It was about 5 years ago when I landed at the Heathrow Airport in London. Not knowing what life has in store for me I was neither very happy nor very sad. Just a little bit nervous. Life had its ups and down during this time but there is one thing that had me changed significantly.
I was a big cricket follower and occasionally played other sports, mostly being table tennis and very rarely used to watch a bit of football but mostly world cups and big tournaments. I had never heard of club football!
During my work, socializing with friends, newspaper stories all talked about football but had no clue how it all worked. I gradually picked up a team Chelsea for that matter and started following it. During those days the top 4 teams were Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Gradually got into it and started reading about the key players, how it all works. Speaking to friends and work mates how the English Premier League (EPL) works and it was a matter of time only when I had a full hang on to how EPL works and was so into football that I did not want to miss any key football matches whether Chelsea played or not and even got a full Sky Sports HD package installed at home!
Since then, I am starting to forget Cricket and following club football more closely. Mainly the way it is marketed, the way transfer window works and the millions that exchange hands during those days. Above all, its just a 90 minute game and creates a lot of excitement as it is. Its not just the English Premier League but also Spanish leagues, Champions trophy, FA Cup, Carling Cup you name it and I am a keen follower of those. I tend to read all football news in the Metro and Evening Standard daily, I tend to wait for football matches during the day and look out for the fixtures and results section in the Metro each day to find out which clubs are playing.
After all these years, I now know more footballers than I know cricketers. What a sporting change a few years in England has brought to me!
