A game of pure nerves

There comes a time in all our lives when we get nervous. We get this sick feeling in the pit of our stomach that stays there for a longer duration than we want. Most people get nervous during an important exam that could determine their next life choice and some get nervous before taking the long awaited driving test. I for one get nervous during a football game. And not just any football game but my team Arsenal’s football game. I want them to win so badly that I have felt physically sick. For most people reading this are probably thinking I’m being stupid and to get a grip, but I just cannot help feeling like this every time they step out onto the pitch. Any football fans out there reading this will understand what I’m talking about and feel the same pain I do every match day.

This isn’t something that has just recently started, I’ve been getting nervous since the first game I ever went to at Highbury (Arsenal’s old football ground) at the age of four in 1999, where my dad dressed me in double denim and brown boots. I probably get this frustration from my dad who has been an Arsenal fan and has been watching them for practically his whole life, and seeing him get angry and curse every word under the sun has rubbed off on me and caused me to sit there bite my nails and watch ninety minutes go by in till the referrer blows his final whistle. I’ve gone as far as hide in my room while a game has gone off just because I couldn’t look at the TV in case the team we were playing scored and we would lose. Nowadays I’ve learnt to control my nerves and to tell myself it’s not the end of the world if we lose.

This to me proves that football isn’t just a sport or a game between two teams, but a way of life which we resolve our days around. It brings people together and causes us to encounter all of our emotions in just ninety minutes. When the team you follow win a game such as an important one like The FA cup the feeling is like no other. You could be watching it at home on the TV, in a pub or at the game itself, the atmosphere is an uproar of happiness that can only be described at Christmas and your birthday rolled into one day.