Football is more than just a game. Some see football as a religion, some see it as a hobby; everyone loves football for different reasons and rightly so. Whether it’s the players, the managers, the stadiums, the goals or the saves: Football is and always will be the world game due to the profound love of the game around the world. 

For me, I fell in love with football at the age of seven because I wanted to be just like my dad, an avid football fan. All I wanted was to play and watch football. Today, nothing has changed, but that was when football was just a game to me. Now, it is something much more than that.

Football can bring unique feelings which nothing else can. You count down the days until the weekend when you can go to see your team play. You can’t sleep the night before because of the overwhelming excitement. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, whether it’s a big game or small, you are desperate to go. You put your colours on with pride, head to the ground and get a primal thrill when you walk through the turnstiles and see the pitch. 

For 90 minutes you forget about everything else. It all goes out the window for 90 minutes and all that matters is you being there for your team to win, lose or draw. You are surrounded by people who feel the same excitement, anger, disappointment and happiness. But when everything comes together perfectly and your team scores, that stranger next to you becomes your best friend. This is why I love football. 

Football brings people together like nothing else. When a major international tournament comes around, fans of rival clubs come together and follow their country together and watch with the whole nation watching with them. Football fans from all over the world join together in the one country to celebrate the world game. Nothing else has this power, the power to instantly connect two people from opposite sides of the world through their mutual love of the beautiful game. This is why I love football.

Football is not just a game. Football is not just a few men kicking a ball around. Football has an amazing power to unite the most unlikely of people and inject unforgettable moments into your life. But if none of this resonates with you then you will never understand. You are not one of us.