Day -535. WorldCup2018
Today I was watching Aston Villa huff and puff to another tight 2-1 win against another team that they would have brushed aside five years ago. In reality they couldn't even have imagined five years ago that they would be playing against Burton Albion, with Villa happily coasting through another season of Premier League existence and Burton trying to make it as relative newcomers to league football in England.
And when I say I watched Villa today that's a little bit of an embellishment of my story. Not for the first time this season what I had on TV was a Premier League match while I followed twitter updates of Villa. Today it was Chelsea-Bournemouth, and having it on TV serves two purposes. It allows me to watch good quality football which, in my head, I superimpose on to what's going on at Villa Park, or wherever Villa happen to be playing (this fantasy soon dissipates once I read the tweets about how terrible Villa are). The second helpful thing is that it gives me a match clock. While everybody, or at least 99% of the Villa tweeters, are begging that Villa score a winner but forgetting to mention how much time is left, I have my top right corner of the TV clock running.
However, that personal insight into how I watch football was not meant to be my point. I was more struck by Burton Albion and Red Bull Leipzig, and Leicester and CFR Cluj. I may be a romantic, a dreamer but I love the joy that football can bring to football supporters. These were all teams that existed and did nothing much more than that. Leicester were, of course, the ultimate dreams-can-come-true story but the others, and there are even others, have given their supporters, the people in those cities or towns something to be very happy about. And before I get the money story thrown at me, just as money was thrown at these clubs, I'll say "so what"?
Leipzig are being called "controversial" because Red Bull pumped money into the club, and more or less bought success. But has it made a lot of people in Leipzig happy and proud of their team? Of course. CFR Cluj are the same. A small team, built into Romanian champions and Champions League qualifiers with the backing of wealthy owners. That happiness in supporting a winning team can't be taken away from the people of Cluj. And just look at Leicester last season. What that team did was probably the cause of the biggest feel-good story that city has ever experienced.
Burton Albion are not quite there yet but they have progressed from being a non-league team to one step below the Premier League in a very short time. Now the town of Burton upon Trent is known for more than just its' brewing heritage.
I'll take this happiness through football success theory a step further to the international level. Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland. Enough said. But I'll say more. Who were the happiest fans at the Euros last summer? Truly happy, truly proud. One of my best memories of this year was seeing the incredible euphoria of the Welsh supporters at the final whistle of their quarter final win against Belgium.
Football can make people happy. It has been the cause of my good mood many a time. I'm not going to justify it, and defend that fact, any longer. I suppose what the happiness stems from is the dream or hope of something you want to believe is possible actually happening. So whatever it is, embrace the possibility and enjoy the path.
Today I was watching Aston Villa huff and puff to another tight 2-1 win against another team that they would have brushed aside five years ago. In reality they couldn't even have imagined five years ago that they would be playing against Burton Albion, with Villa happily coasting through another season of Premier League existence and Burton trying to make it as relative newcomers to league football in England.
And when I say I watched Villa today that's a little bit of an embellishment of my story. Not for the first time this season what I had on TV was a Premier League match while I followed twitter updates of Villa. Today it was Chelsea-Bournemouth, and having it on TV serves two purposes. It allows me to watch good quality football which, in my head, I superimpose on to what's going on at Villa Park, or wherever Villa happen to be playing (this fantasy soon dissipates once I read the tweets about how terrible Villa are). The second helpful thing is that it gives me a match clock. While everybody, or at least 99% of the Villa tweeters, are begging that Villa score a winner but forgetting to mention how much time is left, I have my top right corner of the TV clock running.
However, that personal insight into how I watch football was not meant to be my point. I was more struck by Burton Albion and Red Bull Leipzig, and Leicester and CFR Cluj. I may be a romantic, a dreamer but I love the joy that football can bring to football supporters. These were all teams that existed and did nothing much more than that. Leicester were, of course, the ultimate dreams-can-come-true story but the others, and there are even others, have given their supporters, the people in those cities or towns something to be very happy about. And before I get the money story thrown at me, just as money was thrown at these clubs, I'll say "so what"?
Leipzig are being called "controversial" because Red Bull pumped money into the club, and more or less bought success. But has it made a lot of people in Leipzig happy and proud of their team? Of course. CFR Cluj are the same. A small team, built into Romanian champions and Champions League qualifiers with the backing of wealthy owners. That happiness in supporting a winning team can't be taken away from the people of Cluj. And just look at Leicester last season. What that team did was probably the cause of the biggest feel-good story that city has ever experienced.
Burton Albion are not quite there yet but they have progressed from being a non-league team to one step below the Premier League in a very short time. Now the town of Burton upon Trent is known for more than just its' brewing heritage.
I'll take this happiness through football success theory a step further to the international level. Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland. Enough said. But I'll say more. Who were the happiest fans at the Euros last summer? Truly happy, truly proud. One of my best memories of this year was seeing the incredible euphoria of the Welsh supporters at the final whistle of their quarter final win against Belgium.
Football can make people happy. It has been the cause of my good mood many a time. I'm not going to justify it, and defend that fact, any longer. I suppose what the happiness stems from is the dream or hope of something you want to believe is possible actually happening. So whatever it is, embrace the possibility and enjoy the path.
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