Thread: Football the religion

Amazed last night at the numbers of fans in Seville for Rangers v Frankfurt in the Europa Final.
100.000 Rangers fans alone were reported to be there after a ticket allocation of only 9,000.
The stadium's capacity is 43,000.

Among others, Diego Maradona stated that football is not a game or sport, but a religion.

The stadiums are now like cathedrals.
The players are the new gods.
As with most religions there is an element of violence.
Salvation comes from your team lifting a trophy.

Number of Rangers fans in total is 9 million.

Can this really be true? I think so.

My take on football is that it’s corrupt from FIFA on down to the playing field. So to me it ain’t heaven…lol From bribed executives, players & referees to players faking injury to ball boys who won’t give the visiting team the ball back and the fans who chant racist remarks or just out and out brawl with one another while recklessly and without regard, toss an exploding or incendiary device on the pitch. Is there a video game that can match football for uncontrolled mischief and criminal acts?

So ya, that bit is something like you’d read in religious text. Killing infidels and bashing babies’ heads against rocks seem to fit right in with football ideology. When teams played Maradona did they religiously pray he wouldn’t score or that he’d be injured or red-carded?

Originally Posted by zinjanthropos

....the fans who chant racist remarks or just out and out brawl with one another while recklessly and without regard, toss an exploding or incendiary device on the pitch.

It would seem, at times, that the fans provide more entertainment, or at least excitement, than the game.

Which sounds more enticing - a 1-0 game, or a riot between fans? The biggest problem for the latter would be rules. How would you regulate the "game", and how would the "winners" be defined?

Clearly the real game is preferred. Perhaps some amalgamation of the two will provide for a unique solution, using all that energy and emotion to its maximum benefit.

Originally Posted by Double Helix

Originally Posted by zinjanthropos

....the fans who chant racist remarks or just out and out brawl with one another while recklessly and without regard, toss an exploding or incendiary device on the pitch.

It would seem, at times, that the fans provide more entertainment, or at least excitement, than the game.

Which sounds more enticing - a 1-0 game, or a riot between fans? The biggest problem for the latter would be rules. How would you regulate the "game", and how would the "winners" be defined?

Clearly the real game is preferred. Perhaps some amalgamation of the two will provide for a unique solution, using all that energy and emotion to its maximum benefit.

If there should be a video game with all the football supporters antics then let’s hope they don’t forget to include the part where on game day a visiting tourist walks into a pub unknowingly wearing the wrong coloured shirt and gets the crap kicked out of him/her for it. Should be worth a few points. Must admit that drunken sots invading the pitch while game on is also highly entertaining. How many security agents can they dodge before getting tackled. Beautiful naked female streakers invading the pitch would get my attention. Definitely points for that. Obnoxious behaviour, constant pounding on a drum or continuous use of vuvuzela by attendees should also score well. But those are just football fan standards so something truly imaginative would be rewarding, like a beheading or stoning at halftime or has that already been done, Middle East maybe? How about an entire section of fans suddenly erupting into a full scale orgy? To win the video game one must somehow have the Serbia/Croatia and the Russia/Ukraine matches be played to settle a war. Didn’t a Roman emperor once flood the Coliseum with water to stage a naval battle? If so then that guy would do well.

Sorry, I digressed from OP topic but every religion has its customs, traditions and rituals. Just do it in the name of heaven and you can justify it in the end.

A new manager at a football club is treated like a saviour to rescue it from the mess of the previous administration.

I've been hearing a lot this week about drug use inside football grounds.
As we know, drugs have played a large part in the formation of religion. Magic mushrooms, the soma for example.

Then there is the child abuse scandals that have rocked football in recent years.

Also this week.


Sheffield United player who didn't even play in the game.

Football authorities sweep everything under the carpet.

Today is the final day of the football league season in England (play offs excepted) and the fate of clubs decided.
Promotion to the next level is like going to heaven for fans.
Relegation is the trap door to hell.

The avoidance of relegation you would think would be met with quiet relief, but it never is.
There will be wild scenes of jubilation and laps of honour around the pitch flanked with adoring fans.

After 1:20. When Everton avoided the drop a few days ago.