Do you feel as you get older you care less?

[The Wengerbabies]

Used to be I'd know everything about arsenal now I couldn't even tell.ypu 5 players I don't know where we are in the league how we are doing who or when we last played when or who we next play etc. I say I support arsenal but really I know nothing ing these days and its.be ttn this way for a few years

I don't know th e last time I watched a match probably the last fa cup final we were in but I also don't know what year that was

I miss the old days when I woy religoiuslu follow this shit

[Letters]

I miss the old days when I woy religoiuslu follow this shit

Do you, though? It's not healthy to follow it too intensely IMO. Especially as you get older and get more responsibilities, there are more important things in life.
I don't know if you remember one person who used to post on here. I used to sit near him in the North Bank and he got married in that era.
He used to pride himself on being the bestest, westest Arsenal fan. I used to find it all a bit silly really.
I head he got divorced and I remember thinking "well maybe if you'd spent more time trying to be a good husband rather than a good Arsenal fan..."
Maybe that's a bit harsh, but his priorities seemed all wrong.

I think just generally you become more relaxed and less intense as you get older, I certainly care a lot less about it all than I did.
I've actually been watching more games recently, maybe because of lockdown and so on, there's not loads else to do. But overall I'm nowhere near as in to it all as I was. I have no idea when our next game is, I generally find out about games from this place!

So, in brief, I definitely care less about it all than I did but I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's pretty healthy.

[Marc Overmars]

Will always love Arsenal but I’ve certainly found there are more important things in life as I’ve grown older. I remember when I’d actually lose sleep over a bad defeat and be in a pretty foul mood the day after. That’s just toxic.

If we win, great.
If we don’t, who cares? Why does it matter?

Never want to be that emotionally or financially invested in the club again if I’m honest. Maybe when my boy is old enough I’ll rekindle that passion by taking him but until then..:shrug:

[IBK]

I like to pretend that i don't care as much - and I'm generally more phlegmatic about football. But does AFC still affect me emotionally? Hell yes!

[Mac76]

it depends - any team can have an off day but if the direction of travel isn't great it gets me down

I got a bit depresed during the time when Emery was doing so badly for so long and Raul was doing all his dodgy deals

and it's all annoying me a bit at the moment because it's so clear when we make big mistakes like signing Willian or messing around with Saka and Auba like Arteta did against West Ham, or the continuing existence of Xhaka as an Arsenal player

Arteta makes me angry with his favourites and inconsistent team selections

i realise there's rotation needed at the moment but overall I just wish we'd play a settled set of our better players in their best positions - it doesn't feel like so much to ask

[Letters]

I like to pretend that i don't care as much - and I'm generally more phlegmatic about football. But does AFC still affect me emotionally? Hell yes!

:lol:

Yes, I'd like to pretend I don't care at all but conceding a last minute equaliser still has the power to make me shout "OH FUCK OFF!" at the TV :lol:

[Chippy]

Do you, though? It's not healthy to follow it too intensely IMO. Especially as you get older and get more responsibilities, there are more important things in life.
I don't know if you remember one person who used to post on here. I used to sit near him in the North Bank and he got married in that era.
He used to pride himself on being the bestest, westest Arsenal fan. I used to find it all a bit silly really.
I head he got divorced and I remember thinking "well maybe if you'd spent more time trying to be a good husband rather than a good Arsenal fan..."
Maybe that's a bit harsh, but his priorities seemed all wrong.

I think just generally you become more relaxed and less intense as you get older, I certainly care a lot less about it all than I did.
I've actually been watching more games recently, maybe because of lockdown and so on, there's not loads else to do. But overall I'm nowhere near as in to it all as I was. I have no idea when our next game is, I generally find out about games from this place!

So, in brief, I definitely care less about it all than I did but I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's pretty healthy.

I can relate to that, unfortunatly :(

Arsenal didn't help my first marriage at all. My Weekend would be dominated by if they won or lost. If they lost, I would sulk badly and cancel evenings out :sarcy:

Now that I am 54 with two grown up children, I tend not to get so down about it because my second wife will not put up with it ;)

It still hurts inside when they lose, however, I just tell myself that they are a bunch of overpaid w***k**s who literally could not give a stuff about me.

One thing though, I still absolutely love it when S*urs lose. Sometimes it gives me more of a lift than when Arsenal win!:doh:

[IBK]

I can relate to that, unfortunatly :(

Arsenal didn't help my first marriage at all. My Weekend would be dominated by if they won or lost. If they lost, I would sulk badly and cancel evenings out :sarcy:

Now that I am 54 with two grown up children, I tend not to get so down about it because my second wife will not put up with it ;)

It still hurts inside when they lose, however, I just tell myself that they are a bunch of overpaid w***k**s who literally could not give a stuff about me.

One thing though, I still absolutely love it when S*urs lose. Sometimes it gives me more of a lift than when Arsenal win!:doh:

Amen to that, brother :lol:

[Letters]

It still hurts inside when they lose, however, I just tell myself that they are a bunch of overpaid w***k**s who literally could not give a stuff about me.
Right. That's definitely a factor too. These guys don't give a damn about the fans these days.
As you get older you tend to get more nostalgic and look back on the "good old days" more fondly, but I think this is objectively true. There was much more connection between the fans and players back in the day, and the fans and club in general. Since it became big business the players are here today, gone tomorrow mercenaries and the club see us as little more than customers. Back in the day when I was more into it all and a member I was always getting marketing emails trying to extract more money from me. Sad really.

[Chippy]

Right. That's definitely a factor too. These guys don't give a damn about the fans these days.
As you get older you tend to get more nostalgic and look back on the "good old days" more fondly, but I think this is objectively true. There was much more connection between the fans and players back in the day, and the fans and club in general. Since it became big business the players are here today, gone tomorrow mercenaries and the club see us as little more than customers. Back in the day when I was more into it all and a member I was always getting marketing emails trying to extract more money from me. Sad really.

Sad, but true :console:

[I am invisible]

Life just gets serious in the middle and forces you to prioritise what's worth giving a fuck about and what isn't.

When you're younger you have an abundance of free time, but nothing much going on on a personal level that's overly important, so external stuff (like following a football club) ends up taking on more significance (and demanding more of your time than it probably should).

Then, somewhere along the way, you find yourself partnered up, with a couple of kids, a home to run, bills to pay, more responsibility at work, maybe a commute, paperwork coming at you from all angles, relatives and friends who you hardly get to see and have to make a special effort to find time for, etc, etc, and you're lucky you find yourself with maybe half an hour to yourself at the end of each day! You have to become more of a casual armchair-supporter at that point - you don't have the time or energy (or money!) for anything more. It would just leave you exhausted and angry.

But then the kids move away from home, you edge closer to retirement, you have less day-to-day worries about survival, and you suddenly find yourself with a load of free time again and nothing much to do with it - at that point football can come roaring back into your life (if you want it to).

Right now I'm very much stuck in the middle there. Results can still piss me off, but because I have so much else going on I invest very little of myself into following football, so it's easy to just write it off as a minor disappointment. That's the big difference - the investment. When you put so much of yourself into following a club it's hard not to take it as a personal insult when you haven't ended up with satisfying experience from it.

[IBK]

Right. That's definitely a factor too. These guys don't give a damn about the fans these days.
As you get older you tend to get more nostalgic and look back on the "good old days" more fondly, but I think this is objectively true. There was much more connection between the fans and players back in the day, and the fans and club in general. Since it became big business the players are here today, gone tomorrow mercenaries and the club see us as little more than customers. Back in the day when I was more into it all and a member I was always getting marketing emails trying to extract more money from me. Sad really.

It doesn't seem so long ago...but of course it is! I remember how things were pre 2006. I used to deleiberately get to my seat in the North Bank while the players were still warming up, and we used to sing their chants until players turned and waved. There did seem to be more of a connection. Now from most players there is a perfunctory clap at the fans at the end of the game and that's it. It certainly seems (from a player's perspactive) to be more about 'me' than 'us' (ie the players club and fans together).

The other thing that's changed is the media grooming of the players. Individual personalities and authenticity have been swapped for players trotting out the same bland comments - even on social media. 90% of the time, player interviews give us literally no insight or connection.

[Globalgunner]

Right now Im just glad that I was old enough to enjoy our giddy years between 98-2004. My own prime years too, I guess. The kids were infants and I could indulge my neuroses. Now Im completely philosophical about all things Arsenal. I see no upward trajectory ATM so I don't get my hopes up or down either way. Now if we were to get a new owner I might just start dreaming again. However if Spuds were to win the CL before us then I most likely will reach for the cyanide pills or volunteer for the first manned trip to Mars. There would be no point being on this planet after that would there?

[Mac76]

Right now Im just glad that I was old enough to enjoy our giddy years between 98-2004. My own prime years too, I guess. The kids were infants and I could indulge my neuroses. Now Im completely philosophical about all things Arsenal. I see no upward trajectory ATM so I don't get my hopes up or down either way. Now if we were to get a new owner I might just start dreaming again. However if Spuds were to win the CL before us then I most likely will reach for the cyanide pills or volunteer for the first manned trip to Mars. There would be no point being on this planet after that would there?

a new owner wouldn't make any difference at all unless they knew about football enough to either get rid of Arteta or at least tell him not to play Saka on the left

as for the Spuds thing, absolutely, we live in fear of that day... :(

[Letters]

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 :d

[WMUG]

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 :d

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.

:(

[Letters]

True.
My consolation, other than that they lost, is that was probably their peak.
How long will players like Kane and Son hang around unless they're challenging for trophies.

[IBK]

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 :d

I was watching with my godson - a Chelsea fan - so couldn't be childish and refuse...

Thanks to Sp*rs' hilarious generosity in the first minute of the game https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-reactions-moussa-sissoko-concedes-controversial-penalty-in-the-first-minute-20190601 it was an excellent evening :lol:

[Mac76]

I was watching with my godson - a Chelsea fan - so couldn't be childish and refuse...

Thanks to Sp*rs' hilarious generosity in the first minute of the game https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-reactions-moussa-sissoko-concedes-controversial-penalty-in-the-first-minute-20190601 it was an excellent evening :lol:

the only time i ever watch spuds live is against us - i lived in absolute terror of their winning that game and it was only the next morning that my wife found out and told me the result - i can't tell you how relieved i was.

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 - it literally woud've been the end of civilisation if they'd managed it

that's why i still think there should be a statue of Klopp outside the Emirates - or maybe it should be Sissoko :lol:

[GP]

They obviously weren't going to win.

[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 :lol:

This is how pathetic we have become :doh:

[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 :d

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 :good:
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 :angry:

[Mac76]

I still love Arsenal FC and that will never change :good:
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 :angry:

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/blog/2021/mar/05/arsenal-visit-rwanda-shirtsleeve-deal-david-luiz

at least we don't support gambling though

[Niall_Quinn]

I still love Arsenal FC and that will never change :good:
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 :angry:

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 :good:
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 :angry:

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 :lol:

[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 :good:.
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.

[Letters]

Like 95% of Arsenal fans I couldn't get tickets to Paris so watched in a bar on Holloway Road
I was one of the lucky ones and as much as the result hurt, I will always feel privileged to have been there. Got chatting to a family next to me during it, they had a kid who started crying at 2-1. I said to them that sure, it's upsetting and his mates at school might take the piss a bit but have they gone abroad to see their club in a CL Final? Have they balls.

One of my abiding memories of that game though - and this relates to the money, corporate sponsorship etc. There was the Barca end, a sea of their colours. Our end was a sea of yellow. The whole middle section of the stadium, at least half the crowd, was a sea of corporate grey. On the Eurostar (thanks, daz!) home the next day got talking to a Chelsea fan who had been there - he told us he went every year through corporate connections. Good for him, I guess. But how many fans couldn't get there because of people like him? Not his fault of course, but it's part of what has ruined football for many.

[IBK]

I was one of the lucky ones and as much as the result hurt, I will always feel privileged to have been there. Got chatting to a family next to me during it, they had a kid who started crying at 2-1. I said to them that sure, it's upsetting and his mates at school might take the piss a bit but have they gone abroad to see their club in a CL Final? Have they balls.

One of my abiding memories of that game though - and this relates to the money, corporate sponsorship etc. There was the Barca end, a sea of their colours. Our end was a sea of yellow. The whole middle section of the stadium, at least half the crowd, was a sea of corporate grey. On the Eurostar (thanks, daz!) home the next day got talking to a Chelsea fan who had been there - he told us he went every year through corporate connections. Good for him, I guess. But how many fans couldn't get there because of people like him? Not his fault of course, but it's part of what has ruined football for many.

Jeez - how depressing! And it will be worse now, I'm sure. Eg who can forget our Europa League final in bloody Baku (I lie - I've so forgotten that!). That is surely the crux of our growing disconnect with the game. Money just isn't that exciting...unless you have it yourself, of course :lol:

[selassie]

I care, but I'm nowhere near as invested in the team as I was a few seasons back. I switched off the game after Jota's opening goal yesterday, it was obvious the game was over and I'd seen enough.

We are where we are. I'm not even that invested in the Europa this season if I am being brutally honest. If we somehow luck our way to a Europa league win, we are nowhere near ready to do anything of note in CL, in fact I think we wouldn't even make it out of a CL group with this current lot, we are way below CL standard these days.

[Chippy]

Amen to that, brother :lol:

Back to this one ;)

I was so annoyed when Son scored the Scum's winner last night, the air was bright blue! My wife said "Why are you swearing? It is not Arsenal playing". My mood was fucked for the evening. I sulked internally like a five year old. I am 53.

The point is, my hatred for S*urs has overtaken my love for Arsenal. That is probably not healthy. Is it?

[Mac76]

Back to this one ;)

I was so annoyed when Son scored the Scum's winner last night, the air was bright blue! My wife said "Why are you swearing? It is not Arsenal playing". My mood was fucked for the evening. I sulked internally like a five year old. I am 53.

The point is, my hatred for S*urs has overtaken my love for Arsenal. That is probably not healthy. Is it?

but it sounds as though you were watching spuds - why do that? if they win you don't want to see it - if they lose you can do what I do and enjoy it on MOTD :cool:

[IBK]

Back to this one ;)

I was so annoyed when Son scored the Scum's winner last night, the air was bright blue! My wife said "Why are you swearing? It is not Arsenal playing". My mood was fucked for the evening. I sulked internally like a five year old. I am 53.

The point is, my hatred for S*urs has overtaken my love for Arsenal. That is probably not healthy. Is it?

Ha! We used to mock the Spuds for their obsession with us, and celebrate St Totteringham's day each season. Is this how the mighty have fallen? - But yes, the scond most important league result for me is always Sp*rs, and it is annoying when they win...

[Chippy]

but it sounds as though you were watching spuds - why do that? if they win you don't want to see it - if they lose you can do what I do and enjoy it on MOTD :cool:

Never watch them live, I just cant do it.

My Gooner mates and my Son were texting me the updates / scores. I thought it had finished 1-1, and then dreaded text came through, 90th minute penalty :(

[Mac76]

Never watch them live, I just cant do it.

My Gooner mates and my Son were texting me the updates / scores. I thought it had finished 1-1, and then dreaded text came through, 90th minute penalty :(

ah ok, i must admit i've sometimes made the mistake of checking the latest scores and seeing they're drawing aand then they get a winner it's a real downer... :(