Struggling To See The Appeal Of Football?

*This is a collaborative post

Do you ever feel like a football widow? There are few things in the world more popular and beloved than football. It’s the world’s most popular sport with people playing and watching it in every country all over the world. Of course, if you’re the kind of person who just hasn’t been able to get into it for whatever reason, this can all seem pretty baffling. Maybe you don’t understand what your colleagues are talking about at work after a big match or you don’t know why your partner seems so dejected when their team loses, not being a football fan can often make you feel like you’re on the outside of something that literally everyone else is a part of!

But the truth is that that’s not the way that it needs to be. The reality is that football is something that anyone can love, you just need to find the right in-roads to it. With that in mind, here are some things that you might want to try if you’re still struggling to see the appeal of football.

Talk to someone who loves it

If you’ve ever just tried to sit down and force yourself to watch a football match by yourself it can be something of a mystifying experience. Even if you fully understand the basics of the rules, it can often be baffling when the crowd erupts in cheers or boos and you can’t figure out what you were supposed to have seen. The best way to get around this is to talk to someone who does understand that. Not only does this allow you to get a much better idea of what’s going on and the nuance of how the players perform, but it’s also true that passion can be seriously infectious. Listening to someone talk about something they love is a fantastic way to get yourself stirred up about it as well.

Experience the real thing

Tiny players on a TV screen kicking a ball that you can barely see is probably not the best advertisement for the sport of football in the world to those who aren’t already invested. In fact, to an outsider, it can look downright unimpressive. However, if you want a totally different experience then there really is no substitute for experiencing the real thing. Actually going to a football match couldn’t be more different from the experience of watching it on TV. For one thing, it’s a far more up close and personal experience. For another, going to a match becomes a communal experience. It’s not just something that you’re watching, it’s something that you’re sharing with hundreds of other people at the same time. And that’s something that’s unlike anything else you could possibly do.

Find ways to make it more interesting

There are always things that you can do to spice up your experience of watching football. One of the most common of these is being able to make it a bit more interesting by placing bets. Betting on football is a tradition going back almost as long as the sport itself and there really is no limit to what you can place bets on, from match outcomes to transfer fees to the performance of a specific player over a season. Of course, you should always remember to be as responsible as possible when placing any bets.

Focus on the human element

When you look at sports in the abstract, it’s hardly shocking that a lot of the time it seems kind of dry and dull. However, the real reason that people get so passionate about sports is that they are stories about people. Matches aren’t just a matter of one team winning and another losing. It’s the give and take, the triumphs and disappointments. The ways that hope can build and build until it’s either dashed or everything works out. The stories that make up matches and even entire seasons are the things that people latch onto and that’s something where it’s pretty easy to see the appeal.

Of course, one of the most important things to remember is that there’s no reason why you absolutely have to learn to love football. The truth is that everyone loves different things and there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, it’s unlikely that you’re going to be in the business of trying to force other people to get into the kinds of things that you really love, is it? Sometimes the best thing you can do is to accept that there are some things that other people are going to love that simply aren’t going to connect with you at all and that really is okay!