I support Arsenal Football Club, but this article is not really about them. Just replace Arsenal with your own team and that should suffice. Yes, I am a fan, and I do go to see them at The Emirates Stadium several times a season, but again that’s not really the point.

When you are a true fan of your beloved club, then it doesn’t really matter if you go to see them or not. It’s nice to see them play in the flesh of course, soak up the atmosphere, cheer them on and be with like minded people in the crowd and feel part of it, but it doesn’t have to be like that.

You see, when you are a true fan, just knowing that your team is playing is enough to get you excited, nervous, dysfunctional and be difficult to be with.

For many years I was unable to go to see my team play, but I still felt the anguish, the pain, the passion all the time the match was being played.

If the match is televised, then great, you can arrange your life and let your loved ones know that you will be indisposed for a couple of hours whilst you live every moment of the game.

Your mood afterward, of course, is completely dependent on the result of the match. Win and you are on cloud nine and the world is a great and wonderful place. Lose and life is barely worth living.

Whatever happens, your mind will still be on the match for hours or perhaps days afterward, reliving the key moments of the game with fondness or with frustration of what might have been.

Such are the emotions of the ‘real’ sports fan. You must feel the passion, hurt if they lose, cry with joy and swell with pride when they win. How could it be any other way?

Planning your life around the season’s football fixtures, is a very important part of modern life. There is no point in arranging to go to a dinner party, or asking over relatives when your team is playing. You know your heart will not be in it.

That’s why at the start of the season it’d best to mark in your diary all the fixtures for the coming season, so you can plan your life accordingly.

Many non-sports fans will not understand this devotion and it may seem obsessive, but ask a real supporter and you will get the same answer.

Even if you cannot physically get to see the match, and the game is not televised, it makes little difference. If your team is playing, then it is sweaty palms and anxiety for the duration of the match regardless. You can be out shopping with the wife or washing the car, but your thoughts will be elsewhere, willing the team to do well. There is nothing that can be done about this, it comes with the territory.

Plan your life accordingly.

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