to lol at 'football related sadness'

[TequilaMockingbirdy]

Man on my facebook reckons he needs a day off work because of emotional stress, I said he should have one if he needs it and asked the reason why.

He said the footy results.

he is being deadly serious and saying he's suffering from 'football related sadness' and that he feels so alone and upset, he is crying.

Now I fully understand mental illness having suffered/suffering from it myself... but really?

Maybe a sign of something underlying you may say but I've known him for a good few years and football really does seem to get him down when his team loses!

Anyone else glad they don't have a partner who is obsessed with the football?!

Beyond noticed it too but thought it was so daft couldn't be bothered.

And by the way, I thought I had made it clear i don't sneer at people for liking/enjoying something - I sneer at those who allow sport to negatively affect the rest of their lives and their work/relationships

By the way "football is not a matter of life or death. Its much more important than that" is a quote, crackle.

You know how you feel about football, a sort of visceral illogical hate in the pit of your belly? Thats how i feel about man united

CrackleandPop - Wee bit angsty there, aren't you? I was just quoting Bill Shankly as it was appropriate to the thread, imo. Just as saying it to someone who's recently bereaved would be inappropriate. Have a word with yourself, eh?

I do like Chuck Bass.

DH has had fRW (football related wankiness) in the past, usually when Burnley has lost to Blackburn. The one time he was stupid enough to come home being an arse because of the football result he got told to go out or shape up tbh. I love football but not enough to get actually upset about it.
I did however spend 5 minutes staring open mouthed at the Liverpool result...
He is a happy Claret at the moment

CloverHeart my ILs are Norwich fans and share your sadness. And are really clinging to the last (probably only mathematical now) hope.

Isn't it true though that there is a pretty substantial link betwee domestic violence and significant football matches (eg. World Cup, Derbys, and old firm games).

Fuck that.

That should be 'a substantial link between a rise in domestic violence and significant matches'.

Yes there is, but the same can be said when the Six Nations and Rugby World cup is on.

I guess it's all to do with alcohol consumption.

onesRipley Tue 06-May-14 08:08:43

Me too. It's time and money taken away from the family, and it's not questioned in some cases because it's "what men do" >>Sunderland fans, at least you have an interest in the last weekend. It's awful being mid table and nothing to be bothered about. (I'm not a Red!)

I'm all for people enjoying sport. Sharing the thrills with your mates makes the highs higher and that's fine. However, when the lows are low enough to affect your ability to work or your ability to be civil to your nearest and dearest you need to get a grip and it is perhaps the time to step away and look for some perspective.

In the end this isn't life and death. It's about a few blokes kicking a ball around a field and seeing who is lucky enough to get it to land where they want it to. You don't know the people concerned and, apart from getting your ticket money to pay their enormous salaries and your bums on seats to fill stadiums and create an atmosphere, they couldn't give a toss about you.

The more we indulge 'football related sadness' the more we are handing out excuses for post match violence, domestic abuse and vandalism.

I will be very pleased if the British teams are knocked out of the world cup early on because that seems to be the best way of reducing the football related vandalism and violence that always occurs if they go through.

The more we indulge 'football related sadness' the more we are handing out excuses for post match violence, domestic abuse and vandalism.

Ooops, I meant to say I agree with that quote!

Hear hear muddling Mackem !
I do find it funny that a lot of us Sunderland fans have ended up on a thread about football angst.

I'm a very happy mid table team supporter this season too (Portsmouth).

I've known the elation of being there on the final day of the season, winning but knowing it still depended on the final whistle at another match and it happening. I've known the incredible buzz of winning the Championship and the FA Cup. I've seen us nearly go to the wall and get relegated down and down. But at the moment mid table in League 2 feels like a very happy place to be.

KenDoddsDadsDog Tue 06-May-14 10:45:33

I do find it funny that a lot of us Sunderland fans have ended up on a thread about football angst.

It's not what men do! DH is a football fan, but not as much as I am. I regularly leave him with the three DCs to go to the footie.
I have some FRS of my own - am having a mastectomy next week and may not make the Scottish Cup Final. It's almost worse than having the op.

I have taken days off work for sport, e.g. to go and watch the final day of a cricket test match, is that allowed? I probably watch more cricket than DH. I can't speak to football because I don't follow it but I know watching the All Blacks hold a one point lead in the RWC final in 2011 felt like a matter of life & death to us and to the rest of NZ. So I feel their pain. Pissing on sports fan's fervour seems rather mean spirited to me - we all have different things we care about.

meditrina Absolutely mathematical! DH has been saying for the last 3 matches just one more point and we could be safe. My IL's are also fans and are considering giving up their season ticket this year!!! MIL has been going since she was little, too

Oh no weebarra I hope your op goes well (and you manage to catch the match)

I have taken days off work for sport, e.g. to go and watch the final day of a cricket test match, is that allowed?

The OP appears to imply that the guy is taking a day off sick. I assume you're using annual leave which, of course, is up to you.

I agree with the OP, and what Goldmandra said. I don't think the parallels with theatre or soap opera make any sense - I don't watch soaps, and love theatre, but the idea that a sad or traumatising or disappointing play might be considered sufficient excuse for me to behave irrationally, or affect the lives of my partner/children/colleagues by my moods is hilarious. Why should football (or any sport) be any different?

And yes, I have actually seen a lot of premier league football, and I still don't understand how anyone can get quite so caught up in any sport they don't play that they let it affect their lives to a serious extent. Plus I get immensely tired at how central it is considered to our society - David Moyes being fired ate airtime out of all proportion to its importance.

Obviously, people are perfectly entitled to take holidays from work to coincide with the World Cup, but I would bet large sums of cash that there will be many people who will call in sick to recover after staying up for night games, or just do their work shoddily - and expect colleagues to pick up the slack because we're all supposed to understand that football is not just a matter of overpaid young things kicking a ball about, it's life and death and more etc etc.

Has anyone read a YA novel from years ago set in the near future where gymnastics has replaced football as the culturally-central sport? Teenage girls in leotards leaping about with ribbons and doing back somersaults on beams were the equivalents of Beckham and Rooney, and the focus of the sports pages, news bulletins, insane fan hysteria etc etc.