The Beautiful Game! How does one describe the full breadth of emotion that is born out of watching eleven versus eleven on a field in a battle for supremacy over a football where the weapons are skill, strategy, determination and passion? How do you articulate the feeling of pure joy when your team wins or the pain when the team is going through a rough patch? It seeps into all parts of your life, often made worse by the banter and chirping from those around you who support rival teams.
It’s that time of the year that every football supporter dreads – end of season. Regardless of where your team sits in the general scheme of things, it means weekends are going to be filled with blank moments of boredom. Moments when you have no idea what to do with yourself. My weekends tend to be planned around watching football. I have a couple of teams I support, which means that my heart is generally put under immense stress multiple times a week, across the various leagues, particularly the British Premier League, the Bundesliga, La Liga and the Absa Premiership as well as the various Cups, such as the UEFA Champions League, Nedbank Cup, DFB Pokal and the FA Cup.
The 2014/2015 season has been relatively positive for me with my teams and it isn’t totally over:
- Absa Premiership – I am a Kaizer Chiefs supporter. The team may not have done well in the various cups, especially the CAF Champions League, but we broke a number of records, including Longest Unbeaten Run, Most Clean Sheets and the Most League Wins on our way to winning the Absa Premiership.
- Bundesliga – Bayern Munich crashed out in the semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund in the run for the DFB Pokal but we did, relatively comfortably, win the Bundesliga for the third time in a row and for the 24th We are also still in the hunt in UEFA Champion’s League semi-final against Barcelona but it will be difficult to turn a 3 – 0 deficit.
- La Liga – Being a FC Barcelona supporter means that I am guaranteed to have a team to support in the UEFA Champions League final. I would have preferred that the final be Bayern Munich versus Barcelona. Barcelona still have everything to play for and are on the verge of the treble, including the Copa Del Rey and the league. Real Madrid’s draw against Valencia this past weekend puts the Catalans a bit closer in the quest for the title.
- British Premier League – Sadly this is where I have had the most heartache. Despite having a decent early run in the Carling and FA Cups, we didn’t make it past the semi-finals in either while the hunt for Champions League qualification has crashed and burned in not-so-dramatic fashion over the last two months. We should be guaranteed Europa League next season but, after the heady ending to the 2013/2014 season, this one has been a bit damp.
How has your season been? How important are the next few weeks? I would not wish relegation on anyone – well, probably for one or two teams but that’s not going to happen – but is your team about to drop down? Are you, like me, going to be glued to the telly to catch as much football as you can over the next few weeks?
Let me honest. One of the main reasons I have a premium DSTV package is for Supersport and, as they have expanded the football leagues made available for viewing, the more time I seem to spend in front of the telly. As we wind down, they have an interesting campaign focused on the different states for football teams across the world. The reality is every game, every moment matters. Check out the links above as well as HERE for some dope videos that seek to truly capture the feeling that every football fan knows but is unable to articulate.
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