The addiction to football.

Kieran Trippier’s semi-final free-kick will no doubt be listed as one of my moments of immeasurable euphoria when I reach my end of life statistical showcase. True football excellence always features heavily when people look back at certain periods of their lives, and my life is no different. Chelsea’s Champions League win, the 2018 World Cup, and Aguero’s Premier League winner are tied closely to being certain ages. Countless hours of football have been watched, played, and enjoyed throughout my path to adulthood. The kicking around of a hard leather ball beat as the heart of my boyhood, as it did for many others. However, my love of football always seemed to suffer from a simple paradox. Whenever I was interested in another hobby, my enjoyment of football went out of the window. This paradox overshadowed my various runs of form in the footballing world, with distinct fluctuation in my love for the sport from one month to the next.

This was epitomised within the COVID-19 pandemic. Regular fantasy football updates, routine games on tv, and daily reads of complex football analysis dominated the months spent indoors. Blades of grass had become scorched onto my screen. And yet, despite this, once a new hobby came along, I dropped all passion for the sport almost immediately, like a child going from one toy to the next. Unlike the child, however, I attempted wanted to form an evaluation of why I would be immersed in football for months on end, only to toss it aside with no notice.

The conclusion that came after a few hours of online research, was that football could only be compared to a small psychological addiction. The symptoms were the same; an intense need which disappears when simply, something more alluring came along. I’m unsure whether I am patient zero or rather experiencing an affect that every fan goes through. This analysis led me to another question. Despite believing that I find football engaging, do I even really like it, as its highly disposable nature would suggest?

Well, truth be told, on paper: no. Unfathomable amounts of oxygen have been used attempting to engage with goalless draws, struggling to reminisce mere seconds after the final whistle. Far too long has been spent questioning 9 am starts to touch the ball 7 times at Sunday league. And too many hangovers have been exacerbated playing centre mid. Yet, this analysis misses the goal. Football isn’t about how bored you are while watching it. It’s about talking with your mates about your predictions, celebrating in the pub when a goal goes in. Planning your fantasy football team, hating certain teams and having a kick about is much more about football in reality than boring mid-table clashes. I am not addicted to the actual game, but everything around the game.

Football is openly a rough diamond. Nothing else can come close to the true high points, but moreover, nothing else can drop dead like football can. It's like a cat that disappears for periods, but always comes back when you need some enjoyment and some good times with your mates. That is what football is for me.