On the topic of “football is about winning trophies & every other thing is nonsense”...

We all have our reasons for watching & enjoying football. I’m not going to dictate for you what you choose to enjoy in the sport. But football isn’t only about winning trophies for ALL of us.

How many teams in football can win a trophy every season? How many trophies are up for grabs? Does the fan of the team that finished 10th not enjoy football when his team predictably don’t win a trophy season-after-season? Do fans of such teams not enjoy the sport?

It’s such a myopic, entitled view. And no, it’s not about “standards” either. Half the time, many of you talk about winning trophies because you’re too focused on having bragging rights over your friends or other fanbases on Twitter. You’re detached from reality.

My club didn’t win a trophy for 11 years & I still enjoyed the sport. I was still watching games every week, celebrating goals I knew wouldn’t bring a trophy, looking forward to the next game, analysing issues, etc. I enjoyed the sport. Not winning trophies didn’t stop it.

We won a trophy last season for the first time in 11 years but my favourite game of the season wasn’t the final we won against massive odds. It was the quarter final comeback against Getafe when we were dead and buried. And yes, I did feel a special emotion when we won.

We scored last minute goals more than 10 times last season and every single one was special. The feeling was next level. I watch Deeney’s last minute goal for Watford vs Leicester in the playoff semis of many years ago & get goosebumps. Didn’t win a trophy. Not even my team.

Trophies are like the crowning glory, the peak bonding moment, the release. But no matter how you try to paint it, it isn’t the central thing that makes the sport enjoyable or fun for a whole bunch of us. I watch many teams outside my own team. Why? Part of enjoying the sport.

I’m not thinking about Trophies when watching a game between Reims & Marseille. I’m merely enjoying a game in a league I enjoy watching. Enjoyment. Entertainment. That’s what the sport is about. Don’t be a trophies merchant. The sport will bore you.

I tune in every week to see my team play. I want to see Parejo running the game. I want to see Maxi being a handful. I want to see the Rodrigo turn. I want to see goals. I want to see tactical masterclasses and duels. I want to feel goosebumps via last minute goals. Etc.

From the perspective of the players & teams, you’d understand that winning trophies isn’t the beginning and end of the sport if you’ve ever actually played it. I did and just being on the field playing meant everything. That was peak enjoyment.

I won things and those were really special but I still enjoyed the sport when I didn’t win. The point of the sport isn’t to stack trophies. It’s to enjoy yourself, to entertain yourself. Sport is entertainment. Trophies add that extra bit, of euphoria, of being a champion, etc.

You might want that feeling all the time and consider it the only thing that matters in the sport, but that’s not what it is for many of us. Don’t ever tell me the point of football is to win trophies. It’s just a desired outcome that may or may not happen.

If trophies are all the sport is about, then every single manager who doesn’t win a trophy in a season will be fired. Every single one. And no manager who wins a trophy will ever be fired right after it. But that isn’t so, is it?

Football is primarily for enjoyment for the fans, for enjoyment & getting the bag for players, and for business and community for clubs. Trophies will always most likely be secondary to all these football shareholders.

In my opinion, of course.