Football Crazy, Football Mad

[Manc]

Inspired by the piracy discussion. Just how much football are you consuming?

[Ian]

These days it's United games and England games if I don't happen to be out. Maybe Coventry if they're on Sky.

I'll have other games on if I'm in but usually with my attention primarily on something else.

Looooong gone are the days where I'd watch all the Premier League and Champions League games which were on with Football Manager or something on the go.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Less than ever I think. Although my interest always increases greatly whenever an international tournament is on, so I'm going balls deep in the AFCON.

[Spikey M]

Barely any. A couple of games a month probably.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I only seek out Chelsea games, but at this time of year I have a fair bit on in the background.

[Disco]

No club, just a bit of international when it's on.

[P_3]

Don't even bother with MOTD. I'm up for internationals on terrestrial TV though.

[Giggles]

About a half a week, maybe closer to one game across snippets of a few. This week was about 10 mins of Liverpool and Arsenal and about 20 minutes of forest and derby.

As soon as the domestic season and internationals are on again it’ll be far more.



.

[Kikó]

Mostly watch United, Benfica and sometimes Dundee United. I will watch the international tournaments but can't be arsed with qualifiers (although the wife will want to watch Scotland and Portugal). Don't really go out of my way to watch the rest of the premier League or other foreign muck.

[Alex]

Only Leeds games. And England when a major tournament is on, obviously. I watch almost no football as a neutral. I can't even be arsed with Match of the Day.

[Mike]

Liverpool games and I watch the Saturday MOTD on a Sunday morning.
Went to watch Wigan at the weekend, was a one off rather than a regular event.

[Spikey M]

Sounds like most of as are Football Lazy, Football Bad. :baz:

[Pepe]

None. Once in a while I put something on, but I rarely ever watch the full game. Haven't watched Mexico play since the last World Cup.

[Ian]

Yeah I'm only ever tempted by MOTD if it sounds like it's been a properly belting day and even then I'd still rather just get the highlights on BBC or Youtube.

if there was cheap local football nearby I'd probably go more but I'm not spending £20+ to go and see Hamilton.

[thommo]

I'll watch Fulham games, and stick on the football in the background if the TV/PC is free. Very rarely go out of my way to watch other club football though, and the Champions League is an afterthought since it went to BT.

International tournaments are the one though, I watched pretty much all of EURO 2020. I've tried to watch a bit of AFCON, and I'm getting into it more now we're into the knockouts.

[Ian]

Is there an international football tournament where the knockouts aren't worth at least having on?

I get on better with Euros and World Cups before I know more of the players and have more opinions on and biases for/against more of the nations involved but they're all good.

[Kikó]

Probably the Asia cup is the only one not worth watching.

[phonics]

I watch Arsenal and nothing else interests me.

[CJay]

For the last year or so I’ve been ignoring football scores for the whole of Saturday and then enjoying MOTD ‘blind’. I recommend giving it a go. Greatly increases my interest and also frees up my whole day to do whatever else I fancy. Also a good antidote for the inevitable fantasy league rage when your captain gets sent off 5 minutes into a game.

[CJay]

I watch Arsenal and nothing else interests me.

Your football opinions make a little bit more sense now.

[Baz]

Bits and bobs but will be drastically reduced next month when rugbys back.

No internationals though, and mostly Champions League stuff outside of Liverpool.

[Shindig]

Barely any. It's usually just cup weekends and international tournaments for me.

[Reg]

Brighton and 1-3 other games a week.

[Dark Soldier]

One of two matches a month. Can't be arsed with the sport much anymore.

[Lewis]

I watch United if there is nothing better to do, and the big Champions' League/international games, but I very rarely watch even a big domestic game these days. I think if I had the actual channels I would watch a bit more, if only through having it on in the background, but the days of me watching a few games a week and knowing what is going on everywhere are well over.

[SincereTheRebel]

Yeah, thinking about it. I play way more than I watch. I play three nights a week and I might watch the odd game on the weekend. I dont watch MOTD anymore. Youtube will do.

[Offshore Toon]

One of two matches a month. Can't be arsed with the sport much anymore.
This. It's usually just on in the background too.

[Boydy]

For the last year or so I’ve been ignoring football scores for the whole of Saturday and then enjoying MOTD ‘blind’. I recommend giving it a go. Greatly increases my interest and also frees up my whole day to do whatever else I fancy. Also a good antidote for the inevitable fantasy league rage when your captain gets sent off 5 minutes into a game.

I did this a few weeks ago (not intentionally at first, it just got to Saturday evening and I realised I hadn't seen/heard any scores) and it did make MOTD more interesting. It's quite tricky to do though if you look at the internet at all on a saturday.

[Andy]

Quite a few between Sky, BT, 5Live and going to matches probably 20 a month. Usually have some sort of Fantasy Football or Saints interest in a game to make them enjoyable. Then another 6-7 hours of football podcasts while I'm driving most weeks.

[SincereTheRebel]

Quite a few between Sky, BT, 5Live and going to matches probably 20 a month. Usually have some sort of Fantasy Football or Saints interest in a game to make them enjoyable. Then another 6-7 hours of football podcasts while I'm driving most weeks.

Most mans WhatsApp groups are usually a running timeline for scores. You literally have to disconnect from the Matrix from Saturday morning until night

[igor_balis]

Absolutely fuck all, really. Every few years I convince myself I'm gonna get nerdily into it, but the reality is that I was always a massive west brom fan first, a FM obsessive second, and vaguely interested in the rest of it. When I slowly stopped caring about the Albion it was pretty much game over.

I got interested in the mechanics of the sport itself plenty from following wear brom, but never enough to particularly enjoy a good game between, dunno, Atalanta and sampdoria or something. Whereas with cricket I can immediately get immersed in a random ODI between new Zealand and Bangladesh or Leicestershire Vs Glamorgan in a T20 blast group stage dead rubber.

I'm a total mahow with the England cricket side as well. Aside from Vs India and Australia, i tend to want the other sides to win.

[phonics]

To point it out I asked igor to come to a West Brom game with me and he basically said no. Now I find out he’s into cricket I’m happy to find out I didn’t need to feel bad about it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Cricket (esp white ball) has the advantage that every ball is an event, and there's a result equation, so you can turn a random game on and get into it. Same with various other sports (winter olympics coming up, kids). If I turn on a random football match, the entry point is just people shouting 'time' and keeping their shape.

[igor_balis]

To point it out I asked igor to come to a West Brom game with me and he basically said no. Now I find out he’s into cricket I’m happy to find out I didn’t need to feel bad about it.

I'd be up for it in theory but probz not until next season. I went to the Millwall game earlier in the season, and it just felt...weird. Recognised the stadium, the kits, the train from snow hill, but half the chants had changed, I knew basically none of the players and I just didn't get that FEELING. I probably need to dedicate a few hours preseason lurking the forums and reading Wikipedia and shit. I miss going to games in 2008 and being able to tell you everything about our back up left back we signed for 50k from some Portuguese second division side.

[igor_balis]

Cricket (esp white ball) has the advantage that every ball is an event, and there's a result equation, so you can turn a random game on and get into it. Same with various other sports (winter olympics coming up, kids). If I turn on a random football match, the entry point is just people shouting 'time' and keeping their shape.

Yeah, absolutely. I also think I was spoiled by literally every season following west brom from 1999-2010ish was a relegation battle/promotion push, so watching two mid table prem sides is like give a shit mate, whereas any random cricket game feels like it means something, even when it obviously doesn't.

[randomlegend]

I watch all the United games and England at big tournaments.

[Panda Bear]

Sports obsession is the domain of the young and of those who don't have enough other sources of richness in their lives.

[-james-]

I watch a lot of mostly shite football for betting purposes but I don't think that counts. I watch between one and four Premier League matches per week actively and generally enjoy it. Football is only enjoyable if you have some context for what you're watching. I refuse to believe the average person is switching on Marseille vs Angers on a Sunday evening and getting much out of it unless it has seven goals or something.

[-james-]

To be honest there is too much football in my life. By the time Saturday evening comes around I can't imagine anything worse than watching match of the day.

[-james-]

Also pretty funny that this forum more or less revolves around a sport that according to this thread nobody watches.

[Don]

Really can see why the community is on its knees and the soft shites have taken over from the content of this thread.

Credit to these two for what are iconic posts.


Cricket (esp white ball) has the advantage that every ball is an event, and there's a result equation, so you can turn a random game on and get into it. Same with various other sports (winter olympics coming up, kids). If I turn on a random football match, the entry point is just people shouting 'time' and keeping their shape.


Sports obsession is the domain of the young and of those who don't have enough other sources of richness in their lives.

:rasta:

I do hear the troubles of making time for it with wives and children, particularly if you're too much of a melt to set boundaries. I would have averaged double-figures games a week (watching the game, not having it on in the background as if it's one of those fucking stop-start mongball sports that can be summed up by a TikTok reel) at my peak. The missus has brought it closer to a manageable 5. I could see myself falling out of love with the game once I hang up my boots but that's still a long way away inshallah.

[Kikó]

Also pretty funny that this forum more or less revolves around a sport that according to this thread nobody watches.

We're only here for the covid and jobs.

[Lofty]

I only watch Arsenal and England and even then thanks to the divided state of tv football I don't see all the Arsenal matches. Sometimes it's a case of monitoring flashscore whilst out and about. Got more enjoyment out of picking up £60 quids worth of plants for £14 than sitting through the goalless draw with Burnley (these events happened simultaneously) :D

[Pen]

My year in England sort of ruined club football for me. After going to the game or the pub to watch United every week, watching them alone didn’t feel like much. After that (2013) it has been a gradual decline and I haven’t seen a Premier league game since Eduard Mendy’s debut against United.

Obviously with kids and limited time to do stuff as a family, weekend games quickly got abandoned as if I am doing something by myself I’m not going to be picking watching football.

Whilst getting more disconnected with club (non domestic) football I’ve gotten much more passionate about international football and especially Finland games. It’s just so much better going to games with mates and especially now with Nations league and our bit of success, there’s always something to play for too.

[ScousePig]

I probably watch as much as ever. I've had a season ticket for the last four years so watch Sunderland live 30-40 times a season, and I tend to watch most Premier League games that are on Sky, many Championship games and whenever there is a game in our league on I'll watch it if I can. I don't really watch and European or international football.

I began to take a real interest in the tactical side of things around the time Guardiola came to Man City, to the extent 90% of the books I read are based around it, and that has kept my interest up more than anything else.

[Giggles]

I no longer live near a domestic team due to the Dublin centric nature of the league here and won't be able to get a season ticket now that we can go back just in time for the Damien Duff car-crash era. I may have to get back into the EPL yet.

[niko_cee]

Also pretty funny that this forum more or less revolves around a *GAME* that according to this forum nobody *PLAYS*

:checkit:

Evolution, innit.

[Giggles]

In fairness, they fucked the game.

[Ben]

I haven't played any computer games for about a decade, so my alone time in the house is very much centred around watching football (and pretty much any other sport). I'll go out of my way to watch the televised PL games (unless it's a proper shitfest like Norwich vs. Burnley), and if I'm not into a series or anything at the time, I'll certainly watch any Championship, Bundesliga etc. that is on the box.

[Kikó]

I've been playing FM 19 for the first time in about 6 years. I'm in some bizarre Renaissance with the game

[Dave.]

I still have a season ticket at Sunderland but family life means going to a lot less away games than previously. I don't have Sky Sports or BT Sports currently so my football TV fix is limited to international football for now (we've just moved house so just relying on Freeview at the minute) but once a proper TV package is purchased, this will change and watching plenty of Premier League games (and some other matches) will resume.

[Serj]

I usually watch the Liverpool games if I'm at home. My national team (Austria) I normally try to avoid, as they're excruciating to watch.

Playing fantasy football for the last two seasons has lead to me watching more football than before, as it's more fun to watch something like Newcastle - Burnley if you're invested in Saint-Maximin scoring than having no investment at all. I tend to avoid those games that exclusively have defenders from my fantasy team though.

[niko_cee]

Fantasy football makes me want to watch even less. Just another layer of potential misery.

[wullie]

I've got my Cov season ticket so all home games bar a number of midweeks, but live football I very rarely watch now unless there's an FA Cup game on terrestrial or a big tournament on. Find it easier to just catch up with MOTD when I can be arsed.