Do you feel as you get older you care less?

[Ollie the Optimist]

I have found in the last few years that i have drifted away from football in general.

Years ago, I’d have gone out of my way to ensure i watched every arsenal match possible and the result affected by mood as others have also said.

Over hte last few years, i have just become bored with the game, the amount of money and the crap decisions just makes it a lottery and not an enjoyable one. The football arsenal play is pretty dull and there are very few players I actually like at hte club right now. I’m indifferent to almost all of them, but i think thats also in general as there are not many other players around the world that i enjoy watching whereas previously it was always exciting to watch players like Ronaldinho etc.

Even now, i dont find there are many hugely enjoyable moments that last in the memory. Being totally honest, i dont really remember much of the 2015, 17 or 20 FA Cups wins. Sure they were great to win and did bring some joy but they haven’t created a lasting memory for me. The 2014 one did and hte experience of being at hte emirates taht day with all the build up and watching it on the big screen was great. I went again in 2015 but wasnt quite the same and I don’t know why other then perhaps indifference.

I also think in general in football, there are less genuine moments of sheer joy. Moments like when Henry scored against Leeds in 2012, i still remember that moment and it was magical. Aside from the 2014 cup win, not sure how many other moments there are like that in recent years. You couldn’t write a better script there.

I still watch the games but find it easy to turn off etc. If you were to offer me a tickets to go to arsenal next week or Harlequins in the rugby, I’m taking the rugby tickets. Just find these days, i get more enjoyment out of watching rugby, cricket or golf then i do football. Perhaps if football changes with things like VAR and less shit referees, i might get the enjoyment back but for now, its quite easy to miss games especially coming out of lockdown

[Letters]

if someone had told me i either had to choose both us winning the EL and spuds winning the CL, or us both losing, i'd have gone for us both losing without batting an eyelid

Same

This is how pathetic we have become

[Chippy]

I felt a massive sense of relief, but I wasn't happy.

They still had their Ajax moment, their City moment, the highs, the nerves and all the rest of it just like we did in 2006.

I walked home that evening thinking it's a long time since we had anything like that, and it looks like it'll be a long time before we do again.

The night they beat Ajax was on my Birthday. My grown up kids had popped round for a meal and my good mood (them being 2-0 down) turned into a nightmare. I had to hold in my emotions so as not to upset anyone

Very childish to say, but it ruined my day completely.

I hope NEVER to see them anywhere near the CL Final again.

[Chippy]

I couldn't watch the final they were in (I mean, I happened to be double booked, but I wouldn't have watched anyway).
Was coming back from something and got into a massive traffic jam on the M25. One of those "put the handbrake on" ones.
I figured the game must be over so I checked the final score, thought "oh thank fuck!" and drove home a bit happier

I actually could not bring myself to watch the game or even check the score

It got to about 10.45pm and I had to put myself out of my misery. Thank the lord they lost. I am actually not sure I could have coped!

[WGC Goon]

I still love Arsenal FC and that will never change
However, club football changed massively for me when the dirty Russian bought Chelsea followed by the dirty Arabs buying Man City.
I hated the way Chelsea financially muscled in on our rivalry with Man Utd and we then dropped off the scene in some respects, it's never been the same since

[Mac76]

I still love Arsenal FC and that will never change
However, club football changed massively for me when the dirty Russian bought Chelsea followed by the dirty Arabs buying Man City.
I hated the way Chelsea financially muscled in on our rivalry with Man Utd and we then dropped off the scene in some respects, it's never been the same since

good point about owners, and it also applies to sponsors

even though i have last season's shirt i'm not 100% comfortable with Emirates and certainly not with Rwanda - there was an interesting piece by Barney Ronay about that recently https://www.theguardian.com/football...eal-david-luiz

at least we don't support gambling though

[Niall_Quinn]

I still love Arsenal FC and that will never change
However, club football changed massively for me when the dirty Russian bought Chelsea followed by the dirty Arabs buying Man City.
I hated the way Chelsea financially muscled in on our rivalry with Man Utd and we then dropped off the scene in some respects, it's never been the same since

Time smooths out all evil. Russian gangsters buying up the game used to be a sour talking point. Now it's just accepted that any old "fit and proper" hood can buy-in provided the price is right. TV ruined it all too. A live game on a Sunday was a nice and welcome development. Morphing it into a live game every 15 minutes killed the whole thing. Like everything, football became an overexposed commodity, milked for every last drop. All the tradition, regional rivalry, working-man culture was relentlessly shoved out. Football didn't die because fans grew up, it was killed by the corporate leeches who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

[IBK]

I still love Arsenal FC and that will never change
However, club football changed massively for me when the dirty Russian bought Chelsea followed by the dirty Arabs buying Man City.
I hated the way Chelsea financially muscled in on our rivalry with Man Utd and we then dropped off the scene in some respects, it's never been the same since

A good point. Its easy for people to say that its just sour grapes because the oligarch era simply broke up the cosy club that Arsenal was privileged to be in - and to a degree I suppose that's true. But I don't think it's the whole story. As privileged as we were, AFC still had to live within its means, and Wenger still had to build a team and instill it with genius to win the league. There was still some romance. We tried to compete with the new stadium - but as much as I would not sympathise with Arsenal for the fallow years after this where we stopped being a top club if I supported another team, since we last won the league (Leicester 2016 and Liverpool last year aside) only the 3 filthy rich clubs - Manure Chelski and Citeh have been champions. For me its like doping in cycling or athletics - when teams can basically have 2 first team top players in every position, and more importantly do not to have to take decsions based on risk - like everyone else.

Don't get me wrong - based on finances alone we should probably be top 4 or 5 every year - so fans of other clubs may fel the same way about us. But I don't think its quite the same. I think its a trope that Gooners are just sour because we haven't won the league for so long. The reality is that winning is now basically about how deep your pockets are and I think that this has taken a lot of joy out of the game.

[IBK]

Also, my best ever night as an Arsenal fan? Winning the league (and therefore the double) at OT in May 2002. Was watching the match at Shoeless Joes on the embankment with my Arsenal mad sister and we went straight up to Highbury - buying a bottle of champagne on the way. I have never seen London like it was in Upper Street and around Highbury that night. Pure joy. Gridlocked traffic and 1000's of delerious Gooners. I don't even know if this would happen now - 20 years later.

Worst ever night - losing the CL Final. Like 95% of Arsenal fans I couldn't get tickets to Paris so watched in a bar on Holloway Road. had to get there at 5.30pm to ensure entry. Ended up being consoled by strangers on the tube as I was drunk and in tears

[Letters]

Time smooths out all evil. Russian gangsters buying up the game used to be a sour talking point. Now it's just accepted that any old "fit and proper" hood can buy-in provided the price is right. TV ruined it all too. A live game on a Sunday was a nice and welcome development. Morphing it into a live game every 15 minutes killed the whole thing. Like everything, football became an overexposed commodity, milked for every last drop. All the tradition, regional rivalry, working-man culture was relentlessly shoved out. Football didn't die because fans grew up, it was killed by the corporate leeches who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Pretty much spot on .
It started with Sky IMO. They promised us "a whole new ball game" and boy did they deliver.
But the billionaires wading in didn't help. Chelsea showed that you can buy success, City have shown you can do it with any club if you pump enough money in.
There have always been haves and have nots in football of course. And we have been one of the haves, historically. But the difference between them has never been so stark.
All comes back to money, rich owners putting clubs in false positions, the extension of European Competitions which creates a "Top 4" in the bigger leagues.
And that leads to players being transferred for obscene amounts, earning obscene amounts who have no connection to the club, the clubs have to operate as businesses which means they lose connection to the fanbase, pricing out the traditional supporter.
Overall it's just not as much fun as it used to be.