Football widows (and widowers) to kick off on-line!

The football season has kicked off in earnest-and one of our researchers is seeking the opinions of those who are dismayed by this fact.

Sports Studies lecturer Kevin Dixon wants to hear from so-called ‘football widows or widowers’ - people of either gender who feel sidelined by their partner’s, friend’s or relative’s love of the beautiful game!

Kevin, 29, has already conducted research into the behaviour and attitudes of fans from the five North-East football teams: Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Sunderland, Hartlepool and Darlington. His research revealed that 74% of surveyed fans said they arranged their personal lives around football fixtures.

Does football affect your relationships? Kevin said: ‘This statistic made me want to explore what effects could this have on close friends, relatives and partners of our nation’s football fans. This time I’m not just looking for responses from the North-East but the whole of the UK. We want those who feel strongly about this issue to come forward and share personal experiences on-line as long suffering partners, friends or relatives of football fans’.

Issues to be explored include:

• How does football affect household expenditure, particularly during the credit crunch and with rising heating costs?
• How does football interfere with your life?
• Does football affect your relationships?
• What do you do to escape the endless exposure to football in the mass media?
• What do you really think of football fans?

The survey will only take five minutes to complete at http://football.tees.ac.uk, where an on-line forum is also available. There is no deadline for responses and the research findings will eventually appear in the journal Soccer in Society.

From the results of a pilot study one female respondent said: ‘My partner watches football programmes endlessly throughout the week. I rarely get a chance to hold the TV control. When he says 'You can watch your TV programmes in five minutes' I should ask, 'Is that real time or football time?'Waiting endlessly for the stupid clock to run down and then the half baked 'analysis' from the pundits (‘He kicked that ball really far Alan’. ‘That’s right he did. Lets see that in slow motion ten times’.) All the while I am wondering if I will actually be able to watch whatever I was hoping for. Football fans are inconsiderate to their partners!

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