It's more than a game

Some people seem to think football is just 11 men trying to kick a ball past another 11 men. After hearing such a dumb, ignorant viewpoint I decided to do a little research into how football affects more than just those 22 men on the field of play and what it does to the people involved with it. I based my research around the last weekend of premiership football before the international break, that weekend being October 6/7.
     The premiership alone had a total of 347,236 fans around the grounds. With the biggest crowd being at St James park (52,203) which is more than the population of Lichtenstein (36,476). So take the whole population of Liechtenstein and send them hope pissed off/annoyed due to what they saw on the pitch, as United dominated and walked away with a pretty 3-0 away win, which would have left the toon army annoyed after such good form. With this loyal following across the premiership you have the regular purchases for a football match (beer/food) which keeps business's alive, around half of the amount who go to football have a beer as well so at £3.50 a pint the premiership football is throwing a big £607,663 back in the economy from having 1 pint alone, that's without the other beers that will be consumed and then there's the food! So is football really just a game or is it a big part of this nations economy, remember the above figure is only a pint for half the premiership following, that's excluding all the other leagues! On top of the spending from the fans you have the jobs that are created from the game day this being people like caterers, stewards and programme sellers. I remember hearing out roar on the news when a factory shut and 300 people lost there jobs. 1  big club alone probably employ that many people on a Saturday so once again I ask the question is it just a game?
     So that's the premier league covered then, well almost. You also have the worldwide TV audience that craves a Sunday afternoon thriller to lighten up there weekend. On Sunday 7th October Newcastle hosted Man utd. and was received sky sports 1 highest viewing figures of the weekend which amassed to over 1.7 million across the UK  Then there is me watching it getting angry about how Newcastle could not continue there form, I support Pompey myself and get angry at a game that carries little interest to me. So it only affects those 22 on the pitch right?
     Then there is the emotional side to the beautiful game, it can never be 100% happy for 90 minutes if your loyal to your side. I cant sleep after a midweek game if Pompey win due to the general buzz it gives me, that might just be because a Pompey win is rare but still I love it! Football is a magic little thing , it has the ability to take a man from pure delight to shedding a tear in the space of a second. Going to a big game is just a 90 minute emotional roller-coaster, what you go through in the stands is hard to explain unless you go through it.  When the news came out in October 2010 that Pompey were near enough liquidated I shed a little tear, probably shouldn't admit it but it proves the point that its more than just a game, you don't shed a tear when you loose your scrabble board do you? Saturday isn't Saturday its football day which means your family are checking the results to find out what mood your coming home in, bet my mum wishes I was a united fan! Your football often sums up the sort of person you are. Arrogant people usually take a big side on as they cant deal with being second best and like being hated on for it, then you have the loyal people who back there local side as they can take defeat and usually control there emotions a bit better, football isn't just a game its psychological  in fact it can be anything, football is my life. I play it all weekend and watch it and write about it when I'm not playing.
    So is it really just 22 men trying to kick a ball past each other? Or is it 22 men who are followed and backed by thousands who live for it and want nothing more than success for that team and will celebrate it by boosting the economy with a beer or 2, who cares if we take it to seriously, its what we live for, take Pompey away and your taking my weekend away. Its not just a game, its a way of life.

Brighton get in the prem!

    The premier league needs big sides like Brighton to come up as they carry facilities to suit the best league in the world. Brighton also have a massive fan base which will stop the laughter at embarrassing support such as wigans loyal 50. They, unlike Wigan and Fulham certainly don't lack numbers on there travels as they took around 6,000 to Liverpool in the FA cup last season! The real reason I want Brighton up though is due to the fact that they have been where Pompey (my team) are now and have come back out to be one of the best run football clubs in the country. They had fans shaking buckets to raise cash for the club back in the worrying years of the late 90's, they even had to sell the Goldstone ground to pay off debts! That alone shows how loyal the fans are and after a long patient wait I think they deserve to get in the premiership.
            As well as there amazing off field facilities and fan base, Brighton also carries a team full of talent. I learnt this first hand when watching Vicente come on off the bench last season to single handedly tear Pompey to shreds. In my eyes it will be a disaster if they don't go up as there team holds names that are recognized over Europe such as Vicente (previously of Valencia , Bridge (previously of Chelsea), Bruno (previously of Valencia) and of course the star man Craig Mackail-Smith as well as young raw talent such as will Buckley and LuaLua. How can a squad with this much ability not be playing in the premiership? With Gus in charge I'm sure they will get there, he cant be doing a bad job as all my mates go on about him enough! Personally I feel he is the man to take them there. As he has signed all the recognized players I listed above, which shows he is great in the transfer market and also creates some lovely football to watch and in my eyes he had Brighton playing the best football last season.
       I also love the fact they play the best football in the championship and carry best support in the league (excluding Leeds) there fans hate Southampton, not as much as us Pompey lads but they dislike them and would agree with me when saying Adkins is a arrogant bullshitting twat! But back to Brighton they have a brand new 28,000 seater stadium that is set to be increased to 30,000 by mid 2013, all of which are padded seats, a luxury as a away fan! As well as a brand new stadium they have just been granted planning permission for a brand new £29,000,000 training facilities. After getting all these off field luxuries built/planned all they need now is the cherry on the cake and that will be promotion. They have the right man to see them up, a easily good enough squad to go up which will be strengthened with Gus at the helm. And some cracking fans to fill up a cracking stadium which will make most stadia in the premiership look a shithole! Now I have said this I hope Gus and his boys go and prove my point, Premiership 2013/14 you will be there!

The amex stadium

2011/12 the season I fell in love with football instead of 3 points

2011/12 was not one of the easiest season's for a Pompey fan. Yet for me it will be one filled with great memories on the pitch and in the stands. It was a season that started of positively as we had new owners who seemed to have a bit of cash behind them which bought in quality talent such as; David Norris, Greg Halford (on a permanent deal), Stephen Henderson and Erik Huseklepp. With these new signings along with our current squad I thought it would be a successful season for Pompey. However we had a pony manager who would be more suited to stoke, mr hoofball Cotterill was not getting the results fans expected and always had a shit excuse. For example after loosing to cardiff he said in interview 'I overtrained the players' So it was goodbye Cotterill and hello 3 points, skies were still blue over pompey at this time. Then the predictable came the 'fit and proper' owners were not fit and proper and were arrested for fraud. So we were back in adminstration and left furious at the FA for allowing such people into our club, on the brightside they did get us Norris! However during this shocking period Pompey signed a genuinely brilliant guy as a manager Michael Appleton, who made that group of players into a football team instead of a bunch of arrogant money grabbing w*nkers which many footballers are today. You had a team that was written of when administration came, that rallied together and created hope!

       The day the season really kickstarted and got good for me would have to be Sunday 18th December 2011. Derby day against Southampton or as I prefer Scum. Scum were top Pompey were flurting with relagation. Beat the scum your a Pompey hero. Score against the scum and you go down in Pompey folk law as a legend. Was a typical sloppy unexciting derby then scum struck with fatty in the 63rd to go 1-0 up I thought that was it, we were awful but cometh the hour cometh the man Joel Ward wrote his name in Pompey history as a legend when he headed home in the 83rd to lift the roof off the shed of dreams. 7 years and counting, you'll never beat us again! That was the start of what made me love football instead of winning. Pompey were not just rallying together on the pitch we were to off it. Each game got louder and each away following got bigger. Appleton also made each emergency loan better! The likes of chris maguire and scott allan defined passion in the shirt! Just seeing them work there tits off each week was enough to send me home smiling. Then came the rumors of liquidation and these rumors showed what the club was really made of, luckily this didn't and we were to stay in admin but what happened after this defined a club playing for passion instead of money. Players were refusing to sign contracts to move away from Fratton Park and even took pay cuts to keep the club they now love in business! Now that is pride in the shirt and those lads done us proud for the rest of the season and created hope of survival. If you visited Fratton park in the final third of season you would have heard the now famous 'we will never die' and '-10 who gives a fuck were super Pompey and were staying up' ring round the shed of dreams. Scum away was about to happen and Pompey were written of big time, but we don't loose a derby. I traveled in the bubble just hoping not to get smashed. But 2 legends were discovered that day, one going by the name of Chris Maguire who scored a worldie near post rocket to shock st marys however what was to follow will go down as one of my favorite moments. 89 minutes Sharp sent st marys into ecstasy as 'eieieio' rang out after his supposed winner. Then Norris happened! 94 minutes and he scores a unbelievable goal to send me flying 4 rows infront hugging everyone I can in the process. The celebrations summed up the passion as the bench was cleared and going nutty! After that happened I believed we were gonna survive the championship with no money. But this sadly wasnt to be due to the -10. Yet the ever strong blue army travelled with 3000+ to forest away to create one of the best away atmospheres they have witnessed at the city ground. Beachballs were in the 100's and the beers were being necked! 'Were all going on a league 1 tour' Sadly the on-field performance was shocking compared to what was happening off it. But the home fans appreciated and respected Appleton's men's efforts to survive and gave those lads a standing ovation as they left the field. That again shows love for football. Appletons men later reappeared to hang a flag on the goal which showed there love for this football club, these players didnt want to leave but were forced to over the summer! I will forever miss seeing Pearce's gazelle pre match at fratton, halfords long throw and David Norris being well David Norris. I felt sad to see this season end but also felt a huge amount of pride for supporting 11 men week in week out who knew what football meant to us in the crowd. Pompey and proud, for life not for glory. I finally know what football is really about.

Norris 94th minute equaliser

Players after forest away last day.