Being a Liverpool supporter for over 45 years, I`ve seen both the best, and the worst side of football.
Hooliganism, the Heysal stadium disaster of 1985, and also the terrible events of Hillsborough 1989, left me with a sour taste in my mouth for a long time.
That was a long time ago, and hopefully something that will never happen again, to any football supporters no matter what team they support.
Today, my main gripe about football, is the obscene ammounts of money being paid to, and for players. To a certain extent, I blame the Sky corporation for the ever spiraling costs. The fact that the English premiership consists of four or five big clubs, with most of the money, followed by a middle tier of clubs, and then the bottom clubs that just can`t compete, doesn`t strike me as being fair somehow.
I would like to see some sort of cap intoduced, that prevented clubs spending over a certain ammount, in order to at least try and create a more level playingfield.
The ammount of foreign players in our top league, is in my opinion hurting our national side. The England manager having fewer, and fewer players to choose from. If it carries on much longer, I can see a time coming, when a lot of our national side will be picked from the lower divisions.
Don`t get me wrong, I feel there is a lot of good things in football too. Not only fantastic nights like the recent Champions league win by Liverpool, but also the week in week out banter and discussion of football fans from all over the world. No matter what team we support, it`s football that brings us together, and long may that continue.
To those people who don`t like football, that`s absolutely fine. After all, we are all entitled to our opinion, and we all have likes, and dislikes.
I will love football for as long as I live. I guess it`s in my blood. Listening to thousands of Liverpool fans singing You`ll never walk alone, still brings a tear to my eye, even after all these years.
Regards Howard