Football and Religion

It’s become a cliché of football, and is certainly very cringe-worthy, but the statement ‘Football is my religion, [stadium name] is my Church’, is one you can find plastered regularly on social media and forum signatures.

It may seem excessive, and from a religious person’s point of view a devaluation of faith, but I genuinely think that such a statement may be reasonable to make, with many similarities between the two, and has provided me with an interesting self-reflection. With myself labelled as an agnostic, I genuinely think some of my understanding and tolerance of religion stems from my passionate love of Football.

You may think this immediately to be injudicious, but I implore you to give me a chance to explain.

First of all, let’s start with the common factors.

In the United Kingdom at least, and certainly many other cultures, both have strong roots in the working class, with the class-balance strongly shifting this way in the later 20^th century with football, arguably both its charm and also a trigger for many of its problems. This concept is similar in religion in the notion that it partially exists, or least has done historically, as a way to pacify and divert the attentions of the working class away from political matters.

On top of this, while I don’t want to umbrella all religions into one, there is also clearly a very, very, strong focus on upholding tradition and ceremonious events which can also be found in football. Whether it’s Church on a Sunday, Mass at Christmas, FA Cup final at Wembley in May, or open-top buss parades, both have aspects that will seemingly always outlast modernisation, and seem to remain a large part of the appeal in both.

Both also have a large problem in being ruined by monetary greed, and the concept of the ‘weak’ and the ‘masses’ being controlled by the few strong in power. In football this is a fairly obvious, well documented, and if anything overdone point, but will always be relevant. The balance of power and amount of money has gotten to the point of ridicule, with companies such as SKY having far too much influence, power, and money in dictating football and keeping the same few ‘elite’ clubs on an immovable pedestal; as well as the blatant corruption in FIFA, even over something as sacred and culturally significant as the World Cup.

In religion we see this through exploitative organisations such as Scientology, taking money off innocent people who are down on the luck or simply don’t know any better. The extent of this is so severe that the German Government refuses to recognise Scientology as a religion, being officially labelled as ‘an abusive business masquerading as a religion’, while the French Government has found the organisation guilty of ‘organised fraud’.

Another large issue apparent in both is mass problems with violence. While hooliganism was not properly a pressing concern until the late 1970’s, religion has been a cause for violence for hundreds of years before us, and will be for hundreds of years to come. While again it is obviously to a different level of severity, there is definitely a similarity in groups of people from what is essentially a tribe fighting other human beings for following a different set of beliefs - for belonging to a different tribe.

To an outsider this may seem incredibly over the top and almost a null point, but if you’ve seen organised football violence in person you’ll know how barbaric and scary it can be.

So many people I know have belittled me for daring to make these comparisons, but as far as I’m concerned that doesn’t mean that I don’t ‘get’ religion, I see it as you not ‘getting’ football.

The feeling of being a part of something so much bigger than yourself, that I feel while standing in the Holte surrounded by thousands of people wearing the same colours I am.

The feeling that nothing else in the world matters, and that if I’m having a rough week it won’t matter because come the weekend I’ll have something to take my mind off things and belong to.

The feeling of pure belief, and indeed purpose that as long as we stick around supporting our team that things might somehow improve.

I can imagine this is how it feels to have faith in a religion, with that same belief, that same loyalty, and that same feeling of purpose and belonging. 

I see people in tears expressing their love of Christ, and I can’t help but reminisce over times I’ve legitimately had tears in my eyes at Villa Park, both from sadness and joy.

I hear of people seeing great cathedrals and monasteries for the first time and being struck with awe. Similar perhaps to how I see the rafters appearing slowly into view from the Aston Expressway, there’s an unmatched feeling of adrenaline and emotion.

The fact is managers, owners, players, backroom staff, and everything else to do with the club will at some point be gone. Aston Villa itself has become somewhat a living entity in itself to me, and I pledge my unwavering loyalty to it forever. I’m not putting football on par with religion, I’m only saying that it’s helped me have a respect and tolerance for people with a religious faith.

If you think that sounds stupid, then you just don’t get it – and you never will.

Match Review: Aston Villa 0-2 Manchester City 04/08/2014

It was a typically beautiful autumn evening as Villa Park came into sight from Spaghetti Junction. The trees around Aston Church were a fine mix of golden and claret, with a crisp chill in the air, serving as a reminder that all my memories of leaving Villa Park to a pitch black sky, illuminated by street lamps and burger stands with that ‘mop’ smell lingering were soon to be returning – a wave of nostalgia rudely interrupted as I tried to get the incredibly dodgy ATM machine at the corner shop by the chippy to bloody work.

As for the game, I was expecting either our third 3-0 defeat on the trot, or a tight and well-earned 0-0 draw.  I saw something in between.

Both teams kept the ball down and tried to play some nice possession football, leaving the individual flair players to take chances on, which made for good watching. More noticeably, we were as well organised at the back as we’ve been this season barring a few near misses, and at the end of the day it took two top class goals from two top class players to undo us, and there’s no shame in that.

In fact, I think there are quite a few positives to take from the game.

There was an absolutely inspiring performance from Nathan Baker in the first half who went above and beyond the call of duty to put his body on the line for the team, making vital interceptions and countless towering headers, even earning a chant from the Holte End – high praise considering he has been subject to plenty of criticism and is often first in line to be scapegoat when times are tough.

The tendency to hoof the ball forward into no-mans land at the first chance also seems to be disappearing somewhat, with Guzan and Baker himself (two frequent culprits) both making an obvious effort to look for the simple short pass when possible. In fact, Baker’s constant controlling of the ball and pushing it forward to Westwood might have impressed me more than his defending, considering how hard he’s clearly been working on that side of his game.

We also saw the long-awaited return of Benteke to action, receiving one of the best ovations for a returning player I’ve ever seen down B6, and he looked surprisingly sharp given the severity of his injury, with the team looking much, much stronger and confident with him on the pitch.

His presence forced the substitute of Fernando, with a sole job to sit on Benteke and try to eliminate his threat, very much a compliment from Pellegrini.

Don’t get me wrong, the performance wasn’t exceptional, but I honestly believe there’s far more to be smiling about after 3 consecutive losses with no goals scored than you might think, and I still think we’re due to finish on the right half of the table.

Only Spurs and Everton to go…