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Soccer fans more loyal to teams than wives
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 IF
MEN showed the same commitment towards their partners as to the
football team they support, the divorce rate would halve overnight,
according to research published today.
More than nine in 10 football fans say they would never abandon
their team no matter how badly it performed, while 52% would happily
walk away from a relationship that was not going well, the study
found.
Football teams are increasingly becoming the only things to which
men feel capable of giving their unwavering loyalty, according to
psychologist Aric Sigman.
He said, "If men showed the same fidelity, commitment, self-sacrifice
and honesty toward their partners the divorce rate would halve overnight.
"In an age where politicians' loyalties are seen as chameleonic,
where jobs and relationships come and go, loyalty is now reserved
for something men feel they can actually believe in - football.
"Perhaps this undying loyalty for a football team shows how
qualities such as integrity and devotion are at a premium nowadays."
He added, "The Dad's Army generation would recoil in horror
at the levels of vulnerability, emotion and sheer physical affection
being openly displayed in front of millions of people by football
players and fans today.
"Football it seems is being used as a catalyst to allow men
to express emotion."
A quarter of men questioned admitted they would miss a family funeral
to watch a match, while 54% admitted they would travel to every
UK stadium to watch their team play.
Cardiff City fan Paul Corkrey, who lives in Nelson, admits his obsession
with the Bluebirds cost him his 10-year marriage, leading to his
divorce in 1993.
"If I'm honest, it totally ruled my life," he said.
"I can remember getting in the car one day at seven, and the
match started at half past.
"Me and my wife had been arguing about whether I should go,
and as I tried to drive down the street she was hanging onto the
door.
"I'm not saying it was the only factor in my divorce, but it
was certainly a big influence on it. You've just got to get your
priorities right.
"A lot of people will admit that their relationship is less
important than the football, and it seemed that way with me.
"I'd go out with my wife on a Friday night and it would be
five hours of hell because my mind would be on the game the next
day, and then she'd end up in a bad mood because she'd know I wasn't
enjoying it.
"But I still don't see that as a problem.
"I wish women would understand that it's better for a man to
go to the football than to go out on a Saturday night.
"I'll go to the football in the afternoon and then go home.
Surely that's better than staying out till four in the morning?
"Maybe they see it as another partner, and they don't like
it because we don't think about them as much as the football.
"If Cardiff have lost 3-0, you're in a bad mood and you can't
be bothered to go out, and she's miserable because you know you
don't want to be there.
"On the other hand, if you've won 3-0, you'll be in a great
mood, but it means she'll be watching the scores all afternoon,
even though she doesn't care, just because it will have such an
influence on your mood.
"Football has really dominated my life, and a lot of people
are like me.
"You're going to, say, Hartlepool, and you leave at six in
the morning on the Saturday, then come back at midnight.
"Then you've got Sky on all day on Sunday to follow the scores,
and that's your weekend."
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