The thing about blogging is that in a sense it is a diary, it is a journal it is the placing of information about me and stuff and often it’s done with no reference to the historical context in which it exists. Often with a diary I don’t have to put down where such and such a thought of interest comes from it’s just there. Yet with a blog and especially one like this one there is a chance to do some of that kind of work. Almost as if it unfolds the life, though it can never unfold all of life, there is a record to give an indication of who is who when it comes to this life business.
I take it for granted that by now you know I’m a Liverpool fan and in this day and age there are two good questions to ask – one, why are you a Liverpool fan? The second is even better – why are you still a Liverpool fan?
Why Are You A Liverpool Fan?
In order then, let me be clear from the start, I don’t come from Liverpool it took me the better part of 27 years before I even went to the city. In fact I was born and grew up 156 miles away (I thank you Google Maps) in the town of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. It is here in 1986 that I got into football as the game my peers enjoyed and then once I was into it there had to be a team to follow. Now I was a church-guy (Sabbath-keeping) so it wasn’t as though I was going to take the game seriously enough to go to matches on Saturdays. I wasn’t that much of socialising kinda-guy so it wasn’t as if I wanted to go to matches. I live in Wellingborough which didn’t have a football team of any note. Back in that day Kettering and Rushden had teams but nothing as much as their experiences since. So the nearest team was Northampton Town who were a league side but were no great shakes.
So for this 8 year old boy who knew nothing but what he watched on telly had to go off … what he watched on the telly. The big team of the time were Liverpool, I had just missed out on them doing the double, but would catch them in their sparkling Barnes-Beardsley era where they nearly did the double again on two occasions in three seasons. So it made sense for me to just go with the best team of the time. I am accused of being a glory-hunter for that reason. Yet I enjoy nothing better than getting in there first and seeing that I am a glory-hunter – those are the facts. They were the best, they were winning the trophies, they were the team to beat and with the 
advent of Barnes and Beardsley they were playing the better football in the division. They deserved to win the league when they did and keep their position and so it was fun for me to be on the winning side.
Why Are You Still A Liverpool Fan?
There is a school of football thought that say that once you commit to a team you stick with them in the good times and bad. For those who don’t believe men can be faithful, you just need to see how devoted a bloke can be to his football team to know faithfulness is a trait that is in-built in the brother. That not only works with football as you know, check the man and his car, the man and his beer and most importantly the man and his dog.
I won’t say ‘bunkum to that’ school completely because there’s a lot to be said for that school and the explanation for me persisting with a side that has failed to win the top trophy (Premier League) in 20 years. There is more to it than that, though. In the years that I’ve enjoyed the game and got better acquainted with it I’ve not come across a better alternative to Liverpool. Now according to my own glory-hunting criteria, I should have jumped on the Manchester United band-wagon, but that was never going to happen was it. There’s also been the Arsenal and Chelsea band-wagons that have rolled through, but there hasn’t been enough to keep my attention for long.
I’m at the place in my enjoyment of football where Liverpool doing well is not the paramount concern of me having fun with it. I like watching good football. I’m not into this supporting the underdog business, I like seeing the best team win their matches as long as they win on their basis of their obvious superiority. I love the unpredictability of the game that means that it’s not always as it looks on paper and those unexpected results can pop up.
When some people support a team it becomes precious to them and their moods are altered by the team’s performance. Thankfully I can watch the fluctuating fortunes of my side and hold an opinion and engage in conversation and banter on the topic, but it doesn’t get to the point of seriously affecting my whole state of being. That’s why I support the team, but wouldn’t go as far as say I’m a fan. If I could get to a Liverpool match at Anfield that would be great, but I’m not measuring my life by that standard.
So in finding contentment in settling for what I already have and with a more detached appreciation for the game as a whole I can afford to follow my team, suffer the slings and arrows of our misfortune, but not get bitter or too competitive and just get on with enjoying the game. Some people say football is a matter of life and death and it maybe to some, but it’s not to me. It’s not even near that level. There are more important things in life. Honest. (But Rafa should still go if he doesn’t get us that fourth place spot!)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd
Life With CD 