Football is warfare and there is honour in battle

On occasions, when meeting someone who does not follow football, I have tried to explain why we follow the game. But how can you explain the tribal nature of football and the unbridled passion of this great game.

I am a sports fan, not all sports, my favourite being cricket, Australian Rules and football. I love the Ashes, the greatest of cricketing rivals. I used to regularly go to Australian Rules games as well and I certainly felt passion and excitement for my team, North Melbourne.

But there is something special about football. Maybe it’s because scoring doesn’t happen too often that it is almost climactic when a goal is scored. I remember when my Spurs beat Chelsea in the League Cup Final, my reaction was to shout extremely loud, I think I scared my kids, and I recall throwing a table across the room in celebration, ok that is a bit weird but you get my point.

There is tribalism to football. The rivalries leave the football pitch and join us in life. I have met many Arsenal fans and while perhaps we could be good friends, the football thing would always come between us. Yes that is a bit childish, but to me football is warfare.

It is hard to describe to the non football person about this rivalry. But this is replicated all over the country; Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Bristol, Tyneside, South Coast, Glasgow, Edinburgh.  There are so many rivalries too numerous to mention all the sides, but many of these protagonists follow their rivalries off the pitch too, whether it is banter, coldness or perhaps something worse.

For ninety minutes every weekend we sing for our team, sing our players names and our club and goad the opposition and their fans. It is no wonder that hooliganism arose out of football. This game helps us escape from the anxiety and stresses of modern life, and on occasions our emotions do get the better of us. For me it means saying the odd F word and believe me I have many. For other the emotions can become violent, which has been a blight on our game for many decades.

During the First World War on Christmas Day, there was a brief suspension of warfare, and the opposing German and British/French soldiers joined together to have a Christmas feast and play football amongst other things before returning to battle  the following day.  There was in those days still an honour in battle.

Football is much the same, for those ninety minutes, football is warfare, and sometimes the battle will continue off the pitch for nine months every year. But every now and then there is a cessation in the battle, a time for all football fans to unite. There have been various tragedies in football in recent years; Hillsborough, Bradford, Heysel. Just recently after the death of Bobby Robson, a man admired by just about everybody, the football world came to together to honour his life. After the shocking suicide of Gary Speed, once again the football world was in unison.

This weekend while Fabrice Muamba lay unconscious on the White Hart Lane pitch, the football world was again in unison. Both Tottenham and Bolton supporters sang his name, the whole football community Tweeted away wishing him a recovery and prayers were sent by all and sundry. There were sentiments from all that some things are more important than football, well maybe?

But this warfare we act out week in week out has been suspended, as much as we try to carry on, for some their hearts are just not in it when a player’s life is in danger. There is honour in battle.