22nd November 1978.
The date of my first Liverpool game. My father (may he rest in peace) was a Spurs fan and took me along to White Hart Lane for my first live match; I was only six years old. Being an obstreperous little bastard, even way back then, I decided to cheer for the other team, just to annoy him. Their bright red shirts and stylish play had me hooked immediately; besides, there were a few names I recognised in that team, like Clemence, Hansen and Dalglish. And I remembered watching them tear that same Spurs team apart 7-0 (either on The Big Match or MOTD) a couple of months earlier, in what to this day remains one of the greatest performances by any football team, anywhere.
My first game turned out to be a bit of an anticlimax, a drab goalless draw with Kenny’s sly punch on Spurs’ Don McAllister (thank goodness we didn’t have VAR back then- the King would definitely have been given his marching orders) about the only memorable moment from the match.
Back then, players turned up to matches in battered-up Ford Cortinas (my old man remembered the days when the players would be on the bus with the fans); nowadays, it’s all Lamborghinis and Ferraris. Air-conditioned luxury and a completely different world, today’s global superstars inhabit. Cosseted fairies? That midfield I watched- Ray Kennedy, Jimmy Case and Graeme Souness- would have snapped today’s lot in half.
Of course, player safety has been improved over the last 40-odd years but the world has got a lot worse. The constant Neoliberal brainwashing in our education system and the media means that the vast majority of people are just selfish cunts now, only interested in what’s best for themselves and generally uncaring about their fellow human beings. Sure, people talk the talk but they are unprepared to walk the walk- look at the number of people on this forum alone who are supportive of action to avert the climate catastrophe but still drive everywhere and jet around the world on holiday.
As many of you know by now, I recently broke up with my long-term partner. She realised what a misanthropic bastard I’ve become- and she’s right- and got fed up with me ranting at the radio and arguing with people about their green credentials. The final straw came when I kicked her sister out of the house the other day- she was going on and on about her imminent trip to the US with her kids but pointed out that my wine wasn’t organic. Fucking idiot.
International travel brings me back to football: how can I support a club whose players frequently jet around Europe and the world, both for business and pleasure (“Look at me! I’m on Instagram in Dubai! Aren’t I great!” Answer: no; you’re a wanker) and have no concept of their carbon footprint. It’s impossible to reconcile my ideals on the environment with the reality of modern-day football.
And then there are the ridiculous sums of money in the game, at least at the top end, and juxtaposing how players live in a completely different world to fans, yet supporters still idolise them and spend fortunes (by their modest standards, at least) on tickets, merchandise and Sky subscriptions even while struggling to put food on their own plates.
When the likes of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and, now, Saudi Arabia can take over football clubs and use them as sportswashing vehicles, something is very wrong. Football is no longer the game of the common man; it is a bloated corporate extravaganza, designed to drain the resources of the poor in order to fill the pockets of the rich. In that respect, it’s just a reflection of modern society, where the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” is widening all the time and we are all brought up to be good little consumers.
I had toyed with the idea of turning to grassroots football and supporting my local club, but it simply wouldn’t be the same. After 43 years of following the Tricky Reds, through the exhilarating highs and the numbing lows, I could never replicate that same degree of emotional attachment with another club. And I have spent countless hours going through the club’s history- in books, online, watching videos, even talking to real old-timers who had seen the likes of Elisha Scott, Tiny Bradshaw, Billy Liddell and all the other greats of days long gone. So, after much soul-searching, I have decided to stop following football.
This means that I will no longer be posting on this (or any other) forum. I would like to thank the mods, and especially @ISMF , for running such an excellent site and I hope than TAN survives for many, many years to come. I would also like to thank all of those who participated in my threads, especially the TAN Greatest… series and Mikey’s Millions, for their support and contributions.
And I would like to wish every single one of you the very best for the future. Sure, we have had our ups and downs but, at the end of the day, we are all united in our love of Liverpool Football Club and that’s what brought us all together. We may hold different views on politics, climate change, and other matters but all families argue from time to time. And that is what TAN has become: one big, (generally) happy family.
We have lost a few of our brethren along the way, such as @Alright_Now , @Maria and, more recently, @Lowton_Red and I hope that they are all safe and well, no matter where they may be. As for me, I’m going to dedicate more of my time to my other passions- food, wine and art- and try to become a better person. Or I might just remain a cantankerous old bugger.
Never say never, or so they say, but I doubt that I’ll be returning here anytime soon; then again, I might pop in to say hello from time to time- we’ll see. But thank you all for making TAN (and, before it, TIA) a home away from home for the last few years. It’s really meant a lot.
YNWA.
COG
