The Beautiful Game: Good for your health?

Photo: Josh Rock

Football fans. I know what many of you think about them. Every week they descend on Sheffield’s pubs, get drunk, shout at strangers running around on TV, and generally let the human race down.

They laugh, cry, swear, and really just get far too emotionally involved in meaningless encounters between teams that all look the same. But before you ‘kick off’ about how silly they all are, read on, because there’s more to it than you think.

Many will see Sheffield’s football fascination as a mixture of baffling and ridiculous. Our university boasts an impressive 310 intra mural football teams, and that’s before we get to those wiser students who realise watching and criticising is far easier than playing.

Is this obsession a problem? Nope – furthermore if you never watch football, you’re actually making a mistake. Here are some reasons, compiled by the Mental Health Foundation no less, why we should all watch a match now and again.

He’s only gone and intercepted the wrong ball!

Release that exam time stress:

Instead of attacking your housemates with the frying pan they refuse to clean, go and watch the footy instead. Research shows yelling at a match provides a type of mental catharsis – a way for us to vent our frustrations healthily, allowing us to deal with that upcoming essay, or the green stuff growing on your favourite mug which someone borrowed without asking.

Bask in someone else’s glory:

So what if you didn’t make the netball team, and your flatmate, on a diet of pizza and gin, beat you on the treadmill? Get down the pub, pick a side and who knows, you could be a winner for the day after all. Empathy with a football team in their wins and losses can help cheer us up when we’re down – yep, turns out that guy crying over the FA cup final is mentally healthier than you…

On yer ‘ed.

You support Arsenal too? Let’s be friends…

The shared identity springing from supporting the same team helps us build new friendships with people and strengthen old ones. If you’re struggling to get on with a new flatmate, football can be a great point of contact and create a bond. Admittedly a pretty pointless one, but still.

So it’s bad news for you cynics. Football is a permanent ‘fixture’ at university. Your appeals to the underdeveloped adult lurking in every football fan have gone unheard, and as for the rallying cry of “It’s only a game!” – save your breath.

Try and watch a game every once and a while, you’ll be happier, less lonely, and learn lots of handy new swear words in the process.