The UK's Biggest... Distraction

I was at a football game recently, and being the observant person that I am, it drove me to a strange conclusion…

Why do so many men in the UK care more about their football teams than themselves?

A Short Story

(I wrote this a while ago fyi)

I was at a football game recently. Leyton Orient vs Blackpool. Third tier of english football.

If you’re unsure, Leyton Orient is a team in East London, and Blackpool is just above Manchester & Liverpool.

A several hour round trip for the travelling Blackpool fans, on a cold, wet Tuesday night.

There were over 500 away fans travelling from Blackpool, and they lost 1–0.

For large parts of the game, they made more noise than the 7,000 home fans, and it was an impressive turnout for a game half way through the week.

But, given it was a typical weekday, I was surprised by the turnout from the away fans given how far they had to travel.

Upon thinking, I came to a swift conclusion.

A Quick Conclusion

This story isn’t a rare occurrence.

Most weeks, there are hundreds, if not thousands of football fans travelling hundreds of miles just to see their teams play, and more often than not… lose.

In all honesty, I used to think it was a bit sad.

“You don’t have anything better to do?”

But a while ago, my thoughts on this changed.

The game I went to last week made me realise how dedicated these football fans were.

Thousands of men in this country, are willing to travel hundreds of miles each week to support a group of players who don’t even know they exist.

However you want to look at it, that’s dedication.

But this is what I’m so confused about…

Why don’t people put the same effort into improving their own lives?

The result of a football game is something that you can’t control, unless you’re on the pitch.

Yet, so many become so invested in it.

What do you think people could achieve if they invested into the things that they can control?

All About Priorities

When you’re surrounded by the working class footballing culture in this country, you begin to take in the idea that there are a large group of people (mostly men, but not all) that genuinely put more effort into supporting their football teams than themselves.

• They don’t care about their appearance.

• They don’t care about their careers.

• They don’t care about what that actually affects them. (politics etc.)

But as long as their football team is winning, life’s great.

• Nobody cares about taxes rising.

• Nobody cares about government corruption.

• Nobody cares about inflation and the cost of living.

How do people live like this?

The truth is, there are many things that people use as an escape from reality, and in the UK, football is right at the top of this list.

I go to a lot of football games with my Dad now he’s retired, and it’s always a decent day out. But, never would I put a game of football over anything that means something in my life.

It’s insane what these people could achieve if they put their efforts into themselves.

Instead, it goes towards something they can’t control.

Listen, I’m not saying people should stop watching sports.

I’m saying that so many people have the time and energy to improve their lives if they really wanted to.

But, they don’t.

And since making these observations I only have six words left to say…

Focus on yourself. Nothing else matters.

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