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I’m Irish. I have first cousins who play Gaelic. But as I am in England I call it football.
So there was I thinking the OP had started a thread about Gaelic Football, I've only just realised that it was about soccer all the time. He clearly should've been more explicit to avoid us all making that mistake.
Can you go talk about football somewhere else please? This thread is for non football fans to bitch about how we dislike football. Many thanks 😉
So there was I thinking the OP had started a thread about Gaelic Football
Lots of my mates played when we were young, none of them called it that, was known as the Gaa.
The level of skill and athleticism on display at the top level of football is truly staggering nowadays.
I have no interest in the game, but I can definitely appreciate this fact. There is some truly outstanding skill on display.
Now if they could only stop ****ing falling over and crying like babies when they get tapped on the shin 😉
Thanks to my dad telling me at birth I am an Everton fan.
Well not really a fan, but if I'm asked to say who I 'support' I've always said Everton. When I have to confess I couldn't name any member of the team or even who manager I get a look like I've pissed on Bobby Charlton's grave.
The sad thing is I do like a good game on the box if it's on in the pub but i don't care what teams are playing.
steveg
A stranger like a cabbie asking you what team you support is say “I dont know anything about you, you dont know anything about me, most people like football so that’s a safe bet, id like to have a conversation with you, let’s start here”
If you reply that you’re more of a rugby, cricket, motor racing, hamster porn kind of guy then you can start there instead.
Responding simply with “I dont like football” is a sort of socially awkward conversation killer, if you are shooting down football as a topic then suggest something else. It’s probably the awkwardness of I don’t like football as a response that you see make people act strange in response
I'm with blokeupthe road.
It's not "I hate football", it's "I don't follow..." and the inability of people to understand that and continue as if I actually said "Gosh I missed it and my life will be incomplete unless you spend 10 minutes telling me about people I have no idea who they are and rules I have no interest in".
"Did you see the match"
"I don't follow football... so no"
"Oh who do you support then"
"I don't follow football... so I don't support anyone"
"Yeah but you missed a real cracker of a game"
"Yeah but I'm not interested"
"Yeah the first half was a bit slow"
I’m Irish. I have first cousins who play Gaelic. But as I am in England I call it football.
And yet you say soccer is a derogatory term. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you're not from Munster? If one of your countrymen from the south or west says 'soccer' do you pull them up for using a derogatory term?
So people are upset at the reaction they get when they say they don't like a sport, and then proceed to insult the sport, the players and the fans. 🤷♂️
And yet you say soccer is a derogatory term. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you’re not from Munster? If one of your countrymen from the south or west says ‘soccer’ do you pull them up for using a derogatory term?
2 weeks ago in Kerry whilst out cycling I told the Munster rugby fan that it’s called football in England where I live and Germany where I work.
I'm the same op - just dont get it, never have! Even as a kid, i just didnt get it!
However, i have always excelled at individual sports so maybe my mind= isnt wired for team sports?! Who knows...
What i cant stand is grown men coming out with things like 'yeah, if we'd have done x' or 'if we had played y' or other (IMO other dickish comments) that make them sound like they know more about the game than a whole team of managers do! The 'we'd' thing as well, as if they're somehow involved. I just find it all a bit cringeworthy.
Another one, is if youve ever been in a pub when a game is on and when the final whistle goes i've seen some of the losing teams fans almost in tears and it genuinely spoils their day!! 🙂 I just want to say 'get a bloody grip of yourself!'
Each to their own i suppose....just not for me.
So people are upset at the reaction they get when they say they don’t like a sport, and then proceed to insult the sport, the players and the fans. 🤷♂️
Bit of a sweeping generalisation there.
Many people, me included, have said they feel uncomfortable when people assume they follow football. Some have made overly generalised insulting statements but I think most of us have given valid reasons about why we feel uncomfortable with the implication that the there is something wrong with you if you don't like football.
I haven't insulted anyone. However, it's undeniable that there is a lot of racism and homophobia in the game. Not as bad as it once was, when the reaction to someone admitting they didn't follow it would be met with "he must be queer".
2 weeks ago in Kerry whilst out cycling I told the Munster rugby fan that it’s called football in England where I live and Germany where I work.
But did you explain to him that soccer is a derogatory term?
The ‘we’d’ thing as well, as if they’re somehow involved.
the fans are very much involved in games and often have an effect on the games.
scotroutes
Subscriber
I haven’t insulted anyone. However, it’s undeniable that there is a lot of racism and homophobia in the game. Not as bad as it once was, when the reaction to someone admitting they didn’t follow it would be met with “he must be queer”.
fitba just reflects society, probably more so than other sports.
But did you explain to him that soccer is a derogatory term?
I advised him that on his forthcoming business trip to England it would be better to call it football as football fans here do not use the the term soccer.
I advised him that on his forthcoming business trip to England it would be better to call it football as football fans here do not use the the term soccer.
But you didn't tell him it was a derogatory term?
If you want to change your mind now and say it's not a derogatory term and you were just trying to get one up on TJ that would be absolutely fine.
Most of us would appreciate the irony.
lovegoinguphills
Member
I hate football with a passion and always have. Baffled by its popularity but probably down to the fact that it’s a simple game for the masses of simple people.
The relative simplicity of the rules actually leads to an almost infinite variety of interpretation and freedom of expression.
I can understand why this alienates people, but to call the way the game is played and appreciated 'simple' shows a fundamental lack of understanding.
FWIW, I like and can appreciate most sports.
To deny oneself the pleasure to be had from watching or playing football smacks of elitism, snobbery and wilful ignorance.
“Did you see the match”
“I don’t follow football… so no”
“Oh who do you support then”
“I don’t follow football… so I don’t support anyone”
“Yeah but you missed a real cracker of a game”
“Yeah but I’m not interested”
“Yeah the first half was a bit slow”
Do you have any other made-up conversations to support your view?
The main thing that puts me off football is the whole shady ownership thing. It's just a very clear example of the fact that very very very rich, awful people have a lot of power and influence.
well the only thing that can be simpler than running and kicking a ball is running without a ball
the goal is to score goals, not an in depth analysis of the passing skills etc.
maybe they should have judges and 6.0 score cards? especially for all of those 0-0 games.
😉
personally I'd make the goal much bigger, scaled roughly based on the goalkeeper reach of a goalie from the early 20th century. when scores are more like 10-7 or similar to an international rugby score, then it might be interesting. 0-0 is not a close match. 7-6 or 10-9 would be.
To deny oneself the pleasure to be had from watching or playing football smacks of elitism, snobbery and wilful ignorance.
Not quite sure what to make of that statement, tbh.
It's almost like your comparing not following football to not following politics but with inverse snobbery.
Yes, football is vitally important to many people in society but I don't think not being interested in football says anything about you other than you don't like football.
Oh yeah, the one thing I really can't stand is 'analysis' of football. I don't mind listening to podcasts with people chatting about football but the post-match or half-time dissection of the action is truly painful.
And phone-ins and shows about the day's 'talking points'. Hmm maybe I don't like football after all!
If you haven't been the ones using the insulting terms on this thread then you have little reason to be pulling out that part of my post.
BruceWee
but I don’t think not being interested in football says anything about you other than you don’t like football.
I'd say that depends on whether you choose to attach oddball comments to your expression of dislike for the game.
That can say a lot. 😆
I grew up calling it soccer, football was rugby both in the family and at school. I struggle to believe that soccer is a derogatory term when the main bank roller of the game airs a programme called "Soccer Saturday".
It is a simple game - offside is the most complex rule - which makes it more accessible than other rule heavy sports. That doesn't mean it can't be intricate as well.
If you want to change your mind now and say it’s not a derogatory term and you were just trying to get one up on TJ that would be absolutely fine.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll stick to my orignal statement. Try finding some football fans and keep using the term soccer to them.
If you haven’t been the ones using the insulting terms on this thread then you have little reason to be pulling out that part of my post.
This thread was started by someone who is made to feel uncomfortable because they don't like football and it turns out there are many of us who feel the same.
Your post made it seem like we were all elitist snobs for not taking an interest in something we have no interest in.
If that wasn't your intention then fair enough but maybe next time try saying, 'So some people...' or better yet directly quote the people you're aiming your comments at. Otherwise it can seem like you're talking to all of us 🙂
I used to feel like the OP does. I haven't for the last 10 years or so though. I don't know if its just I've got older, care less or there are more people who don't care about football so I'm not seen as odd. But I think what I have come to realise is the person asking the question is trying to break the ice / make small talk / have some meaningless social interaction. They don't really care if you like football - they just don't want silence. Replying with "no I don't like football" is basically saying "no I think you are odd" and then passing the silence back to them. Open up, tell them what you actually like doing / were doing when the match was on...
"Did you see the match at the weekend?" --> "No I don't like football"
v's
"Did you see the match at the weekend?" --> "No I was mountain-biking with some mates in the cairngorms". Which can inevitably reposition the conversation to something you are interested in.
Occassionally you still get someone who persists with, "Oh so which team do you support". I can usually kill that conversation off with "I grew up in Glasgow, football teams are so entrenched in religious bigotry there that I just keep out of it". [Which also gives the questioner another chance to move the conversation on to Glasgow (or indeed the ridiculousness of Christian Sectarian rivalry)!]. If they keep going after that, then they have no interest in you - and its best to just ask them some questions about the club they support; the ridiculous salaries they get paid etc.
But I think what I have come to realise is the person asking the question is trying to break the ice / make small talk / have some meaningless social interaction. They don’t really care if you like football
bingo!
Thanks for the advice, I’ll stick to my orignal statement. Try finding some football fans and keep using the term soccer to them.
We're still waiting to hear what happened when you chastised the Munster fan for calling football by a derogatory term. Is he still laughing?
When you say 'find some football fans', I assume you don't mean my football fan friends from Cork? They don't seem to mind if I call it football or soccer.
I think what you mean is 'find some English football fans' who will most likely get very insulted because I'm using an Americanism for 'their' game and everyone knows that Americans are ignorant. The irony that they will have no idea that some of their closest neighbours also call it soccer will most likely be completely lost on them.
Weren’t Soccer AM and Soccer Saturday a thing in the UK? A quick Google also shows that the etymology of the word is also more than likely English. How is it derogatory?
The first regular BBC show was called Soccer Special. That was in the 1950's and, of course, language changes over time. I mean, just look at Mountain Biking...
How is it derogatory?
It isn't.
This thread is amazing.
Someone drew an analogy with religion a few pages back and it's bang on the money. In some people's heads you're not allowed to not like it, as evidenced by several posters asserting with no grasp of irony that us not learning a bit about something they're into is us being selfish, thus directly proving the OP's point. Here's a radical suggestion: why not find something to talk about that you both might be interested in?
Football's for perverts.
There. I've said it.
But all those other forms of ‘foot’ball involve mainly carrying the ball around, so technically could be more accurately referred to as ‘handball’.
The "foot" in football in all its various guises comes from the fact that it's played on foot (as opposed to, say, horseback), it's nothing to do with kicking or carrying anything.
Nobody who actually watches football calls it ‘soccer’. Nobody
Shedloads of people call it soccer, every single American for a start. You may scoff at that but I was in the states a couple years back and I was astonished at how popular it's become in recent years. They were routinely airing British football matches in sports bars in Chicago. Of course, if you asked anyone who their local "football" team was you'd 100% be told the Bears...
Do you have any other made-up conversations to support your view?
Can't possibly have happened, right? Wrong, it's happened to me too, multiple times. The fact that quite a few posters don't believe this is even possible is again simply evidence of the problem.
"Did you see the game last night?"
"What game?"
"Blackburn vs Burnley."
"Sorry, no, I don't follow football."
"Oh, right, OK." Then proceeds to talk at me about football for 20 minutes.
It's rare but it definitely happens. Sorry. And the other various parries suggested simply don't work, we've tried. Anyone whose opening sentence involves the word "game" or "team" with no other qualifier as to what they're talking about absolutely will not be dissuaded by you attempting to change the subject. Something as vague as "I missed it as I was out" is implicit agreement that you want to listen to their post-match deconstruction rather than have your goddamn lunch in peace.
And yes, I get it, especially when meeting new people for the first time. As Binners said, anything that's widely popular is a perfectly understandable small-talk opener. But not once do I recall being asked if I'm into football, it's always something like "what team do you support?" (and then get met with confusion when I answer "Manchester Storm").
Tell a lie, I was once asked if I was into football, at work one lunchtime. I replied in the negative and he replied "no, nor do I" and then still talked at me about last night's game for the next quarter of an hour. Even when I repeated, "as I said, I don't follow it" he carried on. Weird.
Then you wonder why the conversation needs to be shut down with no uncertainty, you've only yourselves to blame. Remember that "fan" is short for "fanatic" and it's no more true than for some football supporters. As with any demographic they may well be a minority and not representative of the whole, but they're out there walking amongst us and they're an immeasurably tedious boil on the bottom of humanity.
And the other various parries suggested simply don’t work, we’ve tried.
The "Football's for perverts" one works a treat. Be prepared to defend your stance though.
References to grown men with perms kissing each other and having a big bath together will assist in this regard, I've found.
They don't like it and won't ask again.
You've got to choose your audience though. With relative strangers asking "did you see the game last night?" I'd politely say "sorry, I don't follow football." In the office with my peers they'd be more likely to get "I'd rather eat my own spleen."
I used to enjoy playing football but was never interested in watching a game. Then as I've gotten older I find it a struggle to understand fan mentality (violence and hatrid) and how someone can be so passionate about something you're not directly involved with, whether they're watching in a stadium or the comfort of their own living room.
Here’s a radical suggestion: why not find something to talk about that you both might be interested in?
Whoa there! That’s an absurd suggestion. I made the same point back in the good ol’ days of page 2 and in response I had somebody suggesting they felt pity for me and my football bereft life. Another suggested studying the sports pages in order to learn a new language (soccerish?)and therefore better myself. Next will be threats of eternal damnation. I’ll take a copy of The Watchtower over this any day of the week.
I think if this thread proves anything, it’s that people who don’t like football are actually a bit odd. Especially the ones who insist on calling it soccer.
In fact, they’re all deviants and perverts
*adds a number of names to ‘the list’*
What if I don’t like football, but do like Greggs? Do I make the list?