Bill Shankly, the Liverpool manager from the late sixties and seventies, once said that football was not a matter of life and death; it was more important than that.
While his comments may have been slightly tongue in cheek, there is an element of truth in what he said.
Football evolves and changes with the players and managers that grace it. Players come up through the ranks, move into management, or ownership, and then retire in a perpetual cycle.
As a young fan, I had no idea about how old players were. All I knew is that they were much older than me and were people to be looked up to.
Footballers didn’t age, they just got more experienced. When players changed clubs, retired, or moved into a managerial position, I never considered it a sign that they were aging as people. That was just the way things worked.
The facts of footballing life for me were thus: trainee, player, manager, pundit. That was it. As you get older however, and become more aware of your own mortality, you see that although life is short, a footballer’s career is even shorter.
The current European Championships have made me realise now that I am no longer a young supporter. I have transcended the planes of adolescent fandom and am now entering my own kind of football adulthood.
The players I have watched emerge onto the scene and take the game by storm are closing on retirement. Raul never even made the Spanish squad. Lilian Thuram looked off the pace and a shadow of his former self. Ruud Van Nistlerooy is the elder statesman of a young and vibrant Dutch team. The Italian defence has no Nesta, Cannavaro, or Maldini!
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New and improved players are becoming the stars of their national sides, and for me, here lies the real sticking point. How do I approach my role as supporter now?
They are, in some cases, two or three years, younger than me—Ronaldo, Rooney, Fabregas, Torres, Sneijder, Ramos, De Rossi, Podolski, Modric.
As a young fan you go out, you get the shirt, you idolise and mimic and you trade their much sought after sticky backed visages with your mates—two for a shiny, remember.
I can't in my right mind go out now and buy a shirt with “Modric” on the back, knowing he is younger than me, can I? How can I hero worship a younger chap?
Should I even be buying a shirt at all anymore? Should I let a bad result ruin my weekend? Should I really be shouting and swearing at the TV any more?
I am at a stage of my football supporting life that I never expected to happen.
Watching the Ryan Giggs special a few weeks ago that looked back over the Welshman’s illustrious career gave me a cold sweat. Ryan Giggs can’t be close to retirement surely? He’s only, what 28… 30… 33… 34! I remember his first ever game on Match of the Day. Now he's close to hanging up his boots.
At White Hart Lane this year I overheard a couple of blokes talking about Tottenham’s left sided problems and I began nodding to myself in silent agreement as they discussed David Ginola and how special he was on our left side.
To my horror, one of the chap’s sons, he looked about ten, piped up with, “Who was Ginola, Dad, was he that good?” I could have cried. Then it dawned on me. Ginola’s peak time at Spurs was in 1999. Nine years ago. When that young lad would have still been in nappies.
Life moves on. Of course it does.
I must’ve been a naive fool to think that my footballing world would not succumb to the inevitable. I will miss the names of those players I grew up watching and knowing intimately through their statistics and club records but I look forward to the new names that are sure to become the biggest of the big.
I look forward to being able to take a step back and say, that lad’s a bit special, and comparing the new breed with the old, with a big bright pair of rose tinted specs on.
Of course I'll scream and shout. Passion doesn't diminish as you get older, nor should it.
I am still young myself. As a 25 year old in the prime of life I appreciate now that football, like life itself, changes and moves on with the rest of us and as a fan I realise that my appreciation and understanding of the game will change with it.
Perhaps Bill’s words of wisdom were even truer than I first thought.
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2 months ago
A fantastic article Adam, well done.
Touched home on a few issues there, thanks for sharing.
2 months ago
What an article! Class mate!
The only thing I think changes as I get older and watch football, is find myself more and more immersed in it every day. I love to watch players develop, and I hope that in 8 or 9 years time, I can turn around and see Anderson on the same level as Kaka or Rooney on the same level as Henry.
Again mate, great article. One of the best Ive read on this site.
2 months ago
haha I got to agree with those before me. This is truly great work and I can relate to it in every way - I am a little younger than you are though but have still watched a lot of these stars grow up too. Great going Adam. This is surely the truth to any supporter..
2 months ago
Lets keep the pattern going...brilliant article Adam...an indepth look into the world of football supporters.
2 months ago
I absolutely agree!! I'm only 20 years old, yet I find myself comparing my age to the Messi's and the Benzema's of the game. Heck, Bojan Krkić was born in the 1990's; it is so hard to believe that some players wouldn't have even been in high school with me because they were too young. Regardless, there's no doubt that your article touches every single fan of every sport. The time when we all realize that we've grown up is when we must replace our idols that we had for so many years, and start finding new footballers that are most often going to be younger than us.
2 months ago
God, I didnt even think of Bojan and Messi. Then there's Dos Santos as well and Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale. Where's my pipe and slippers?
2 months ago
Great article. I can't believe both how young some players are, and how old some players look!
Toulalan for example at Lyon & France, is 24 (3 years younger than me), yet looks about 35. It always makes me laugh with discomfort when I look up an new player on wiki or something and see a date of birth in the late 80's, or even early 90's!
I think it will be easier in some ways when I am 40, then almost every player will be younger than me and it won't come as a surprise!
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