The summer of 2012 was, essentially, the summer of love in the UK as Olympic fever took hold of the nation. An incredible medal haul of 65 and third place in the medals table during this summer’s games ensured that all is not too grey and miserable on our little island after all. Spirit, endeavour and a great sense of pride from all that took part has led to people posing the question – could footballers learn from this? Could they ever begin to imagine what ‘love of the sport’ means in comparison to people like Mo Farah, Sir Chris Hoy and Rebecca Ennis?
Well, to answer it simply and quickly would be to say ‘yes’. Footballers earn an incredible amount of money and many of them in the public eye behave like the world owes them a favour. As stated though, that would be a simple accusation to level at much derided men like John Terry, Wayne Rooney et al.
Granted, sordid activities by the men in question – partaken on and off the football field – have ensured bad press for them and their clubs. Acts that you could barely imagine Olympians such as Hoy involving themselves with. Now, I’m with most people – a lot of footballers could learn a thing or two about simply being a good bloke, or playing the game for the love of it. Heck, if Wayne Rooney loved the game so much, would he be happy to take a huge wage cut from his reported £250K weekly earnings at Manchester United? I think not.
All of that, though, is beside the point. Premiership footballers are still professionals; supreme athletes who perform for 90 minutes – sometimes 180 minutes a week at an incredible pace and intensity. And they’re watched by absolutely millions. We, the fans, bemoan the high prices and the greed involved in the game but does that stop us flocking to grounds up and down the country to watch the game? No, it does not! A Liverpool-supporting friend of mine informed me that it will cost him £47 to go and watch his team face Man City in a week’s time – an incredibly bloated price for a game of football. Almost half a ton! Still paid it, though. He’ll still, more than likely, enjoy the game (should Liverpool get a result, of course).
Let’s take a glance at the first weekend of the new Premier League season, eh? Swansea – a team who passed their way to 11th place last season – started emphatically with a 5-0 win away at QPR. 5-0! Against a team with numerous new signings and a new era beginning under Mark ‘Sparky’ Hughes. Five exemplary finishes they were, too. Fine to watch – and Spaniard Michu impressed on his debut, scoring two great goals. Man City, Champions, had to fight back from 2-1 down against newly promoted Southampton to snatch a 3-2 win, Samir Nasri netting the winner. At one point in the second half the Saints had ‘enjoyed’ 18% possession yet still found themselves in front! Eden Hazard oozed class on his debut for Chelsea – turning brilliantly to set up Ivanovic for their first goal against Wigan and winning the penalty that secured the Blues’ 2-0 win at the DW Stadium. Demba Ba scored a beauty for Newcastle in their 2-1 win over Spurs, Kevin Nolan (dreaded chicken celebration to boot) ensured West Ham enjoyed a winning return to the top flight with a 1-0 over Villa and Arsenal drew a blank against Sunderland. Could Robin van Persie’s defection to Man United count against them on that front? Maybe. Fergie’s men didn’t fare any better, succumbing to a 1-0 defeat at Everton, the Toffees running out deserving winners.
What an opening weekend! Did you forget that a number of these players have been labelled by many as money-grabbing mercenaries? Yeah, I did too. Welcome back, football. You have been sorely missed. The Olympics ignited Britain, gave us a reason to have pride for the nation; football is simply an entertaining, hard-to-miss commodity that is essential to mine – and millions of others’ Saturday staple diets. Stop comparing the two.
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