When I was younger, especially between the ages of 15 to around 27, I feel like I was a lot more invested in my own team and wider football in general. I knew my own squad inside & out and could easily list players from the majority of players in the top leagues.
However, now at age 36, I find that I really struggle to keep up with football in general. I hear about players my club is going to sign and a lot of the time I have no idea who they are. I’ll look at highlights of Serie A & La Liga and for the most part won’t recognise most of the players.
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like as they’re getting older, they’re less engaged with the game?
I get what you mean. When Everton were 0-2 down against Wimbledon in 1993-94ish and facing relegation, I was in tears. The emotion when they came back to win 3-2 was immense. And that was just from “watching” the game on Ceefax! I would read every edition of Match, Shoot, 442 and any fanzine I could get my hands on.
Towards the end of the century, I went to Goodison on another last day relegation escape against Coventry (Vialli’s Chelsea beat Bolton to keep them up) and again the relief was incredible. If they were relegated this season, it would not preoccupy me at all.
We just have much less time when we are older with family life taking priority, plus interests naturally diversify. I still love the game and will watch YouTube highlights, but I cannot go anywhere close to the depths I would have as a teenager. It was a healthy past-time though. The only kids in the 80s who knew the countries of Liechtenstein and Paraguay existed, or secondary cities in Poland and Norway were football fans.
Football has become over commercialised and sanitised in my view. People were against the idea of modern football about 15 years ago but most people are only waking up to it within the last few years and realising what the sport has become at the top level. Higher ticket pricing, all-seater stadiums (albeit justified), gentrification of crowds, half-time shows, Ariana Grande style concerts before prestigious finals, and so on.
English football, at least at the top level, is dead for me. It’s become a product of Sky. “Anyone can beat anyone”, but come May it’s largely the same top 4 teams every year. It’s become a dick swinging contest between the billionaires of the top 6 clubs. Can’t be bothered with trying to keep up with the constant news cycles, especially during the transfer windows.
Definitely not as interested in it as I was in my younger days, but I still follow it all through force of habit unfortunately.
Playing fantasy helps a lot
I do to a certain extent. Playing football manager is how I keep up with whats going on abroad. My focus on my own team hasn’t waned. But my knowledge of others has. Found out today that Gary O’Neil wasn’t the Bournemouth manager.
I think it’s also being football has become a lot more player orientated with fandoms for certain players. Not to mention the commercialism of it all and no marks from across the globe bandwagoning