Falling out of love with football (warning - miserable moaning post)

[Longsighted]

This is something I'd felt about 10 years ago as there were some things going on which left a rather sour taste in the mouth. At that point, the love for football and Utd in particular had all but waned.

About 5 years ago, a couple mates had a 5s team and asked me to jump in one week as they were short. From then on it became a weekly thing and then during the summer we were getting 9 or 10 a side in local parks.

Fast forward a little bit and we started a Sunday league team and have been going ever since. The bug is definitely back and some of us even go to watch a couple of the local Saturday teams every week. There's something about local/regional football which still has a bit of purity to it. For the most part, the players, supporters, refs and people helping run these clubs and leagues are doing it for the genuine love of the game.

Without that, I would have fell out of love for the game completely.

 

[McGrathsipan]

I think I am done. The game is a toxic mess of corruption, commercialism and egotism driven by social media. Saudis buying English clubs - why? ,

The World Cup in fecking Qatar at Christmas time, mediocre players changing hands for eyewatering amounts of money when the working class man is still on a working class wage. The money players are on is insane and I'm sorry no footballer is worth hundreds of thousands a week to play football and be pandered to.
The last straw for me was the officiating the other night. Now handball that leads to a direct advantage and a goal is allowed?
I dont care that it was against United it shouldnt have happened. Its barmy.

Its not about the actual game of football any more.

My love for it is finally dead and I just dont care anymore.

 

[Steven Seagull]

Having all the games on so many different channels and times has killed it for me. I don’t subscribe to all the channels and once you fall out of the habit of watching games you kind of realise how stupid it is investing any time whatsoever into it all. That’s before you even add in real life issues

 

[youmeletsfly]

I watch the football, and that's kind of it. Other than that, I have 0 interest in what happens at United or at any club. The game and our lives have turned into social media whoring and I don't and won't ever like that till the day I die.

Just looking at the Rashford situation, trying to console Elanga on fecking twitter. It's disgusting how people turn to cheap whores for money and social media attention they get from a post.

Other than the above, I'm also kind of baffled on why people(fans, players, media, etc) try to paint football players like some fecking role models/important/special people, when, mostly, other than playing footie and making a shit load of money, they're below average blokes with minimal education and, most likely, dumber than a second coat of paint. To see them as an example for kids, to me, is disgusting.

Football is a business and, like any other, there's gonna be some degree of corruption, especially when you also get governments involved. I don't mind it because I don't care about it in general. Corruption doesn't affect you if you work hard and you achieve your goals.

In short, I don't give a feck about players, clubs, managers, agents, fans, stadiums, Arabs buying clubs, transfer fees and shit like that. I only fell in love with the game played on the field, the actual fecking football. I never gave a shit about shirts, boots, players or any other stuff that comes with football. I don't even like going to games to be honest, or if I go, I go with headphones as I can't fecking bare everyone shouting the whole game "you're fecking shit mate" and many other useless curse words that have no meaning or impact on the actual game. I'm actually amazed how stupid a man can turn into when going to a football match, it's amazing.

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

I think I am done. The game is a toxic mess of corruption, commercialism and egotism driven by social media. Saudis buying English clubs - why? ,

The World Cup in fecking Qatar at Christmas time, mediocre players changing hands for eyewatering amounts of money when the working class man is still on a working class wage. The money players are on is insane and I'm sorry no footballer is worth hundreds of thousands a week to play football and be pandered to.
The last straw for me was the officiating the other night. Now handball that leads to a direct advantage and a goal is allowed?
I dont care that it was against United it shouldnt have happened. Its barmy.

Its not about the actual game of football any more.

My love for it is finally dead and I just dont care anymore.

I think there is a lot of truth to what you said and it’s the greed that’s making me lose love with this game. I remember during peak covid as a medic I saw the situation in hospitals and then you saw that so many people were struggling financially but the football players could make more per week than a Doctor makes in an year and yet when there was talk of some of the wages being contributed or cut fans were actually supporting the players which did my head in. Now if you watch these players tweet about NFT’s am& stuff and you realise that every word that comes out of their mouth is focused on making more money out of fans which is just crazy. I have nothing against people making more money but it’s difficult to connect with footballers anymore

 

[WeePat]

Having all the games on so many different channels and times has killed it for me. I don’t subscribe to all the channels and once you fall out of the habit of watching games you kind of realise how stupid it is investing any time whatsoever into it all. That’s before you even add in real life issues

I don't know. I think the older you get the less time you spend watching football. It was certainly the case with me and my social circle. I probably wouldn't miss any Chelsea games, and I would perhaps go out of my way to watch rival games if the outcome had an impact on Chelsea, but the days of sitting down on a weekend and just watching back to back to back games in the PL or Europe is long gone. The most I do these days is check the highlights if something interesting happened outside the world of Chelsea.

A lot of that has to do with just growing up, maturing and realising it's just football. Some of it has to do with the growing responsibilities you have and that you no longer have endless free time during the weekend. Some of it, for sure, also has to do with the state of the game both in terms of the actual sport but also how expensive it can be to access it, at least here in the UK.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Stop watching United, I guarantee you won't be missed. Bye.

 

[L1nk]

I kind of get what you are trying to say - and for me personally it's almost a sense of inevitability. I've enjoyed watching under RR because I felt like we could go somewhere and then i'm interested to see what happens with a new manager. Towards the end of OGS reign i lost interest, not because we were bad, but because it was so obvious we would never amount to anything, so obvious that it was inevitable he would be sacked and yet no it kept going and going, to what end? I want us to win of course, but it's not like we won all the time even with Fergie and even then it was still entertaining and watchable. For me it's the more the sense of no matter what we do all I can picture are those disgusting smiling faces of the Glazers and board watching this all happen and not doing a damn thing to change it so long as the money keeps coming to them

 

[do.ob]

I think a lot of people feel that way right now. There's a couple of things coming together at the moment: for one I'd say the Corona situation has put professional football into perspective for a lot of people and to pile it on we also had that little ESL episode and the Qatar world cup is coming up. Two huge symbols of everything that's wrong with the game in terms of greed and corruption. And there's also the Saudi takeover of Newcastle to round things off.

 

[bosnian_red]

I think whenever that switch happened where clubs focused a lot more on the commercial aspect, that's where it happened for me to. Everything feels kind of empty. I find international football more pure to be honest, at least with the football aspect. But like ... Everything just feels geared towards brand exposure/social media content, and not like a normal football club anymore. Announcing transfers in cringey ways, though the way we did Varane at the start of the season was a breath of fresh air and quite nice. The super League fiasco probably was the one that kicked the bucket though.

I'll always watch... But its long stopped feeling like real football clubs caring only about how they do on the pitch, and more just big brands thirsting for more exposure through whatever means.

 

[Siorac]

I've been feeling similar for a while now. Over the last few years I gradually stopped watching and then even following football outside of United, and now I'm not even that bothered about United games.

Part of it is the ridiculously corrupt shite like the Qatar World Cup, sure, or the Super League rubbish. But partly it's about... well, it's about football being an essentially repetitive and somewhat tedious thing in the long run. With the inequality between the richest and the rest growing steadily, it really is the same shit every year: the same clubs fight for the same trophies, they hoover up the best players for ridiculous fees and I can't bring myself to care which particular super club happens to come out on top in that particular year.

 

[alanjohnson]

I fell out of love with football from the post-Ronaldo Wayne Rooney era, when he held the club to ransom. Just couldn't understand how such a low class individual could hold power over the club and blackmail it into a mega contract he was never worthy of. His performance levels dropped immediately. I'm far from a glory hunter, it isn't about winning trophies it's about having players with heart and determination. The money this club has is a curse as it only attracts mercenaries and i'm sick of watching them.
Boxing has taken over as my fav sport. As an example the boxer Zelfa Barrett is from Moston, looks a bit like Jesse Lingard. He's actually related to Brandon William's a former united player. The key difference is that Zelfa isn't irritating, he comes across really well in his boxing interviews and as a result i find myself rooting for him when he fights. That just illustrates the difference between the two sports. Most boxers are still down to earth and normal. Football players are absolute muppets who i just can't relate to or ever like and it is only the club identity that makes me support them on the pitch. I find myself hating players playing for the club or otherwise just not caring one way or another.

 

[bdecuc]

A lot of points in this thread I can identify with. Age is definitely a factor. The older you get the less tolerance you have for b*llsh*t. And there's soooo much bs.

For me the big issue which knocked much of the passion out of me was the takeover. Not to rehash all the points of that but a sport which allows a successful and reasonably run football club to be taken over and debt-saddled by some rich people just so they can milk as much money as they can out of it, is not a sport I want to spend much time with.

 

[Normandy]

Too much of it, maybe? They added more times for TV broadcast and are adamant about adding tournaments to the point there's no down time anymore.

 

[Cait Sith]

Already stopped watching football when Covid broke out and stadiums were empty. The quality of football was declining even before that, so Covid was a nice opportunity to ditch it alltogether.

Witnessed the Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho era(s), the Galactico era with Zidane, Figo etc., the Spanish domination under and after Pep, Messi and Cristiano, Ferguson's teams, Henry's Arsenal, Heynckes' Bayern, Liverpool's miracle CL win in Instanbul, Messi, Neymar, Suarez frontline, peak Mourinho shenanigans ... From 1998 - 2018 it was one hell of a ride.

 

[acnumber9]

I’ve said this numerous times before but I’ll say it again. The whole pressing fad is making football less and less enjoyable. There’s no room for creative freedom anymore, midfielders need to be able to press before caring about whether they can actually pass the ball. It turns games in to boring, scrappy messes.

I think football as a whole has gone downhill the last 15 years. If you look at the Premier League I feel like all the top clubs but City had better players then. And the Premier League is currently the dominant league.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

I hate these types of threads, try supporting the likes of Andy Sinton for years. Big money in football and the richest teams winning has been here since the start of the PL.

 

[arnie_ni]

I don't watch any full games of football outside of united anymore when I used to watch as many as possible. The only reason I watch any games now is because of united and my ever dying love towards the shower of shite.

 

[Gordon Godot]

I’ve said this numerous times before but I’ll say it again. The whole pressing fad is making football less and less enjoyable. There’s no room for creative freedom anymore, midfielders need to be able to press before caring about whether they can actually pass the ball. It turns games in to boring, scrappy messes.

I think football as a whole has gone downhill the last 15 years. If you look at the Premier League I feel like all the top clubs but City had better players then. And the Premier League is currently the dominant league.

Cannot disagree more. We have some fantastic matches and entertaining games this season and last, international football also overall much more open than it was. Much as it pains me often involving the like of Liverpool and City. Fergies early teams used to press high and win ball back early and pen teams in their own half. The possession based approach was arguably perfected by Liverpool in the Paisley period. What we have actually seen since Fergie (and last few yeras were often dull) is that United are teh team that have become dull, from the Moyes headless chicken play, to LVG deadly dull passing, to Mou's 6 at the back (which Ole continued). We have barely seen any pressing at United for 15 years... nor any edge of your seat stuff.

 

[horsechoker]

I hate these types of threads, try supporting the likes of Andy Sinton for years. Big money in football and the richest teams winning has been here since the start of the PL.

I think it's a bit disingenuous to say the rich owners from 25-30 years ago are the same as now.

You have billionaires and nation States running clubs which is vastly different to having a millionaire or group of in charge.

With the cost of players and wages constantly increasing the gap between clubs grows bigger and bigger. Clubs that were once top of the pile find a bigger gap between themselves and the noveau rich.

 

[acnumber9]

Cannot disagree more. We have some fantastic matches and entertaining games this season and last, international football also overall much more open than it was. Much as it pains me often involving the like of Liverpool and City. Fergies early teams used to press high and win ball back early and pen teams in their own half. The possession based approach was arguably perfected by Liverpool in the Paisley period. What we have actually seen since Fergie (and last few yeras were often dull) is that United are teh team that have become dull, from the Moyes headless chicken play, to LVG deadly dull passing, to Mou's 6 at the back (which Ole continued). We have barely seen any pressing at United for 15 years... nor any edge of your seat stuff.

Each to their own. I can’t stand that football is more about being an athlete above being a good footballer now.

 

[Adam-Utd]

It's not not as exciting as a close competition is it?

The title races between us and Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool etc going down to the wire. That's excitement.

These days it's just City blasting past everybody at record numbers. Where's the fun in that? The press lap it up to try and make it seem like some sort of achievement, but let's be honest it's dead rubbish.

 

[rollingstoned1]

Just wondered if its just me that's felt like this over the course of this season and probably the last couple of seasons.

United have been shite for ages but I've usually still enjoyed watching the season overall and title race, etc. regardless of what United were involved in. This year I just can't bring myself to care and haven't really enjoyed the games I have watched. I felt similar last season but put it down to covid and the lack of fans at the time and ended up laregely giving it a miss save most United games. This season if anything I've been even less interested and have stopped really being that fussed even with United games.

I don't think it comes down to one thing as more a general frustration at all the nonsense that seems to surround everything now. The officiating is so bad its damaging the integrity of games and ruins at least half the games I watch on its own. The league just seems like it has no integrity at all in general to me with financial rules applying to some and not others, some teams allowed to just invent covid cases or use injuries as an excuse to cancel games while others are forced to play them. Teams going bust while others spend £100m on players they don't even need. Players in general just seeming less relatable and likeable. Bore offs like Kane just casually refusing to play or train because they don't get their way and then as a direct result being shite nearly all season long, but still referred to as "model professionals"...despite behaving in a way that would get you sacked from working at ASDA. Staggering amounts of whining about covid, fixture schedules etc. On top of that the Greenwood thing which is horrid just to think about, and the thought I can't get away from that clubs probably try to cover stuff like this up and the only reason that isn't what happened is because it was put on social media. I've enjoyed the Champions League still mostly, but then they literally tried to fix the draw for that on live international television so its hard to take it entirely seriously. The super league thing. Trying to furlough staff during covid. Trying to charge people £15 to watch games like Burnley vs Sheffield Utd during a pandemic. Holding a world cup in the middle of a season in a bunch of stadiums built by what are basically terribly treated slaves, because money innit. Listening to idiots like Klopp talk moral shite before willingly taking his team to go play a game in one of said stadiums without a word of objection.

I think its all taken its toll on my ability to invest in any of it. I find it really refreshing watching other sports because they don't seem to be nearly as poisoned by nonsense or weak whining, hypocrit mentalities as football is. The closest comparison I can think of that I've seen over the course of the season was the magically changing race rules in the last Formula 1 race, but if you had Premier League officiating in F1 that would just be standard every week, and you'd have things like the person who finished 5th being awared 1st by VAR, or Hamilton being allowed to just reverse backwards and forwards over the line for each lap instead of actually driving round the track, and then shouting in the face of the race officials when he manages to only finish 3rd after winning 12 races in a row. No other sport is nearly such a fecking mess of dislikeable rubbish.

To be honest this is prompted a bit by still being angry at the ridiculous handball decision yesterday, but that just felt like the last straw even at the time when the game was still going on. I was thinking just after, this is the first time I've been genuinely annoyed or invested in a game in months, and rather than being because of football its because of yet another piece of complete nonsense that has nothing to do with competitive sport, and just would never be allowed to happen in most other sports at that level...and yet probably wouldn't even be in the top 5 biggest nonsense decisions that have ruined games I've watched this season. And this is then followed by the now familiar thought of "why am I wasting my time with this again"?

I can second this and it's a life lesson in general imo. Things which you once took almost seriously enough to get into a fight for no longer matter or elicit the same level of investment after a point in time.
I can say I enjoyed International football much more when I couldn't find what was so exciting about it once upon a time because of how invested I was in following United.

 

[arnie_ni]

It's not not as exciting as a close competition is it?

The title races between us and Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool etc going down to the wire. That's excitement.

These days it's just City blasting past everybody at record numbers. Where's the fun in that? The press lap it up to try and make it seem like some sort of achievement, but let's be honest it's dead rubbish.

Their games are an absolute chore to watch as well. I appreciate how good they are but feck it's boring

 

[pacifictheme]

I have to an extent. Lots of life stuff like having kids and a wife has cut down on thrle amount I watch teams other than united to almost nothing.

The main thing for me is in the last few years its been very hard for me to get tickets to united games. I stopped my 30 year membership a few years after the shite bum rush ticket system replaced the ballot system that worked really well, because I only could get awful tickets in with tourists who never sang and it was miserable. Plus I could get tickets through a Scandinavian supporters club. But since ole became manager I haven't managed to get a single ticket.

My friends now pay 150 quid a ticket for hospitality related tickets and another friend is paying 1k to take his did to a match. Not if we were the best team on earth would I pay 500 quid for a ticket.

One of the best parts of growing up a united fan was going to matches with my dad, but now I want to get my sons into united its so hard to get to matches, especially for 3 of us, I just have no motivation to get them to support united.

I still watch all our games and read up about the club etc but I have never felt so distanced as a fan.

 

[Guy Incognito]

The great thing about football growing up were the World Cups. Long (often hot) summer nights, exotic destinations and players you hadn't heard of.

It doesn't really make a difference if the WC happens every two or four years, such is the globalisation and saturation of the sport, you probably know what said player's best position is and how he takes penalties before a kick of the ball.

 

[giggs-beckham]

I watch the football, and that's kind of it. Other than that, I have 0 interest in what happens at United or at any club. The game and our lives have turned into social media whoring and I don't and won't ever like that till the day I die.

Just looking at the Rashford situation, trying to console Elanga on fecking twitter. It's disgusting how people turn to cheap whores for money and social media attention they get from a post.

Other than the above, I'm also kind of baffled on why people(fans, players, media, etc) try to paint football players like some fecking role models/important/special people, when, mostly, other than playing footie and making a shit load of money, they're below average blokes with minimal education and, most likely, dumber than a second coat of paint. To see them as an example for kids, to me, is disgusting.

Football is a business and, like any other, there's gonna be some degree of corruption, especially when you also get governments involved. I don't mind it because I don't care about it in general. Corruption doesn't affect you if you work hard and you achieve your goals.

In short, I don't give a feck about players, clubs, managers, agents, fans, stadiums, Arabs buying clubs, transfer fees and shit like that. I only fell in love with the game played on the field, the actual fecking football. I never gave a shit about shirts, boots, players or any other stuff that comes with football. I don't even like going to games to be honest, or if I go, I go with headphones as I can't fecking bare everyone shouting the whole game "you're fecking shit mate" and many other useless curse words that have no meaning or impact on the actual game. I'm actually amazed how stupid a man can turn into when going to a football match, it's amazing.

Wonderfully put.

 

[Lay]

I don’t use social media or get into football debates anymore so my interest has dwindled which I believe is a good thing as I don’t spend my time getting worked up over football.

Having kids made me see that it isn’t that important, if I miss a game because the kids are watching a Disney movie instead, I don’t give a feck. A few years ago I would set my whole day aside to watch United games.

The other thing, probably in the minority here but I have no enjoyment watching the EPL. Due to how it’s packaged and because it is the best league, it goes under the radar that a lot of the games are shite. It feels so manufactured now.

I still enjoy games in other leagues though whenever I watch them. But I don’t even watch big games in the EPL anymore.

 

[Lay]

Each to their own. I can’t stand that football is more about being an athlete above being a good footballer now.

This. I miss the maestros in football. Pressing football in my opinion is shite to watch. It’s just a tactic based on making the opposition make mistakes.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I only watch united games now and the CL, WC and euros finals. I still look forward to watching united but between the insane wages and then they are so lazy, there is a real disconnect.

 

[pocco]

I'm in a weird phase with the club at the moment. I've spent so long being angry at practically everyone involved that I can't just switch it off and forget about it. I seriously dislike most of this team and what they stand for, they've been made superstars or given outrageous money here and have served up mediocrity. I see most of them as practically being lottery winners by being here. I'm hoping within a few years we'll have a team I can relate to a bit more (not saying successful but given the right energy, attitude etc). Right now I don't feel the same way I used to.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I'm in a weird phase with the club at the moment. I've spent so long being angry at practically everyone involved that I can't just switch it off and forget about it. I seriously dislike most of this team and what they stand for, they've been made superstars or given outrageous money here and have served up mediocrity. I see most of them as practically being lottery winners by being here. I'm hoping within a few years we'll have a team I can relate to a bit more (not saying successful but given the right energy, attitude etc). Right now I don't feel the same way I used to.

Same with me. Add to the fact that there were rumours of being lazy as well the last month or so. Really made me angry to be honest. They have basically won the lottery and cannot be bothered putting in the work.

Lingard for me really epitomizes what has gone wrong. Earning money comes before winning things. He blatantly posts it all on instagram and doesnt seem to care.

 

[Gazza]

I think one difference between watching football in the first decade of the 2000s is that it still felt like Football + Other Stuff. At this point, it feels a bit like Other Stuff + Football. The amount of reporting, coverage and airtime given to social media, marketing, financial results etc.... it's not why most of us got into football.

I remember when Beckham and then Rooney came through -- the idea that footballers were getting media training and PR advice was still novel; at this point, footballers graduate to the big-time with a fully developed, PR-crafted profile, and they are diversifying their profit channels (ugh) almost before they've actually achieved anything in the game. Look at NFTs and crypto currency; you have young players who have barely made it promoting their brands on social media. They/their advisors know how to leak to the media to carefully maintain their image. We know that football clubs employ staff whose roles are basically to 'sell' a certain image of a player to the adoring fanbase. It's just a bit slimey and transactional now.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I think one difference between watching football in the first decade of the 2000s is that it still felt like Football + Other Stuff. At this point, it feels a bit like Other Stuff + Football. The amount of reporting, coverage and airtime given to social media, marketing, financial results etc.... it's not why most of us got into football.

I remember when Beckham and then Rooney came through -- the idea that footballers were getting media training and PR advice was still novel; at this point, footballers graduate to the big-time with a fully developed, PR-crafted profile, and they are diversifying their profit channels (ugh) almost before they've actually achieved anything in the game. Look at NFTs and crypto currency; you have young players who have barely made it promoting their brands on social media. They/their advisors know how to leak to the media to carefully maintain their image. We know that football clubs employ staff whose roles are basically to 'sell' a certain image of a player to the adoring fanbase. It's just a bit slimey and transactional now.

true. it seems like their online presence comes before football. That is what annoys me.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

I ain't reading all that.

When you're good again you'll feel different.

Exactly this, spoilt fanbase! When Ronaldo signed the amount of people that spoke about how their love for football was back.

 

[Utd heap]

Proper making me laugh this thread.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

I hate the rampant capitalism in football.

The fawning media pushing narratives about games that don't matter because they have to hawk the product to paying viewers.

The fan culture of YT talking heads with no background in the game, sat in front of a green screens, saying nothing of value but making content for contents sake.

fecking gambling endorsements from faceless companies that don't exist.

Clubs being bought by national states that punish homosexuality while the club endorses rainbow lace campaigns.

It's all so boring and predictable.

 

[Deery]

Na, can’t wait for tomorrow night.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

VAR is the thing for me

I can cope with us being shit. I enjoy every false little dawn when we go on a run. What I can't cope with is having this bollocks VAR forced upon us, and they still get stuff wrong.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

I think I am done. The game is a toxic mess of corruption, commercialism and egotism driven by social media. Saudis buying English clubs - why? ,

The World Cup in fecking Qatar at Christmas time, mediocre players changing hands for eyewatering amounts of money when the working class man is still on a working class wage. The money players are on is insane and I'm sorry no footballer is worth hundreds of thousands a week to play football and be pandered to.
The last straw for me was the officiating the other night. Now handball that leads to a direct advantage and a goal is allowed?
I dont care that it was against United it shouldnt have happened. Its barmy.

Its not about the actual game of football any more.

My love for it is finally dead and I just dont care anymore.

Nailed it.