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How I Fell Out Of Love With Liverpool F.C.
My leaving of Liverpool has nothing to do with success or even the charms of another club, it wasn't them, it was me...
My name is Kevin Donnellan and I’m a lapsed Liverpool fan. There I said it. My relationship with Liverpool has pretty much the same trajectory as my relationship with Catholicism; it peaked around the time I made my Communion, was beginning to wane when Confirmation time came around and we had gone our separate ways by the time secondary school was finished. Unlike the relatively easy break with Catholicism however, turning my back on Liverpool came with a fair amount of guilt. Football beats Catholicism for guilt every time.
Why did I turn my back on Liverpool? It was the classic break up line; it’s not you it’s me. I just didn’t feel the same anymore. It wasn’t the lack of success, in fact it would have been easier (or at least have looked better) jumping ship if they had been doing well. It was a combination of factors. Not having Sky Sports in the house was probably one. Watching Liverpool meant the odd FA Cup game or European match and highlights on the Premiership when that eventually started on RTE (we didn’t even have BBC; I didn’t stand a chance).
Matches used to be followed with great passion through Aertel (the Irish Teletext). Desperately re-pressing ‘221’ in the hope that Roy Evans’ men would suddenly summon a winner between 3.30 and 3.50pm. The 1994 3-3 comeback against United was my favourite Aertel moment, Ruddock’s name flashing up so late. But I’d struggle to describe what any of the goals in that match actually looks like. After a while Aertel fandom wears thin.
It wasn’t just that though. I also never seemed to develop that blind spot that passionate sports fans seem to have. The blind spot that allows all your sides traits to be seen a positive light and for the opposition to be cast as the forces of darkness in your mind’s eye. I liked Liverpool and the history of the club, but then I liked United players too. Loved Keane and Irwin, of course, but also had grudging respect for Schmeichel and Cantona. The 1996 Cup Final loss was the closest I came to hate but that was mostly because my prawn-sandwich-brigade United-supporting sister celebrated Cantona’s volley with so much relish. In her defence she probably wasn’t eating a prawn sandwich, she was ten. By the time they won the treble I was able to actively enjoy the comeback against Bayern.
If and when Liverpool do win the league it will be like hearing an ex-girlfriend is getting married; relatively happy for them, but I can hardly attend the reception
And I didn’t just a lack in United-hate either. I was delighted to see Everton win the FA Cup in 1995. Enthralled by Arsenal’s Cup Winner’s Cup exploits. Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday, QPR, Newcastle, had a soft spot for them all. Of course every football fan has the odd bit on the side but I had several football mistresses in each division and a few on the continent. Serial cheating like that will always erode the foundations of your core relationship.
I fought it of course, it seemed like giving up. Faked it for a few years. But neither the club’s highs or lows felt particularly different. By the time they won the Champions League in Istanbul we’d parted ways. The match was watched, and enjoyed, but I knew I’d no right to celebrate.
Now when the question comes up, as it does with understandable frequency, it’s hard to respond. Saying you don’t really follow a club, but that you like football, is a bit like replying “oh a bit of everything” to an enquiry about your musical taste; it’s taken as a tacit acknowledgement that you have minimal interest or knowledge. You can try to win them back with a few references to obscure footballers (Mark Stein is my usual go-to-guy) but you’re coming from a position of weakness.
And what about in the future, if I have a son and he asks me what team I support? Will I lie, say Liverpool and burden him with a false inheritance, or explain that “Daddy doesn’t have a team”? Will he understand or wish I was like the normal fathers who stuck with a club for life? Maybe, without a strong role-model, he’s fall into supporting the latest nouveau rich upstarts because “They win things”. Whichever mid-table side has just been bought by a Chinese trillionaire who also owns the half the oil on Mars (in this particular hypothetical I’m settling down quite late).
Of course I’m saving myself the heartache, but I’m missing out on the joy too. If and when Liverpool do win the league it will be like hearing an ex-girlfriend is getting married; relatively happy for them, but I can hardly attend the reception. So I’ll toil on with the rest of the failed fans; games will be watched, results studied, match reports read, it’s not a bad life. I love football, I just don’t love a team.
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COMMENTS
What a pointless article! It sounds like you were never a fan in the first place, so how can you lapse?
Is this article for real?! Some guy whose best anecdote of following a football club amounts to having watched some scores come through on teletext has decided that he doesn't want to watch said club on teletext any more? Have you been to Liverpool before? Could you find it on a map? Do you know what colours they play in?
LOL Jacky i totally agree with your comments!! Whoever wrote this article is a complete and utter tw*t! Either desperate for some sort of attention, or just not right in the head! I stopped reading half way through cos it was such a load of bollox but had to leave a comment! What a joke!! LOL
i dont think you ever loved liverpool fc, i know loads of men my age and older who cant get to see the reds but still are desperate for success im 55 years old and would do any thing in my power to help any way i could you have only ever wanted to follow the reds because you wanted an identity you have got older and the identity doesnt matter now, but i ask myself if you are so indifferent why go to the trouble of writing about my beloved club in the first place? red till dead fergo huyton liverpool
"If and when Liverpool do win the league it will be like hearing an ex-girlfriend is getting married". No it won't. It'll be like hearing some girl you once saw in a magazine is getting married.
I'm in a similar boat to the writer. Been a Pool fan since the early 80s, but I don't hate any of their rivals and in fact quite enjoy watching football generally, irrespective of who's playing, as long as they're not a bunch of diving or fouling wankers. I still say I support Liverpool, but really, it's luke warm.
Although not in the same boat as the writer, I think the comments are a bit harsh. He's not having a go at the city or the club, it's just an honest account of what can happen if you're not resident in the city of the club you support. For every Kevin, there's another fan who travels over every week.
C'mon Owen, I know there's honour amongst thieves, but this is poor and you know it.
Thanks for feedback. Just a genuine attempt to articulate how it feels to be a football fan without following a specific club. Not intended as a criticism of Liverpool or those who are lifelong fan of any club.
Fair do's Kevin. It's not like it's a badly written article, it's just the subject matter is likely to alienate most "real" football fans. Cheers
All these comments do is highlight the author's point on not possessing the "blind spot" traditional football fans have. The poetic reference to hearing about an ex's impending marriage was poignant given the author clearly has a soft spot for liverpool but was never able to commit. get a grip Jacky, its the best of both worlds, you get to watch lots of football and rarely experience the heartbreak of your team losing. i think this might be the way forward!
I reckon this article will apply to the majority of Liverpool 'fans' at some time. They'll all get there as it is a phoney, clichéd club, followed (largely) by hangers on.
Very well written article, very funny, enjoyed it immensely. People on the comment board obviously taking it way too seriously though. Very "courageous" comments behind the protection of a keyboard.
Fact is, this guy is typical of a large chunk of Liverpool's fan base. He claims the fact that they've won nothing for ages and don't look likely to anytime soon is not a factor, but I'd have to take issue with that. Just why did he decide to follow them? Fact is he jumped aboard the open top double decker laden with silverware. Now they've been rubbish for ages he's had enough and decided to jack it in. Fair enough. But someone who was actually a real fan, say maybe actually from Liverpool, wouldn't have that luxury. It doesn't bode well for LFC in the longer term though, does it? Fact is, glory hunters like this balloon chose to support them as teenagers, circa 1989, when they were winning stuff. Today, not only are all the glory hunters much more likely to plump for United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea or even Spurs over Liverpool, the now middle aged fair weather fans are deserting them in droves.
Glad you're not a fan anymore. You never were. You can't simply stop supporting the club you love, it looks like you never loved the club, you weren't chosen for Liverpool because if you were you wouldn't switch. You never loved the club, perhaps the player, but not the club.
@ Karl; Grip gotten, thanks ;-) see your point, but you can't truly enjoy the highs without having experienced the crushing lows beforehand...
What a load of cack... You could write this about any club, and there still wouldn't be any point to it. Being a fan has notihng to do with hatred of other clubs in the puriest sense - you hate the fact that they are being more successful than your club and that some, by no means all, of their fans are wannabes who have no true love of the team they claim to support. I've followed the Reds all my life; I don't hate MU (sure I'll call 'em all the names under the sun but I'm envious of their various trophies down the years that might have come our way if the fates had been kinder). You haven't fallen out of love with LFC - there was never any true inkling of what the club is all about by the sound of this drivel. You fell out of love with football perhaps, but you never were and never will be a true fan of this or any other club. Stick to X factor - it doesn't matter. A bit like this article.
This guy is a jerk off
exactly the type of "plassy" fan that scouse liverpool fans hate glory hunting gobshite
Tbh man it sounds like you were a lapsed Liverpool fan to begin with . Each to their own like , but I didn't get much from this article .
phoney,cliched club??? have a word with yourself beaut djimi traore has won more champions leagues that the london clubs put together
That's 3 minutes of my life I will never get back!! Shite article!!
what a pointless pile of shit! you should be ashamed of yourself for writing this. massive news! you used to be a plastic liverpool fan and now your trying to gain recognition or some sort of respect for stopping supporting a team you never actually did support? or else you would love and support them unconditionally like every other fan. i am more ashamed of myself for reading this.
Great article mate. Wish everyone would calm down there. He's only having a laugh yis pack of Saps!
What's your point Rosco? I'm neither bothered how many champions Leagues Traore has won or anything to do with London clubs. We've won.... waah waah. Anfield's a tourist attraction.
What a loser this bloke is
Good article. Don't listen to them kids. Speak your mind.
i'm almost impressed by the amount of hate out there! i'm afraid the author may have to pull a Salman Rushdie and flee due to the controversy caused by this hugely controversial piece of journalism.Run Kevin Run! All he did was express he used to follow a team and explained the reasons, quite harmlessly and honestly, why he stopped. You'd swear mid-article he declared a love for hitler lookalikes and racist orgies. relax people. i follow LFC by the way and felt in no way offended by this well written insight
Errr... Well written insight into what exactly? I don't hate the guy, by the way, it's just sad that a pile of pointless crap gets space on these exteemed pages. People do need to calm down at times, true, but they also have the right to comment on a load of bollocks when they see it - and enough of your yoghurt weaving PC jusitifications... Play truth is the guy was never a true fan in the first place and it pisses people off when he claims he was. What's wrong with geeting pissed off with that?
Calm down,calm down,calm down.You gotta love touchy Scousers.
YAAAAWN, this guy is such a needy f**k, attention seeking writing at its very worst.
Pointless article, not a fan to begin with. Theres people in Thailand who travel 5 hours a day to watch the mighty reds play...
Aye true fans, 5 hours a day in Thailand. Is that a joke??? If that is anyone's perception of a true fan then football is well and truly dead.
I know a man who is one of the rare breed of fans who supports BOTH LFC & MUFC. A relative of mine. Sure had fun dissing him when MUFC lost.
If this was some lifelong from the Kop or Kenny Dalglish even then maybe I'd see the point of the article. Quite simply it's about someone's following of the club via teletext and how whatever whenever or whatever never has made them loose interest. I really struggle to see the point of the article. I seriously cannot wait for their article on how they've fallen out've love, no longer have any interest in X-Factor or Big Brother and decided to move on.
To be fair its easy to say you support a team just to follow the flock, but it must be ridiculously hard to follow a team when you dont actually see them play. Fair play to you author for having balls to come out and say it. How many fans out there arent crushed when there team gets another crap home draw and visit the ground twice a season. Its hard being a proper fan nowadays and with the money involved i can understand people moving away from it. not me tho i feckin love my team and will follow them to the end
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