When I was in the cub scouts, my local pack had a very good football team… We won all the local tournaments… Our local rivals and us met in one final and I scored the winning penalty of the shoot-out as the match has ended a draw…
At the age of 10 years old, I ripped off my shirt, waved it over my head and sprinted around the pitch until my pals caught up with me and we all jumped around together. it was a monumentous occasion, letting go of all those nerves built up over 2 days of a tournament, all that effort… It was great.
If you win anything, you like to have some outpouring of a celebration… I often discuss footballers celebrations, who has the coolest way of celebrating a goal… many become trademark, some stand out… When I was a lot younger, Dutchman Jonny Metgod played for my beloved Nottingham Forest and scored a free kick from in between the halfway line and the 12 yard box… I was a rocket… he went down on one knee and threw his pointed finger to the Forest fans about 8-10 fast times… It was a fabulous celebration…
Champagne Charlie Nicholas would go down on one knee… Alan Shearer would raise both hands above his head and run faster than he had all match… I could go on and on…
What about people celebrating triumphs outside of sports… It is just as good to punch the air, shout out ‘yippee’, or express some psychological and emotional outburst of some kind, no? Where am i going with this… Let me explain…
The past few football seasons have seen many changes in the way we interpret laws of the game… Players can no longer tackle from behind, they cannot answer the ref back, they cannot swear, the keeper cannot pick up the ball if a player has purposely passed it back… And several other things that have changed since my hey-day of playing…
I must say, the brand of football that we have today is incredibly entertaining, of a much higher standard, often with suspense, surprise, drama, subplots, and feats of remarkable athleticism, certainly more so than any era I can recall.
Many games hit climactic moments with extraordinary displays of personal genius, or fantastic team interlinking and mutual understanding… Some of these moments can be tarnished by diving, or reckless fouls… heck, i am getting sidetracked myself now… I have seen in the past few seasons, yellow cards given as the exuberant players, or goal scorers showed too much joy at key moments… They get penalised for celebrating too much! It is apparently against the rules to express happiness in some ways?
I am from the school of thought that believes that penalties in sports should be a punishment for breaking rules that enable the sport to be conducted fairly. Doing something that might cause physical injury to an opposing player or something that seeks unfair advantage is wrong and should be penalised.
But celebrating? Celebrating a goal?
Blimey, I celebrate when a happy client leaves my consulting rooms after some successful therapy! I consider it something that enables me to express myself psychologically and emotionally… I almost consider it necessary… It is healthy isn’t it? I encourage everyone to celebrate more.
Now then, whatever we think about footballers rather large pay packets (not the discussion today) a football player has worked, sweated, and trained for good lengths of time… He has committed himself to the discipline of training… There is a good chance he has had painful injuries and had to patiently recover from them… All the time being driven by a desire to do well with his team — and to win! … Well, for the most part…
They are subject to the demands of fans and fellow team members and the expectations of the coaching staff and employers… having gone through that, he has a brief moment of glory, he scores a goal against his rivals, or in a crucial match to save the team from relegation…
Even though they play every week, real key moments in a big game may come only once or twice every couple of seasons. Yet someone decided that if he looks too happy, or celebrates for too long, or in a manner deemed unproper, the referee has to penalise him. i just don’t understand the logic behind it.
It is not only UK football either. This happens in the US in American Football (a game played with the hands — don;t get me started) too and other games…
I say, let them celebrate! I find it more entertaining if the players show their joy. i think it is human and they need to let it out.
In general, I believe that the manner of celebrating, and other psychological ploys may become part of game strategy. Letting players engage in them would add to the entertainment value of the games and would possibly offer some insight into what competitive strategies work best.
It adds so much to every aspect of life to celebrate unfettered and free rather than attempting to shackle it…
Ok, I have a day of catching up on the cards… And then I am discussing a big, big media case tomorrow…
