I'm going pretty run of the mill for this one with football and for what it's worth, I don't think the sport is great, at least any more, but the experiences it gave me over the years have been unmatched.
Growing up with 3 sisters in the late 80s/90s I came to football maybe a little later than other boys my age but with my dad being a big Arsenal fan I don't think he was disappointed when I asked if we could actually go to a game.
The first game I went to was in 1996, I was 11, I think I got it for passing my 11+ exam, but it was Arsenal vs Leicester. The buzz around the ground was amazing and I can still smell the fried onions from the burger van to this day. The game itself wasn't a classic, Arsenal won 2-0 courtesy of goals from David Platt and Tony Adams and both assisted by the absolute, uncontested (for me at least) Dennis Bergkamp. I remember Arsenal scoring, I remember my dad and I jumping up and down and then someone holding up some car keys, to which my dad and I laughed at the thought someone had lost their keys, my dad quickly patted himself down and realised they were in fact his keys.
That game was the catalyst not just for me and my dad spending more time together but my younger sister got in on it too. Back in the days of the family enclosure at Highbury where it would cost £3.50 - £7 for us to get a sit literally pitch side (see the photo for proof!). Highbury may have had the nickname of the library but going to those matches, singing all the songs, telling everyone what we think of Tottenham, the highs, the lows, it was my first introduction to a community. And I took to it in a big way. It consumed me.
As the years went by and the prices increased we got priced out of going to matches often but I still hold a box file full of all the matchday programmes, tickets and other bits we picked up. I even have my Dennis Bergkamp Testimonial souvenir shirt from the first game ever played at the Emirates Stadium. I raced back from Newquay a day early on a National Express coach to make it back for that game, I could not and would not miss the game celebrating my football hero.
So football for me was/can be great (if they get a handle on the ludicrous amounts of money being thrown around), for the sense of community it can instil and the memories it creates. I got to witness players like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Cesc Fabregas etc. first hand and when they were on form it was incredible.
