[peterbirks]

I don't write about football much (as you may have observed). I haven't been to a match since 1972 (Chelsea vs Southampton, I believe), despite the fact that I rarely missed a home Chelsea game from 1966 to 1971 and in 1970 I think that I went to every FA Cup match (and my friend actually made it the following season to Greece for the European Cup Winners Cup Final -- a hell of a trek in those days). My first semi-final was Chelsea v Leeds in 1967, at Villa Park. Birmingham was a long way away in those days.

I just assumed that watching football was, well, something that you grew out of. Tribalism, vicarious pleasures, that kind of thing.

But I make an exception for the Africa Nations Cup. And this year, thanks to the wonders of digital broadcasting, it's possible to watch every game (provided, of course, that you don't have a job, or a life).

Nigeria tonight seemed to play as if they all had big bets on the Ivory Coast to win the game 1-0. I hate ascribing 'national' characteristics (except for humorous effect), but I did get the feeling that Nigeria played just like their population looks for riches. As little hard work as possible and hope for a moment of genius. Even when 1-0 down, their technique for getting the ball of the Ivory Coast seemed to consist of waiting for the latter's attack to break down. The concept of going out to win the ball seemed alien to them.

Most of the entertainment this evening, however, came at the start of the Benin-Mali game. Or, rather, non-start. The floodlights failed. Ahh, a great advertisement for the nation. The one time that much of the world is watching, with the teams out on the pitch, and out go the lights.

Much shrugging of shoulders and Di Caprio appearing with the line "This is Africa" (ok, I made that last bit up, but you see what I mean).

And it's great seeing players whose teams are the likes of Accrington Stanley and Lokomotiv Moscow, rather than the normal collection of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Marseilles, and so on.

Good fun.

_________

Comments

[jaybee66.livejournal.com]

You never told me your were a Chelsea fan.

And before anyone accuses me of jumping on a bandwagon, I was born in Kensington afore the family moved.

I haven't been to a game since before Heysel. Never found oiks good company.

I'm watching the African Nations Cup too. I like the semi-chaotic way African football is played and yet the ball seems to stick to their feet. Compare that to your average English player, where stopping a ball means it bounces off their foot and they run 10 yards to catch up with it.

[andy-ward-uk.livejournal.com]

Some of us never grow out of anything :-)

Andy.

[(Anonymous)]

As a suffering Leeds fan (I announced my allegiance to Leeds (from LWest Ham) on the 1973 FA Cup Final - timing is everything....) it would be appreciated if you could please take Bates and Wise back to Stamford Bridge. There may well be turmoil in stocks & shares at the moment but surely its just a matter of time before the bubble that is football at the top level bursts. The only thing binding it all together, apart from the stream of oligarchs, appears to be the fact that Joe Public is happy to continually pay large sums of money (OK, larger at "the bridge") to view an event where the performance put on by the team/wedged-up players is rarely entertaining, regardless of what Gordon Taylor might say. I stick to 5Live rather than pay SKY for it. And the African Nations Cup on Freeview is an entertaining sideline
Keith S

[(Anonymous)]

I once attended the African Nations Cup. In a previous job, the football magazine I worked for arranged a trip to Senegal in 1992. About 70 people came on the trip, all of them intrigued by the novelty of watching football in an alien environment.

The only disappointing aspect of what was a fascinating couple of weeks was the standard of football. On the whole it was terrible. There was nothing wrong with the players technique, but as has already been mentioned too many of the players didn’t seem to appreciate that the point of the game was to score more goals than the opposition.

The biggest cheers didn’t come when a goal was scored (and there were precious few of those during the tournament) but when one of the players attempted an acrobatic overhead kick. It said a lot about the priorities of African footballers at the time. I think it’s changed a lot since then, with increasing numbers of players playing in Europe from a relatively young age. But when I watch an African team play now I can see that an element still remains. The finishing in general (and yes I’m aware that there are plenty of exceptions) is dreadful. Given the chance of passing the ball into the net for a simple goal or trying to break the net with a spectacular effort, too many players take the latter option.

I guess it comes from playing in an unstructured fashion at a young age. They wouldn’t have been exposed to overbearing parents screaming at them to get stuck in or keep their shape or track back. The idea of winning or losing was only part of the experience rather than the entire experience you’d find in this country.

Best

Jamie

[real-aardvark.livejournal.com]

So:

Chelsea -- disappointing, because "rarely entertaining."

African Nations Cup -- disappointing, because "determined to be entertaining."

Funny old game, isn't it?

[(Anonymous)]

I think you're mistaken about serious football-supporting being something you grow out of (and by 'active', I suppose I mean doing things like travelling to away matches or Cup Semis). A recent survey of Man Utd fans put the average age of those attending matches at 40+. When I were a lad, it would have been around 20.

Indeed, you could easily be the target demographic; it's either that or get yourself a Harley-Davidson. Actually, if you were a Chelsea fan of that vintage, I suppose it would probably have to be a Lambretta?

Niall L

Ageing Fans

[geoffchall.livejournal.com]

A stat I heard on Radio 5 said that in 1968 the average age of people in the Stretford End was 17 and the prices were 7/6 (37.5p, children). In 2008 the average age is 42 and the prices are £30 or so.

But I'm a pretty committed fan these days. It's helped fill a vacuum left by regular games-playing and we (Steph and I) go to around 10-12 games a season, including cups, away games etc. Sometimes it's great fun but it's one of those experiences where the good moments are made good by the bland rubbish that's in place for most of the time. and this is our best season in decades.

I still don't have a replica shirt though, XL or otherwise...

[peterbirks.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm quite aware of the demographics relating to attendees of games. That's what makes it even more puzzling.

To be slightly serious here, I kind of differentiate between types of football fan. The type that puzzle me is epitomized by (to pick someone many of you know) Steve Bennett. He's a lovely guy, one of the best, but the slavish devotion to a single club (in his case, Arsenal) and what appears to be a sincere disgust for certain other clubs just leaves me bemused.

In fact, in semiotic terms, it isn't that puzzling -- support for the representation rather than for the physical manifestation. One could almost argue that the support for "a Team" rather than its players, ownership, manager or location, is almost platoist.

I suspect that there is also a tribalistic element (which ties in neatly with Barthes' anthropological bent). The "support" is actually for your fellow supporters, rather than that which the tribe nominally supports. It's the creation of an artificial grouping, identifiable by colours, with its own rituals.

PJ

[(Anonymous)]

I'm still a fan, but I agree with you, save for entertainement puroposes it is something you should grow out of, except, when you consider what a lot of people look to get out of it - success. I know fans are an ecclectic bunch, but those who obsess, almost by definition, don't hsve interesting lives, they're often too lazy to achieve for themselves or succeed, and so expect the football team to succeed for them - which is why they become so intolerant and bitter at failure. I've noticed I was most passionate about the game when I was least in control of my life, if I was in control, why would I want to allow the fortunes of a team, 11 men, over which i had no control or personal interaction with dictate my happiness? It's quite pathetic, really. I am better, but I still fucking hate Man U.

Quasi-fan