Football
I love football. I think to a lot of people I don’t seem like “the type” to like football. But I do. It’s not the national obsession for nothing!
Supporting teams has always been a bit awkward. Being brought up in a family where my dad, his dad and beyond are Rangers fans, and where my mum’s dad is also a Rangers fan, it was pretty damn difficult not to support the bloody team. But I really wish I didn’t. I hate the Old Firm really, they’re disastrous for the Scottish game. So the other week I decided that after seventeen years, I would leave Rangers at the wayside at the end of this season and focus my efforts on the full-time support of my hometown club, Dunfermline Athletic.
But it’s not that easy, is it?
Now don’t get me wrong, I love going to Dunfermline games; it’s a great laugh and there are great people there. But can you really abandon a team you really have felt emotion for for a number of years? I don’t think you can. I feel a sort of guilt for supporting Rangers — I shouldn’t, should I? I didn’t pick them. But it comes with a glory-hunting association that I hate, and that’s the main reason I want to “give them up”, so to speak.
But we all glory-hunt a bit, don’t we? I imagine most Scots (or certainly young Scots) will have an English team that they support/follow — and I’ll tell you what, it’s probably not Rochdale or Stevenage Borough! It will be Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United. I have to say, I am turning into a massive Arsenal fan. I went down to the Emirates last August with my dad as Rangers supporters for the ‘Emirates Cup’ pre-season tournament, but I came back from London pretty much as a converted Arsenal fan. I loved their stadium, the area, and of course watching them play.
You pick your favourite bands by the sounds that most please your ears, so why not the football team by the most pleasing to your eyes? That’s pretty much the way I operated. And you know what? I felt genuine emotion tonight, watching Arsenal struggle against probably the best team in the world. I screamed when Bendtner somehow managed to open the scoring; that was real excitement. I groaned when Messi equalised and swore when he put in the second. I don’t think it’s too difficult to find passion for a football club.
What’s difficult is losing it.
