Football is a wonderful hobby that you can play almost anywhere! You will pick up so many skills along the way. The more you play, the more your crosses and Cruyff turns will come along; you and your skills will be the envy of the pitch! Playing a team sport is a fantastic way to meet new people and make new friends.
If you have just moved somewhere new or want to become more involved with your local community, joining the local football club is a fantastic way to socialise with others and get to know people in your area. You already have a common interest in football, and team sports invoke a camaraderie between people, so you will fit in in no time. Exercise not only helps your physical health, but it also has a great impact on your mental health.
When you exercise, your body releases endorphins which triggers a positive feeling. Playing in a team, having a routine of where and when you need to play matches and doing something you enjoy are all factors that are beneficial to your mental health. Once you understand how your fellow players work and how they play, you can get a fantastic rhythm going which can really tip the scales in your favour of winning the game. Some players like to take chances for their own selfish reasons, but once they accept that the game will work more smoothly if they work closely with other players, the team will click and every game will be great fun to play!
Find out more about prices and how to book here. Be sure to seek medical advice if you are unsure if football is right for you or if you experience any ongoing pain during or after playing.
If you would prefer a slower version then joining your local walking football group may be the answer. Football counts towards your recommended amount of aerobic activity and brings benefits including reducing your risk of certain chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
It will help improve your overall cardiovascular health and you should see your endurance increase over time if played frequently. The combination of running, walking, sprinting and kicking can bring benefits including increased stamina, improved cardiovascular health, reduced body fat, improved muscle strength and tone, increased bone strength and improved coordination. Playing regular sports is also thought to help improve symptoms of some mental health issues like depression and stress, can lead to increased confidence and self-esteem, and can help to reduce anxiety.
Football is not an expensive or prohibitive sport. All that is needed is space and a ball. The specific social and cultural role that football plays in any given country, however, is heavily influenced by historical factors.
These include whether a major side or national team has won an important tournament at a decisive time in the past or whether the sport was traditionally played by upper or lower classes. Similarly, historically poignant football rivalries between some nations e. Holland v Germany, England v Scotland play a role in defining specific national football characteristics. These influence how people relate to football in their country and how they support teams at the local, regional, national and international level.
Fans in countries with strong local and regional identities have a slightly different relationship to the sport than fans in countries where regionalism is of less importance. In some countries such as Norway and Sweden, allegiance to the local team is much stronger than that associated with the national side. In contrast, in France, Poland and Portugal have stronger allegiances to their national side. The large majority of football fans in Europe are men. Both male and female fans acknowledge that football is a largely masculine domain in which the world of the fan is organised around typically male-oriented social spaces — pubs, bars, and large-scale sports arenas.
In such spaces, men are permitted to express their emotions and passions — having women present, it is felt can inhibit this sometimes 'unmanly' behaviour. The predominance of males, however, does not preclude the involvement of women in the world of the football fan. Women's participation in and, and their 'consumption' of, the sport has increased significantly over the past few decades. Several fan clubs across Europe are now dedicated exclusively to women and they are increasingly accepted as 'authentic' fans, not just the wives, girlfriends or daughters of male fans.
The Internet is now a significant resource in the world of football — fixture schedules, statistics, injuries, purchases and sales of players, team selections, ticket prices and day-to-day news about football politics. European fans spend increasing amounts of their time on football web sites accessing up-to-the-minute information about events specific to their team, keeping abreast of local, national and international developments in football politics and commenting on the play during matches.
A minority of very dedicated fans browse such sites for up to 6 or 7 hours a day. In many ways, the fans' use of the Internet is an extension of their activities in the stadium.
Online fans constitute fan families — groups of people with close personal relationships that are as strong at home or work in front of a desk as they are at the games themselves. Older fans, however, are not only less likely to access the Internet for these reasons than younger age groups, many see it as inconsistent with being a 'real' fan.
While much of the European media coverage of football fans has, since the late s, focused on the negative — on hooliganism and violence — our research reveals a much more positive side to football and its passionate supporters.
Our work, one of the most extensive pieces of research done on European football fans in recent years, highlights the passions and emotions that are associated with the game and the positive role that being a true fan plays in the lives of millions of Europeans.
While there are strong rivalries between fans at local and national levels, the striking feature of the research is the high degree to which football unites people from varied backgrounds across the whole of Europe, and undoubtedly beyond. Click here to download and read the full document using Adobe's Acrobat Reader.
Football Passions Research commissioned by Canon Executive summary Methods The Football Passions report summarises extensive sociological research across 18 countries in Europe.
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