Most newspapers throughout the world contain a sports
section. In the United States, the majority of stories that are sports related
involve football, basketball and baseball. This makes total sense because these
are the top 3 sports in the US right now. However, for soccer fans such as
myself, having no dedicated section for just soccer news is a huge bummer. I want to know the latest transfer rumors in
the UK, the results from Manchester United game and which coach got sacked this
week. Luckily for me, I am in the UK and soccer or football as they say here,
is everywhere. Just flip to the back of most of the newspapers based in London
and you’ll find stories about the recent saga of the European transfer market.
Now I can finally feed my soccer addiction with print!
Soccer players in the UK are treated like A-list
celebrities. Many kids dream about becoming professional “football” players and
consider the ones on the pitch as heroes or idols to look up to. These
professionals impact the community and know how valuable it means to be playing
for their city or region. The tabloids in particular pay close attention to the
behaviors of players off the pitch in order to see if they can come up with a
juicy story. When the news broke about John Terry’s affair with former teammate
Wayne Bridge’s wife, the media had a heyday.
In London alone, there are four soccer clubs, which are
Arsenal (North London), Chelsea (South London), Tottenham (East London) and
West Ham (West London). The rivalry amongst these teams is intense, especially
during game day. This huge fan base for soccer can be seen not just in the
media, but also at parks and shops. For the past three times I was on my way to
Primrose Hill, I’ve seen many people kicking a soccer ball around. The Camden
Market even had many original soccer balls that were used back in the early
1990’s on sale. It’s a city that loves football and that makes me love this
place even more.
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