When I was younger, especially between the ages of 15 to around 27, I feel like I was a lot more invested in my own team and wider football in general. I knew my own squad inside & out and could easily list players from the majority of players in the top leagues.
However, now at age 36, I find that I really struggle to keep up with football in general. I hear about players my club is going to sign and a lot of the time I have no idea who they are. I’ll look at highlights of Serie A & La Liga and for the most part won’t recognise most of the players.
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like as they’re getting older, they’re less engaged with the game?
Was a better sport when I was young. Less money involved.
I’ve found myself in the exact opposite position. I don’t think I’ve ever been more invested and enjoying my fandom.
When I was 14 I could probably tell you every player from every team, every shirt sponsor. These days, even as a premier league ST holder, I probably couldn’t name a single player from, say, Burnley. I have no idea who sponsors Nottingham Forest. Couldn’t tell you what colour Man City’s away kit is.
I blame it on the fact that as a 40-something I don’t have time for Panini stickerbooks.
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I do to a certain extent. Playing football manager is how I keep up with whats going on abroad. My focus on my own team hasn’t waned. But my knowledge of others has. Found out today that Gary O’Neil wasn’t the Bournemouth manager.
Football has become over commercialised and sanitised in my view. People were against the idea of modern football about 15 years ago but most people are only waking up to it within the last few years and realising what the sport has become at the top level. Higher ticket pricing, all-seater stadiums (albeit justified), gentrification of crowds, half-time shows, Ariana Grande style concerts before prestigious finals, and so on.
English football, at least at the top level, is dead for me. It’s become a product of Sky. “Anyone can beat anyone”, but come May it’s largely the same top 4 teams every year. It’s become a dick swinging contest between the billionaires of the top 6 clubs. Can’t be bothered with trying to keep up with the constant news cycles, especially during the transfer windows.
Definitely not as interested in it as I was in my younger days, but I still follow it all through force of habit unfortunately.
The older I get, my interest in football narrows only on my favorite team and my national team. I used to read the news, watch a lot of highlights, and used to be very invested in football, but now my interest has lessened a lot too. It’s unimportant. It’s time wasting. Don’t get me wrong, I still love and follow it, and depending on the outcome of my team it ruins my mood completely, but I’m just not interested as before on football in general since I got more responsibilities, prioritizing other things as well, since football used to be my only ‘expertise’ as a kid and teenager and feel kind of regretful I didn’t pick on other things as well.
I think my enjoyment grows with time. You get closer to your club and build more sentimental attachment.
Opposite personally. Just turned 30 and find myself being more engaged than ever. I’ve always had a slight understanding of all the teams and players in the league, but now I’m watching as many games as my time will allow and taking in content almost daily.
Just busier when older. I still love it just as much.
I get what you mean. When Everton were 0-2 down against Wimbledon in 1993-94ish and facing relegation, I was in tears. The emotion when they came back to win 3-2 was immense. And that was just from “watching” the game on Ceefax! I would read every edition of Match, Shoot, 442 and any fanzine I could get my hands on.
Towards the end of the century, I went to Goodison on another last day relegation escape against Coventry (Vialli’s Chelsea beat Bolton to keep them up) and again the relief was incredible. If they were relegated this season, it would not preoccupy me at all.
We just have much less time when we are older with family life taking priority, plus interests naturally diversify. I still love the game and will watch YouTube highlights, but I cannot go anywhere close to the depths I would have as a teenager. It was a healthy past-time though. The only kids in the 80s who knew the countries of Liechtenstein and Paraguay existed, or secondary cities in Poland and Norway were football fans.
In my 40s and far more engaged with football than ever before.
I deffo don’t. I think it’s because now I have more going on. I have a 9-5 where I’m a senior manager, I’m starting my own business, I’m in a long term relationship, I have nieces and nephews, my brother has married an Italian woman and I’m helping him house hunt in Naples as I speak Italian. A lot of the time if I watch anything on TV now I end up falling asleep. I just think it’s a part of getting older.
I think it’s also being football has become a lot more player orientated with fandoms for certain players. Not to mention the commercialism of it all and no marks from across the globe bandwagoning
Playing fantasy helps a lot