In the name of the father, and the son, and the football.
30 May 2014 - This article is dedicated to my father who encouraged me to write and like football; and without whom this article would not have been possible. Happy Birthday Dad!
fatherhood + football = summer 2014
This summer there are two things that are dominating my thoughts: being a father for the second time and the football World Cup.
As sporting events go, the World Cup is big. Really, really big. In 2010, three billion people, that’s half the planet, watched the final between Netherlands and Spain. This is the largest ever TV audience, which makes the World Cup final the single greatest simultaneous human collective experience in history.
Why is football so big? How does it manage to attract so much attention? Maybe, it’s due to its apparent simplicity - it can be played on practically any surface and the equipment needed is minimal. However, its popularity is also its Achilles heel as it is this which attracts money in vast quantities; and, where there are vast quantities of money, there will be vices too. Football is now more commercial than ever and the amount of money and rewards for success in the game have increased the level of corruption and cheating that occurs: cheating both on the pitch by the players, and off the pitch through match fixing and suspicious awarding of tournaments to undeserving countries. In addition, football is omnipresent; on TV, in the news, in the street … everywhere. The presence of football feels invasive even for those who follow the game. It’s no surprise then that anti-football feeling is strong. However, anti-football feeling will barely dent the popularity of the World Cup. Football is a cultural practice that has no rival: not even religion can match its global reach.
So football plays a part in people’s lives in a way that few other things can. For me football and fatherhood are closely linked, as football was one of the topics through which I was able to bond with my dad. Even today, in our weekly conversations one of the topics we tend to talk about is football. When I was growing up, my dad, like many of his generation, was a traditional, old-school father. He left a lot of the child-care responsibilities to my mother, which meant he was always a bit of a distant figure in my early years. I grew up with my dad turning on the TV at 4.45 pm every Saturday to watch Final Score. Once a year he would gather with his other male friends in a darkened room to watch the FA Cup final. They would close the curtains, to see the TV better; and close the doors, to keep distractions (i.e. kids) out. It was a strange and fascinating ritual lubricated by Watneys Party Sevens. So, as football was obviously such an important part in my father’s life, football became a way of bonding with him.
I grew up in Brighton and the local team, Brighton and Hove Albion, had their stadium five minutes’ walk from our house. It was an exciting time for Brighton when I was aged seven as they were enjoying the most successful period in their history. For the first time they were fighting for promotion to the old first division, the top tier in English football. So it wasn’t difficult to persuade my dad to take me to a match. One Saturday afternoon, we went with 20,000 others. These were the days when the vast majority of the spectators in the ground (to call it a stadium would be the stuff of marketing spin) had to stand in uncovered terraces, and being a seven year-old, I had no chance of seeing any action. So, I watched most of the match from the vantage point on my dad’s shoulders. And Brighton won. Not only did they win but they won 5-1 and my favourite player scored a hat-trick! I was euphoric and my dad was a hero for making it happen! Since then that stadium has been closed down. It’s now a retail park and the stand where I had my ‘footballing road to Damascus’ moment is now a ToysRUs.
A couple of months after that magnificent Brighton victory, the World Cup in Argentina in 1978 took place. This helped to strengthen my interest in football. As children mature they become less self-focused and develop a greater awareness of the outside world. For me the 1978 World Cup was a catalyst for greater outside awareness. My interest in football grew from the local team down the road, to football on an international scale. I enjoyed being part of a bigger group - the biggest group of all; football enthusiasts from around the world. And the World Cup is this group’s greatest collective experience. This makes football sound religious, and the parallels between football and religion have been noted often before. Former footballer and religious leader, Pope John Paul II recognised the significance of football when he said:
Amongst all unimportant subjects, football is by far the most important.
It’s not for nothing that many football clubs and religious denominations feature the word ‘united’.
This is what the World Cup represents to me. Despite all of the many ugly aspects of the game, football brings people together on a macro level, with events like the World Cup; and on a micro level, with father and son bonding opportunities. I hope to be able to continue this tradition with my two sons, the second of whom is due to be born the week after the World Cup final.
Bibliography:
Goldblatt, D (Penguin, 2006) The Ball Is Round: A Global History Of Football