non football fan

[funkyrich]

How unusual is it nowadays for a man not to be into football? It seemed to me,at school especially,that you were made to feel that there was something wrong with you.

[smudge]

Lots of people manage to get by in life, by not having any interest in football, or watching people running around after one, so don't worry about it. There are more interesting & deserving things in life to be had.

[andy hughes]

I have never had the slightest interest in football, which was only considered unusual when Imet my mother-in-law-to-be who was a season ticket holder at Stoke City and couod not fathom why I was not at all bothered if they won or lost. My wife holds a similar affection for our local side, and ejoys the Cup Final, while, in previous years, I took the children (girls) out of the way for the afternoon. I went to an all boys' school, and I can't say it made any difference one way or the other.

[Quizmonster]

You'd probably be amazed at the percentage of men who have no interest whatever in football. Why it is called "the beautiful game" is one of life's abiding mysteries, when one considers the uglinesses revealed in virtually every single match one sees...and I'm referring just to the snippets one gets on the news programmes or seen accidentally whilst waiting for something worthwhile. The amount of media space and TV time allocated to it is absurd.

In the old days, when all matches were played on a Saturday afternoon, it was always claimed that - if you added up all the attendances at all the matches being played the length and breadth of the land - the total would be nowhere near the number of blokes who were out fishing on that same afternoon!

[Kit]

My other half has always hated football - a great disappointment to his dad, who used to play for Walsall.

[SDrgnRocker5]

I like football. American football (I live in America). I don't play it though. I don't feel like donning all that heavy stuff and getting tackled. I watch it though, even though I don't know who the hell the team members are or who's won what, but I like the action of it. What y'all call football (soccer) is okay too.

[Pinotage]

Just go out to the high street or supermarket when the cup final is on and see how many men are out and about.

Football's an easy way to fill up a newspaper and a couple of hours TV time but I'd bet its only a minority thats really interested in it.

[Doolallygirl]

A lot of my male friends are into football but it's not unheard of to come across a totally non-football orientated male! They freak me out a little bit because like you say it is almost forced on you from every angle nowdays so how did they get away with not getting into it?! I don't think I'd go out with a non-footie fan simply because I'd want to be home watchin match of the day when he would want to be out partying, and there's always something to talk about in the winter months!

[andytreble99]

its quite refreshing to have people not liking football. i happen to be a big football fan but i, and many others who are as into it as i am, would appreciate it if those in the "grey area" would remain uninterested. it'd be a much better state of affairs if they were more like the non-football fans who have answered this question. the worst of the worst are those who jumped on the Sky-Premiership & post euro-96 wave of "footy" following. The "newfan" who went years showing no interest in the game & then suddenly become an authority on it when the world cup & euro championships come around. In the eighties the average football fan was seen as a pariah because of the minority that gave it a bad name, nowadays everyone is desperate to show what big football fans they are, from politicians trying to look cool to pop stars, tv personalities [sic] through to the girl/lad in the workplace. they collar you & ask the most banal questions imaginable because you're the "lad who goes to the footy"- it becomes very clear very quickly that they haven't got a clue what they are talking about or what it means to those who do have a passion for it. Moreover, these are the people that inflict their views to the wider (uninterested) audience- you will find that those who do know what they are talking about rarely bring the subject up, especially to non-footballing people, its the newfans that inflict "the beautiful game" on to the likes of you- for that i apologise on their uninformed behalf.......

[andytreble99]

.....I wouldn't start inflicting my limited knowledge of, say, swimming onto a known swimming fan just because the Olympics are on so i don't see why these people feel they should annoy the rest of us with their opinions(be us fans or uninterested). I often find that people who have quizzed me about football who know my user name (which is also part of my email address)ask what team i support...this is a good test as to their (lack of) knowledge- anyone who has even a basic knowledge of football would instantly know my team of choice....so after that rant, i suppose what i'm trying to say (from a fans perspective) is don't worry FUNKYRICH, most proper fans will probably hold you in higher regard for choosing a life without football than if you do what many feel the need to do & feel you must pretend to like it

[TommyC]

I was utterly uninterested in every aspect of football from the earliest age, and easily resisted every attempt by the blinkered and unintelligent school system to tempt, persuade and force me into it. Today, many years later, I don't have a jot more interest in the (summer..!!) matches, the overlong tournaments, the obscenely-overpaid personalities, the meaningless transfers or the mind-blowingly boring soccer gossip than I ever did, but for the sake of family I'll watch the occasional Cup Final or World Cup match - and then promptly go out and forget all about it, win or lose..!! There are MANY more important and worthwhile things in life, just as Smudge says.

[funkyrich]

Thanks for your answers and views.

[antiquarian_]

I have absolutely no interest in football, infact it was not that long ago that one of my employees was said to be the double of a well known player, I asked who is this Brian Biggs? It was then I was laughingly told it was Ryan Giggs, not Brian Biggs! and thats genuine.