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I think it would be interesting to hear from people who have friends who have been or are professional football players (down to the National League level), what’s their take on what players understand about their job that supporters generally don’t understand ? I mean, as supporters we understand that the best player in training might not be the best in front of a crowd, but what else?
No names, no clubs, - maybe just the rough level they played at. )
(I say this after meeting someone who played ‘lower leagues’ and lived in Cheshire among elite players, and socially he always found the ‘big’ players as always very very respectful to him as a fellow pro, despite huge salary differences. A few years ago now.)
[Post edited 8 Feb 20:55]
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Professional footballers on 15:05 - Feb 9 with 1331 views
Professional footballers on 14:55 - Feb 9 by AVJones
And your comment sums up exactly why he felt like he did I expect…
“ Got himself sent off” ??
He played for the club in the worst era of modern times, always gave his all, and yet week in week out there was abuse on this board about how he and Skuse were stealing a living.
He wasn’t one of the great Ipswich players, but he’s an absolutely top guy. We were very lucky he was our captain then.
[Post edited 9 Feb 14:56]
I liked Chambers until he and skuse held the players meeting behind the managers back. Didn't think that was right and lost a bit of respect for him after that.
Professional footballers on 22:57 - Feb 8 by ITFC_Forever
I’ve said before, my bro-in-law had a 15 year career which started as a YTS player at one of the big London clubs, then continued at a level between Conference South and L2.
Players think a lot of fans are one-eyed morons who have no idea what they are talking about, but also realise that the ones closest to the clubs to volunteer to take on various roles are the lifeblood of the club - and that the game at that level wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for them doing all those little jobs around the place.
It’s also a very transitory industry in that you play with hundreds of players in your career, but once you or they leave the club you’re at together, you rarely hear from them again.
There’s also a lot of comparison at that level…. “So-and-so is rubbish and / or a bellend, how the feck have they got that move to a bigger club”.
A lot of them will also know players further up the food chain and will talk in envy about what car / sponsorship etc they have.
All clubs will have a good / bad reputation in the game, based on the owners / manager / fans.
I have thought about this too - how many team-mates you must have if you play pro football for any length of time. Sometimes at the end of a game you see one of the opposition substitutes shyly come up to a player to shake hands, and you wonder if they're scared that they're not even going to be recognized by a club-mate from 5 years ago, especially if there is a bit of an age gap.
In your last line, I wonder what players mean by a club having 'good fans'. At the lower levels, I guess it means fans who contribute a lot to making the club function, by volunteering in the car park and so on. At the middle and higher levels, I wonder how different fans can be from one club to the next.
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Professional footballers on 08:41 - Feb 10 with 1016 views
We’re friends with a current League 1 player who’s played at a higher level but is tail end of career now. He’s been signed to a club since he was like 12, football is all he’s ever known but is fully aware how short his career is so is planning what to do when he finishes football.
His wife always says he thinks a hard days graft is going to training at 9am, having breakfast made for you and eating it with your mates / colleagues, before training for a few hours and returning home to do some housework and play on his PlayStation.
Definitely some grim mid-week away games he endures travel wise and says he won’t miss going forwards as he likely changes career field once retired.
Super down to earth guy though who said to me a while back how good we were when he faced us a few years back and how good it is to see some of the original team from our promotions now in the Prem.
Professional footballers on 20:55 - Feb 8 by MattinLondon
I know someone who plays in the Northern Premier League (Premier Division) so one league below the National League.
No great insights but I think he feels that supporters have no appreciation for the amount of pressure the body takes playing football at a decent level. And the higher up you go, the fast the game is.
Also, a lot of footballers dislike it when fans bang on about loyalty as if they have a few bad games the same fans will want them booted out.
Last thing, a lot (not all) of footballers quite liked lockdown as they could do what they love to do without any abuse. Like going back to having a kick about.
No great insights.
No great insights yet so many fans don’t seem to be aware of it.
My favourite one is when a player or manager moans about injuries caused by a number of games and fans argue they should be able to play every day of the week due the money they’re earning. As if money magically alters how the human body works.
A good example of the loyalty is even some of our own fans saying we shouldn’t sign Jaden because he had the chance in the summer and he chose Villa. We don’t know if he even had a choice (believe there may have been a pre-contract agreement when initially sold to Hull) and even if he did choose, who is picking us over Champions League Villa?
See also Flynn Downes wanting to leave us when we were headed for League Two and he sought a move to progress his career. Still some numbskulls that give him grief for that.
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Professional footballers on 12:33 - Feb 10 with 809 views
Professional footballers on 12:16 - Feb 10 by Jon_456
No great insights yet so many fans don’t seem to be aware of it.
My favourite one is when a player or manager moans about injuries caused by a number of games and fans argue they should be able to play every day of the week due the money they’re earning. As if money magically alters how the human body works.
A good example of the loyalty is even some of our own fans saying we shouldn’t sign Jaden because he had the chance in the summer and he chose Villa. We don’t know if he even had a choice (believe there may have been a pre-contract agreement when initially sold to Hull) and even if he did choose, who is picking us over Champions League Villa?
See also Flynn Downes wanting to leave us when we were headed for League Two and he sought a move to progress his career. Still some numbskulls that give him grief for that.
Ha - yes, this is one of my massive bugbears too. Every single PL player could play 90 minutes every day, but at nowhere near the intensity or level that is demanded of them.
Really enjoyable and illuminating thread. Thanks to all who've contributed.
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Professional footballers on 13:46 - Feb 10 with 675 views
But apparently they all earn so much money they should put up with the dogs abuse they get. I know, utter bobbins isn't it.
Yes, there is far too much money in football, but that's not the players fault, and quite honestly once you get to League One and lower, the money isn't anything like people think.
As the constant theme on here suggests, they are human, the majority will treat people they meet with respect and be friendly. They work hard and punish there bodies and mind intensively from a young age. They do have to sacrifice quite a lot in order to commit to their careers knowing full well it can be fairly short and very few make enough to consider themselves fully set for life.
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