How important is Football to you REALLY?

[Raj]

When one is young and wet behind the ears it seems to be high up in ones priority and you could say an integral part of ones life.

However when you progress through life and things happen which change your outlook on life you get some sort of perspective about it.

Is it REALLY that important?

Is City winning the Championship REALLY going to make my life worth living???

A few hours or days of ecstasy....Is it worth it all?

The years of supporting City and spending money which can be used elsewhere,is it worth it??

Helping these prima donna arsehole footballers get even richer and even more secluded from the REAL world by funding their wages.

Think i must be falling out of love with the whole shit....

Or just getting even older and more miserable.....

[davieG]

When one is young and wet behind the ears it seems to be high up in ones priority and you could say an integral part of ones life.

However when you progress through life and things happen which change your outlook on life you get some sort of perspective about it.

Is it REALLY that important?

Is City winning the Championship REALLY going to make my life worth living???

A few hours or days of ecstasy....Is it worth it all?

The years of supporting City and spending money which can be used elsewhere,is it worth it??

Helping these prima donna arsehole footballers get even richer and even more secluded from the REAL world by funding their wages.

Think i must be falling out of love with the whole shit....

Or just getting even older and more miserable.....

You're catching up with me

[jonthefox]

I think football just gives us a break from the tedium of life.I have spent my entire life praying city will become a major force in football, however the likelyhood of this happening are remote.

that said, with the mighty posh coming to us soon (a game i really cant afford to go to) on a guaranteed pissing down tuesday night i`ll forget all this and cheer em on.....like i always will.

[DB11]

Most people don't go for the football, surely it's just somewhere to go with mates and out etc. ????

[Raj]

Im not slagging supporters off (i am still one myself...for now!) and i dont want anyone to justify why they go ....just throwing it out there to see how people REALLY feel about it all......think im in a state of emotional turmoil really...

Maybe got abit of Male PMT.....Sorry......

[MC Prussian]

Raj is an old twat now.

[stez]

When one is young and wet behind the ears it seems to be high up in ones priority and you could say an integral part of ones life.

However when you progress through life and things happen which change your outlook on life you get some sort of perspective about it.

Is it REALLY that important?

Is City winning the Championship REALLY going to make my life worth living???

A few hours or days of ecstasy....Is it worth it all?

The years of supporting City and spending money which can be used elsewhere,is it worth it??

Helping these prima donna arsehole footballers get even richer and even more secluded from the REAL world by funding their wages.

Think i must be falling out of love with the whole shit....

Or just getting even older and more miserable.....

dunno if having kids changes things? (or whether it's an easy cop-out). i would've (and did) go hungry to make sure there was something to eat for my nipper, but i'm not going to go hungry for the sake of a ticket to the walkers. but as i've got older it's (football) has gradually slipped down the list of things i find important. i've been through the fox fanzines' 30-something stage (that summed me up perfectly for a while) now i'm moving beyond that stage and getting more grumpy about the lawn not being mowed cos i've been out practically all w/e watching the (bloody) football.....

[purpleronnie]

When one is young and wet behind the ears it seems to be high up in ones priority and you could say an integral part of ones life.

However when you progress through life and things happen which change your outlook on life you get some sort of perspective about it.

Is it REALLY that important?

Is City winning the Championship REALLY going to make my life worth living???

A few hours or days of ecstasy....Is it worth it all?

The years of supporting City and spending money which can be used elsewhere,is it worth it??

Helping these prima donna arsehole footballers get even richer and even more secluded from the REAL world by funding their wages.

Think i must be falling out of love with the whole shit....

Or just getting even older and more miserable.....

Pretty much everything I loved about going to the footy isn't there anymore thankfully though its still there in the MLS so for now my love of the game is still high but my love for watching leicester when I'm back in the UK has wained and has done for 15 years.

[davieG]

dunno if having kids changes things? (or whether it's an easy cop-out). i would've (and did) go hungry to make sure there was something to eat for my nipper, but i'm not going to go hungry for the sake of a ticket to the walkers. but as i've got older it's (football) has gradually slipped down the list of things i find important. i've been through the fox fanzines' 30-something stage (that summed me up perfectly for a while) now i'm moving beyond that stage and getting more grumpy about the lawn not being mowed cos i've been out practically all w/e watching the (bloody) football.....

Where as I've reached a point where I look at the long grass on the lawn and think, in the scheme of life who really cares about the length of my grass, the speed at which life is whizzing past I'll soon be too old and decrepit to do it and the fooker will still be growing after I've gone!

[Shrenchel]

I imagine spraying a couple of kids out the sack changes things. When you're young what the fook else are you gunna spend your money on? Overpriced pints, trainers you only wear twice, shit quality barley, a bigger TV, more games for your playstation?! None of it is actually worth anything is it.

I do feel my interest has waned a bit even though I'm still youngish. More to do with our ground and fanbase I think, just can't be fooked with it sometimes.

[stez]

Where as I've reached a point where I look at the long grass on the lawn and think, in the scheme of life who really cares about the length of my grass, the speed at which life is whizzing past I'll soon be too old and decrepit to do it and the fooker will still be growing after I've gone!

in all honesty, i can't wait for those days to arrive!

[Raj]

Where as I've reached a point where I look at the long grass on the lawn and think, in the scheme of life who really cares about the length of my grass, the speed at which life is whizzing past I'll soon be too old and decrepit to do it and the fooker will still be growing after I've gone!

Ive started to have flash backs about my School/College days which were about 20 years ago and it seems like yday.

Must admit as you go through life things change.

New life is born and others decease.

S'pose its just life really but then you think worrying and caring about a football team,which cant actually love you back is rather stupid.

Surely its worth channeling that energy to things or people who care,because sooner or later they will be gone and you wished you HAD spent more time doing that rathre than watching 22 prima donner twats chasing a ball and then spending your money on fast cars and bimbos.

But i suppose anything you do can be deemed as a waste of time reall,cant it??

Why watch Tv,listen to music,exercise,go out,go on holidays...we're all gonna die anyway....

I best go before i am held responsible for someone slitting their wrists....Have a good weekend all!!!

[davieG]

Ive started to have flash backs about my School/College days which were about 20 years ago and it seems like yday.

Must admit as you go through life things change.

New life is born and others decease.

S'pose its just life really but then you think worrying and caring about a football team,which cant actually love you back is rather stupid.

Surely its worth channeling that energy to things or people who care,because sooner or later they will be gone and you wished you HAD spent more time doing that rathre than watching 22 prima donner twats chasing a ball and then spending your money on fast cars and bimbos.

But i suppose anything you do can be deemed as a waste of time reall,cant it??

Why watch Tv,listen to music,exercise,go out,go on holidays...we're all gonna die anyway....

I best go before i am held responsible for someone slitting their wrists....Have a good weekend all!!!

Shit this blood gets everywhere!

[Raj]

Shit this blood gets everywhere!

[Katy]

dunno if having kids changes things? (or whether it's an easy cop-out). i would've (and did) go hungry to make sure there was something to eat for my nipper, but i'm not going to go hungry for the sake of a ticket to the walkers. but as i've got older it's (football) has gradually slipped down the list of things i find important. i've been through the fox fanzines' 30-something stage (that summed me up perfectly for a while) now i'm moving beyond that stage and getting more grumpy about the lawn not being mowed cos i've been out practically all w/e watching the (bloody) football.....

Football is not as important as my family but it is definitely second. I'm still at the wanting to go to every game stage, after having to miss several when the kid was smaller and I was (virtually) skint. I'm hoping that feeling of wanting to be at every game never goes away but I accept it may do at some stage.

[lou]

Football is not as important as my family but it is definitely second. I'm still at the wanting to go to every game stage, after having to miss several when the kid was smaller and I was (virtually) skint. I'm hoping that feeling of wanting to be at every game never goes away but I accept it may do at some stage.

Exactly the same as me! Missed a few seasons having babies and a traumatic life but long to be at every game still. Hate missing any. My Hubby knows he comes after footy

[lildave3]

Raj, that kid has ****ed you up!

[Guest]

I am putting my career before City at the moment, and I bloody well hate it.

[The Doctor]

football is possibly the best ways of whittling away the hours till death but still if we are going to die anyway might as well enjoy life while we can.

[Granno]

I'm absolutley gutted when I can't get to a game. I can count on 1 hand how many games I've missed in the last 2 years.

[Bert]

I'm absolutley gutted when I can't get to a game. I can count on 1 hand how many games I've missed in the last 2 years.

You told me you'd missed 6 games.....

At the minute, football's quite important to me. I love going to watch City play. As soon as the final whistle goes, I'm already thinking about the next match. I get to see a lot of people who I don't get to see that often and just have a good time, regardless of the result.

Weekends were made for Football and without going to watch City, or see the lady, the weekends are extremely dull.

Maybe in a few years time the outlook will change, there'll be different things going on, and I'll have more responsibilities in my life which would probably make it harder for me to get to games. I can't stand it when I'm not there right now, because at this stage in my life, I know I could be at every game and in a few years time, that may not be the case, but I'm ready for that because I know the change will happen, but the good thing is, that it's just not yet.

In 10 years time, if the same question was asked, after having certain other things done in my life, football will probably not be the top of my priority list.

[Wilkesy]

You told me you'd missed 6 games.....

At the minute, football's quite important to me. I love going to watch City play. As soon as the final whistle goes, I'm already thinking about the next match. I get to see a lot of people who I don't get to see that often and just have a good time, regardless of the result.

Weekends were made for Football and without going to watch City, or see the lady, the weekends are extremely dull.

Maybe in a few years time the outlook will change, there'll be different things going on, and I'll have more responsibilities in my life which would probably make it harder for me to get to games. I can't stand it when I'm not there right now, because at this stage in my life, I know I could be at every game and in a few years time, that may not be the case, but I'm ready for that because I know the change will happen, but the good thing is, that it's just not yet.

In 10 years time, if the same question was asked, after having certain other things done in my life, football will probably not be the top of my priority list.

Nicely put Bert!

Now that i don't have a lady, i may be able to see more games

[Thracian]

City seems a souless club now. The matchday experience is sterile, we're run by people who really have nothing to do with Leicester and who pick an entire team which lacks a single player who either has Leicester connections or has come through our Academy.

Watching games when we take the lead then instinctively fall back to protect that lead is depressing as are the constant

and unecessary stoppages that are now part of football and the endless time-wasting and play-acting the nearer it gets to full-time.

Leiceser City Council has emphasised their own attitude to fans by making parking increasingly difficult and encouraging a situation where the fans are increasingly ripped off by the car park sharks and, after the closed doors policy for reserves games there's now the latest nonsense about the threat to watching Academy games. Oh yes and Barbar's is no longer on draft at the Swan!

On the plus side we do, at last, seem to have a manager who seems to know what he's doing most of the time and who's put together a side that at least provides acceptable entertainment. I'm virtually guaranteed good company on match days both home and away and the Barbers is still available in bottles - especially for me and just one other partaking customer I was told.

Football brings different emotions every day I watch, from the despair of losing at Newcastle or the non event that was the performance at Ipswich after sitting in a two-hour traffic jam to the prolonged joy of watching today's goals bonanza from a rampant academy side.

Sometimes I resent the commitment football demands but it's hard to give up and not something I want to contemplate really because everything I've been forced to give up through declining athleticism or time, I miss dreadfully. So basically it's very important. Perhaps more important than I like to admit.

[davieG]

Peter Knowles - The guy who packed up football at 23 when he got religious.

He was predicted to be big for England.

A big, big story back in the day.

What was the best moment of your career?

In April 1964, I played for England in an under-18s tournament in Holland and scored in the final in a 4-0 victory over Spain in Amsterdam. I hadn't scored in any of the previous rounds so that was very special. During the trip, I shared a room with Harry Redknapp. We were great friends. From a club perspective, I've two highlights: my league debut for Wolves at Leicester City and then scoring my first goal, at home to Bolton.

What was the best thing about being a footballer in your era?

What I remember about the Sixties and Seventies was the individual flair on display, players who could change a match: Law, Best, Charlton, Bowles, Dougan, Wagstaffe, Greaves. My former Wolves manager, Ronnie Allen, would say, 'Go out there and enjoy yourself'. As players we had no rules or restrictions. Players today aren't worth the money they get paid. With the exception of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, everybody is so predictable. There's no flair. They're like robots.

Who was your best opponent?

Bobby Moore. A real gentleman. Footballers today play well once every three or four weeks; Moore played well every Saturday.

What was the best advice you received?

My older brother Cyril, who played for Tottenham, once said, 'Football is better than going down the pit'. I never forgot that. My father was a miner, so too were my friends. I was supposed to be one at 16 had I not had an eye for a ball.

What was the worst thing about being a footballer?

Well, from the age of 17 to 23, I wasn't a nice person. I was a very arrogant individual. I was a loner. Think about it: I came from a mining village in Yorkshire and then, all of a sudden, I'm in the Wolves first team, in the England under-23 side, with my name in the paper and on television. Some people can take it, some can't. I was an arrogant so-and-so. I can't blame anybody but myself.

Why did you retire from football at the age of 23?

One day I received a knock on my door from two Jehovah's Witnesses. I invited them in and said to this gentleman, who I'd never met before, 'Why did my dad and two sisters — who'd done nowt wrong — die?' He answered that question. He then answered other questions which I'd never had answered before. I listened to what they said and thought, 'Yes, that makes sense'. My wife wasn't happy at first but, as time went on, she started to look into it with me. Before that, I was an atheist. When I started looking into the Bible, I learnt that 'all men are [created] equal'. I'm no better than anybody else but when I put a football shirt on, there was a difference. People began to worship me, idolise me. They treated me differently to an ordinary person. Now I am just an ordinary fellow. And I'm happy with that.

What was the response when you retired?

My mother was upset. Very angry, in fact. The biggest problem was me becoming a Jehovah's Witness. That's what people couldn't cope with. Everybody — players, family, Wolves supporters — said, 'He'll be back in six months'. I played my last game 40 years ago today. Wolves put my strip out for about a year and sent me a contract for 10 years. They thought I would re-sign. But I knew what I was doing. People like Sinatra retire but come back because they haven't made the right decision. I did.

Have you regretted your decision?

There hasn't been one day in 40 years where I have turned around and said to myself, my wife or my friends, 'I wish I hadn't packed up football'. It's the best decision that I've ever made. I'm content with life. When I look at my standard of living and how it has dropped over the years, it doesn't matter. I have my health. I'm still married — and if I had carried on playing football I wouldn't have been!

Where are you now?

All footballers from the past are really thick. None of us knew, for example, how to order a paper, change a car tyre or obtain an MOT because we had it all done for us. When I gave up football I worried. 'What am I going to do?' So, initially, I started delivering milk to schools at four o'clock in the morning. I also cleaned windows and worked in a tile shop. Then, about 10 years ago, I joined Marks & Spencer in Wolverhampton as a warehouse lad. I couldn't do nowt else in life apart from play football. I've been married to Jean for more than 40 years and we have no children. When I retire next year I will spend more time preaching. Basically I work, preach, read the Bible and go to Jehovah's Witnesses meetings. That's my life and I'm dead chuffed with it.

[Daggers]

You told me you'd missed 6 games.....

I blame education or inter-breeding.