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.

Sweet Carroll Nine

After the positive start against the French we English were fairly confident as we came up against Sweden, easy win surely? Well considering we have never actually beaten Sweden it was not going to be as straight forward as first though. But as I'm English I was confident and because I was on the beers I was even more confident. England to win easy was my prediction, with that I stuck £3 on an England win and £1 on Carroll to score. After a top barbecue cooked by the local Paedofile (Jack Benham), me and 13 mates sat down on the sofa ahead of kickoff, then quickly arose again to blast out 'god save the queen' I would have got goosebumps if we had sung it better than a drowning Justin Bieber, yes we were awful lets hope England were better!
When the game finally got underway me and mates were already worst for wear and found a African drum, so next thing you know we've got a 14 man strong atmosphere going that still shits on Chelsea! It was a typical football atmosphere within my sitting room yet our celebrations were a tad better than average especially when big Andy headed home to put us in the lead! Yes you read it right Andy Carroll scored! This caused a room of nutters to become a room of mental asylum candidates as you had a little bundle and me punching the ceiling, but that just shows our pride for the country and love for Roy's boys. At 1-0 I thought we were safe its only Sweden and everyone was having a good game even Milner!  Mumbles and slurred words were ringing round the room that the job was done and we were pretty much in the quarters, Then the halftime whistle blew and we decided to compare Paddy Cowell's boob size to that of girls we all have a liking for, Paddy 1-0 Milli. Being in the state I was I thought it was suitable to ring Milli and inform her, bad move. 

Somebody cant deal with the toilet or a beer!

Then the second half started, I was confident England obviously weren't and Melberg obviously was as he quickly smashed English dreams as he slotted home with a bit of assistance from Glen Johnson and then 10 minutes later he scored again this time with his head, my thoughts on this were summed up with 1 word and that would be 'w*nker'. But then Roy made his wonder sub and that was wonder wal! 'Why not the ox? Walcott's shit and I'm an Arsenal fan' was said by a couple as he came on. But boy did he prove us wrong and sent me nutty as he smashed home from outside the box. My reaction to this was to run topless around the garden and belly slide, watch and learn crouchy! But Walcott's goal raised lots of questions such as 'Why don't we shoot from outside the box?' He proved that you score if you do! The nerves grew as the seconds ticked by and my money was slowly running away, Then wonder Wal once again produced a bit of magic in the 78th minute as he slipped past a couple of defenders and crossed it in to Welbeck who produced a worldie of a finish to stick us 3-2 up! I was in love with Walcott however I found Joe Harris running round the garden with me and thought he will do and shared a little hug and kiss with him, not in a gay way. Then the nerves grew as we could just see Sweden scoring, for once I was not confident, must be the beer! Luckily Ibrahimovic was about as much use to Sweeden as toilet paper is to an Arab. Then the fulltime whistle blewand I think it was obvious that the win meant a lot, as the room rose up to sing football's coming home! What a game and what a hero that boy walcott has become, bring on Ukraine! My main question of the night is 'who shat on the toilet seat?' I'm still worried by that lads. However  who cares we won, Footballs coming home, come on England, we can do it we've got Walcott!

The dreaded opener

So today we had England's opener and the reaction twitter has given me is a lot more positive than first feared. I started the affair in my usual fashion by singing the anthem stood up by the sofa, yes I'm patriotic and love my country. The boys finally showed some passion in that shirt and it was great to see the ox putting a well deserved appearance in. As a fan I sat there and watched as Joe Hart flapped his way through the opening affairs until he finally got his professional head on. Then we had the goal that 'my Nan could of scored' as many said. But in Milners defense I was shocked that he managed to go forward and round the keeper but as its positives we will forget what he done next.
However after a decent start from Milner his appearance was just getting worse and worse until people were crying for Walcott the player that's been called shit all season? Anyway that's England fans for you. Then you had the goal and how glorious was it? The answer to that would be very as you had a nation on its feet screaming at the tv in disbelief that we had actually gone in front against the french! Being the rugby fan I am there is nothing better than sticking it to the french. This gave me and my friend confidence that we were already home and dry yet we were not even near half time! Deluded England fans I know.
As the confidence grew the inevitable struck as Samir Nasri fired a 20 yard shot past Joe Hart at his near post, the feeling around the nation was well and truly reflected in my room as silence occurred until my friend (Arsenal fan) said "Samir your a c*nt" I finally agreed with him. Then the doubt kicked in that I had upon kickoff but now it was stronger as France began to dominate and so did there fans with the camera shots. Most countries get good looking fans but not France which increased my hatred for the nation. Half time couldn't come sooner when Roy's boys went trotting of down the tunnel.
Were we gonna see an inspirational team talk that would inspire a hat-trick or 2. No certainly not as we saw France dominate early proceedings of the second half. But then someone clicked and England found a new style which I and twitter loved (apart from the welsh) It was almost as though we had gone all European and begun to enjoy the slow life just like the likes of Spain. Overstatement? More than likely yes. As England got going though the ref seemed to forget he had a whistle, being a rugby bo I liked seeing him ignore the dives but come on ref you were taking the piss!
As we got mad the minutes went by and so did the energy that the early minutes had. Then came some game changing subs, Andy Carroll maybe? No Jordan Henderson and Jermaine Defoe to replace Parker and Welbeck 2 of England's stars of the day. How did Milner stay on the pitch, is he dating Roy's daughter? These changes made no difference and the minutes ticked of as the smell of my dinner grew larger. Then Walcott appears finally some impact but wait he has about 4 minutes, who can make an impact in 4 minutes? The only good news of this was that Milner left the field. Yes as you can tell I dont like Milner.
The final whistle sounded and the fans feedback was coming in over text and all were positive. We all love the tactics and enjoyed the performance against a strong French side. I for one believe again. Football is coming home. Bring on Sweeden!