Grass roots. Now that’s entertainment.

I brushed upon grass roots football in my previous blog Support your local team and it's something that I have a massive opinion on.


I love to play football and always have done. For me it's the greatest sport on the planet, I remember school holidays and playing for 12 hours a day, we didn't need feeding, football was our food! My friends and I played in all weather, it didn't matter to us, as long as we had a football and goal.

My dad took me to lads and dads when I was 7 and we formed a team called Kestrels, every team had an animals name, god only knows why. We were rubbish though, why? because we were young. I remember losing games by margins of 20 goals, I've cried after losing and I wasn't the only one! Did we quit? no! and why? because we loved the game so much! as time went on we grew older and a little wiser and went through a season losing only one cup game, we were giving out the 20 goals now.

 

Back then there was no over protective health and safety rules, we carried wooden goals to the pitch and if someone got a splinter, our parents did call a solicitor they just took it out! Unbelievable to think a problem like that could be solved so easily! I continued to play football all through high school and our team only split up due to us being too old for the league.

I love grass roots football and I still play now. It's gritty, real and there's no pampered superstars. These players play for the love of the game, they don't get paid to play, in fact it's the opposite WE PAY to play! This morning I went to watch two different Sunday league matches. Two of my old Sunday league teams, one won 4-1 and the other lost 4-0. 3 hours of football and I'd seen 9 goals! how much did it cost me to see this? NOTHING this entertainment was free! there's no worrying about finishing 8th instead of 7th because it'll cost a million pound to the big fat chairman in his big fat office. These lads give their blood, sweat and tears and then go to work on Monday.

Fans want goals, it's a fact of life, big money changes hands for goal scorers and why? because goals win games and winning games wins trophies! Football isn't rocket science. With grass roots you'll get what you want. Sadly my new Saturday team lost 8-1 yesterday, bad for me but fantastic for a neutral wanting to kill time on a Saturday afternoon.

I'm not saying don't watch the Premier league, Championship and other professional leagues. What I am saying is if your at a lose end, go to your nearest grass roots ground and if they sell pies, buy one, if they charge £2 to get in pay it. why? You may ask. The answer is simple, because the more money we pump into grass roots the stronger our national side will become! It doesn't take a genius to work this out. If we invest in the clubs they can invest in better training facilities, more coaches can have their coaching badges paid for.

For me this is what supporting your local team really means and by supporting grass roots football we can make our national team strong again. 

Thank you for reading.

Supporting your local team

Support your local team! That’s all I ever hear. It seems to have become a fashionable jibe as witless football fans look at ways to attempt “banter” with football fans that don’t support the team of their city.

However as the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. There are reasons why people support the team that they do. I personally support Man Utd and I’m from Stoke-on-Trent. Why? Is the question I’ve always been asked. Simply because my uncle did and he influenced me at a young age.  I have no idea why he supported them but what we have to remember is that kids are impressionable!

Glory hunter, the biggest thing I hear and if I’m honest it’s the one dig that does get under my skin a little. I have supported Man Utd since I was around 5 and during this time Liverpool were dominant. I was 11 when United won their first Premier League title.

But what exactly does “support your local team” actually mean. I played for a Saturday football team for 8 years which was ran less than 1 mile from my front door. Does that not mean I support my local team more than others?

Taking Stoke-on-Trent as a classic example, there are only 2 professional football teams in the 17^th largest city in the UK. One now sells out weekly and the other struggles to get 5000 fans. As my other blog stated what an amazing job Pulis has done it’s no coincidence that Stoke’s ground now sells out every week. However it was only 5 years ago that they struggled to get 15 000, which always leads me to the dig, “did you buy your Stoke shirt before they got promoted or after?” So where have the other 12 000 “supporters” come from? I personally have no answer to this question!! Maybe they’ve done the wrong thing and switched across the city from Vale Park to the Brit.

But what about the others? Kidsgrove Athletic are a semi professional football team from Stoke. I found it interesting to read that in 2001 Kidsgrove had a population of 24 112. For arguments sakes let say that 70% of this town don’t like football or are too young to go. That means there are 7233 Kidsgrove fans available. However in the 2009/2010 season Kidsgrove had an average attendance of just 157!! So where exactly are the other 7076 football fans! They probably support another team. However it is these hypocritical fans that are to blame for killing grass roots football. There is nothing wrong in supporting Stoke, Man Utd, Port Vale, Liverpool etc but most people can’t get to their teams games, or if they do attend their home games can’t get to away games, so why not get down to Kidsgroves ground and get behind your “local” team!

Before everyone jumps on my back, I still continue to play Saturday football and when I’m free I try to attend Port Vale games as I can’t afford to go to Manchester . You can also find me around other Staffordshire County Senior League grounds watching and getting behind grass roots football.

This for me is evidence alone that people are hypocrites and do not support their local team, even ones that claim that they do! At the end of the day we all love and support the team we do; does it really matter why we support that team? I think not. In my honest opinion I think we should support who we do whatever the reason and get behind our grass roots team!

Thank you for reading

Are Stoke City killing the beautiful game?

Growing up a Man Utd supporter in a working class area of Stoke-on-Trent 2 miles from the Victoria Ground, meant that I was often made to feel about as welcome as a bad smell in an astronaut suit! I still wore my red shirt with pride.

Back then Stoke were a 3rd division team and believe it or not Port Vale were the dominant local side (my 2nd team) only dreamers would have imagined a 27'500 all seater stadium and playing in the top tier of English football. Well it was once said, "If you haven't got a dream, how are you going to have a dream come true?" well for the Stoke faithful that dream came true in 2008 and the once League Cup champions were back in the top flight, but how?

I personally have always been a fan of the Clough philosophy of football and often quote the great man “If God had meant football to be played in the air he would have put grass in the sky” I love to watch the way Barcelona pass the ball and move around the pitch as if they were floating on air.

However this is a far cry from the way that Stoke play. Tony Pulis is in his second spell at the club and I remember "die hard" fans slagging "TP" and calling for his head, that was until that glorious day in 2008. Since then they have lost to Man City in the Fa Cup final and now playing in Europe.

I hate the way that Stoke play and make sure I let every Stoke fan I know aware. However the respect and admiration I have for Puils is massive. His team lines up like a military front line. They are strong, organised and most importantly united. The team ethic that has been drilled into that club is immense and maybe something Mr Wenger could install into his team!

Are Stoke a dirty team? No not in my opinion, are they are strong, physical team? Yes and is there anything wrong in this? I don't think so; Allardyce did this for years at Bolton and nobody really made a big deal out of it? Stoke haven't got players that are capable of playing football like Barca and Man Utd, so why would he try to make this team do this? Sun Tzu said in the art of war "Know your strengths and weaknesses and play to your strengths"

This is exactly what Pulis has done, with the bomb like throws by Delap causing chaos in the box, two wingers with great delivery and a back for all over 6 feet tall it's no wonder the ball spends more time in the sky than the sun. Why would it not.

This is the reason Stoke are in the top flight, because there manager is a master tactician! He plays to his strengths and doesn't let weakness get in the way. Pulis once turned up late to a game the day his mother had died, if this is the act of a committed man then there isn't one.

Reading this anybody who knows me may not believe what they reading. Any chance I get to criticise "the mighty potters" I take and with a big grin on my face. However at the end of the day football is just a game and life does go on, we should salute people who are tacticians as tactics are still an art within the game and beauty lies within the eye of the beholder.

To answer my question. No stoke aren't killing the beautiful game and Tony Pulis I salute you.

Why the demise of Arsenal could help England

“Imagine the worst situation – we lose Fabregas and Nasri, You cannot convince people you are ambitious after that" Arsene Wenger.

As "the professor" appears more like an apprentice and the majority of his best player gone, how can he convince fans that he's still got his eye on the Premier League? Van Persie will be happy to have been made club captain but as he looks around the changing room he must see ghosts of glories gone by.

Last season it was Arsenal's attack which meant they finished 4th. The defense was a sham and a far cry from the glory days of the Dixon, Adams, Bould and Winterburn with more holes in it than a pack of polo's.

So what now? Missing all the creative flair in midfield a lot falls onto their one shining light. Jack Wilshere, this could be a massive season for the highly talented midfielder and it's probable that the longer Fabregas and Nasri stayed the more it would have stunted his progress.

With Wilshere set to come into his own and Cleverley looking already like he's been in Man Utd's first team for years the future of Englands centre midfield already looks strong.