About Me

 

me

As a one time angry young man growing up in Liverpool in the 70’s and 80’s I have probably always had a bit too much to say for myself. I left school in 1984. It hadn’t yet become Orwell’s nightmare, but it was pretty close as far as I was concerned.

The Thatcher years politicised me and I quickly became immersed in Liverpool Politics. As a supporter of Militant in the late 80’s – early 90’s my politics shifted even further to the left. I even got arrested on a demonstration once. I had sat down in the road in an attempt to block Margaret Thatcher’s car from entering a housing estate near Liverpool’s waterfront.

Much to my annoyance I was release without charge. I think the Sergeant just couldn’t be bothered with the paperwork. However, I wanted the world to know that Liverpool had objected to her visit.

This period taught me a lot about passion, principle and the value of standing up for what you believe, even when the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against you. At the heart of my politics was a desire to make the world a better place. Perhaps I was just a youthful cliché, but those feelings linger on.

liverpool_waterfront

I still live in the city of my birth. I’m still angry about the world I live in, but these days I mainly talk a good fight. I now work in the National Health Service. Although it gets tougher day by day, I still feel I’m making a difference to people’s lives.

I have many passions aside from politics and work. I am father to four great kids and husband to Angela. I am immensely proud of and love my city. Liverpool runs through my veins and I believe the city, it’s attitude and culture, has shaped the person I have become. It is also home to the Reds; the other great love of my life.

Finally I love writing. As a kid I dreamed of writing fiction, particularly horror. That dream has never left me. I am no Steven King, but I do write with passion and heart. I can only hope that makes up for the typos and grammatical errors.

So thanks to modern media I have an outlet for thoughts an ideas that would otherwise never see the light of day. I take full advantage of this and write about my passions; fiction, politics, life, family, my city and football. Sometimes the lines that separate these will blur.

I also write in other places. You will find my work on ‘This is Anfield’, the largest independent Liverpool F.C. fan site, ‘We are Liverpool’ and ‘The Liverpool Way’ fanzines.

All views expressed are my own and bear no relation to those of my employers. You may love what I have to say. You may not, but if you stick around I hope you are entertained by my ideas and stories; the real and the imagined.

Let me know what you think.

 

24 Comments »

    • Thank you for asking. Can I just ask that you credit the article to me and provide a link to this site. I’m sure you would have, but I ask only because others haven’t done that. Thanks for reading.

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    • No I’m afraid not. Always struggle to find my interest in England set up. However it is yet another debacle and a symptom of everything that’s wrong with the game generally in my view

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  7. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm Jeff! As a kid I grew up in Earls Barton, nr. Northampton. I even trained with Phil Neal a couple of times at Wellingborough!
    I now live in New Jersey USA. My nana had grown up in St Helens, on Napier Street, so when we visited Rugby and Liverpool FC were big topics. I fell under the spell of Sir Roger, watched his every move and have followed the Reds since 1963. Anyway, I love your Scouse enthusiasm, your writing. Please carry on. I just read today’s article about ‘Behind Anfield’s corporate curtain: Liverpool FC and the future of football’. Great writing again. All the best to you and yours, Steve Sharp
    Sasroofer@gmail.com

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    • Thanks so much for that Stephen and for reading my ramblings. What a great honour it is to have trained with the Reds most decorated player. Take care mate and look out for my book – due out in Spring 2018.

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  9. I am currently writing an opinion piece in school on the fall of football and I came across this blog: https://jeffgoulding.com/liverpool-fc/against-modern-football/. This blog ticked all the boxes and truly expressed the dire need for entertainment in modern football because modern football is boring. You said it, everyone should be against it. Futhermore, I have written about the beautiful game becoming no longer beautiful. As of now my next two pieces will be on created by the poor, stolen by the rich and the cannibalistic style of modern football. Would you have any suggestions? Thanks.

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    • Hi Nich. Thanks for reaching out. Your next two pieces sound very interesting and good luck with them. When I reflect on the history of football, I can’t help but feel that the current state of the game represents the continuation of a process that began a long time ago, and which was accelerated greatly in the UK after 1992 with the creation of the Premier League.
      What we see now is the almost total monopolisation of the game by private capital through the Premier League, UEFA and FIFA. We haveba hint of where that may lead with the failed (so far) European Super League.
      Our only hope lies in the growing movement of supporter Trusts and unions demanding greater say in the game and the possibility of greater government regulation of the game.
      The history of the game is complex and fascinating. The game we call football/soccer today was actually created in wealthy professional schools and enjoyed by the middle and upper classes in the mid-late 19th century. The working classes became imvolved when churches and schools formed teams in order to encourage physical activity during the winter months.
      The upper classes resisted professionalisation of the game (players earning a wage for playing) precisely because they didn’t want the working classes to play it. They obviously failed and by the early 20th century the game was largely played by the working class. So in that sense, we could say the sport was created by the rich and adopted/claimed by the working class.
      However, the capitalist class – wealthy businessmen – began the process of monopolisaation almost immediately. Forming professional leagues, buying land and building stadiums and charging admission to see the game.
      On Merseyside both Everton and Liverpool owe their existence to competition and political differences between rival business men.
      As soon as football stopped being a game enjoyed – largely for free – and became a plaything of local capitalists the die was cast. For a long time however, it was difficult to make huge profits from the game. That is until the 90s when broadcast and sponsorship money became a bigger driver than attendance. From that moment supporters have seen their clubs taken away from them.
      It remains to be seen if the working class can once again reclaim the game.

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      • Thank you so much for the prompt response, I will definitely use these suggestions in my next two pieces.

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  10. I’ve just been given a copy of your book “Klopp’s Last Stand” and I SIMPLY cannot put it down! You are bringing all those days of glory & excitement (with a few heartbreaks) back to me, Loving it and will recommend to all my LFC mates. THANK YOU YNWA

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  11. Hi, I forgot to send you my opinion piece on modern football so here it is:

    The Fall of Football

    I love football. I love every part of football, the players, jerseys, characteristics and the simplicity of football. As a boy living in New Zealand, I remember waiting for every game week to get up many hours before dawn even on a school night to watch my favourite team play. Manchester United. Yes, I know, great choice, blame my dad. In this day and age, I cannot tell you who is playing next week. The dramatic tactical advancement of football has left me switching the TV off after thirty minutes. Modern football is unbearable to watch.

    Is the beautiful game, beautiful? Ever since the first football league was founded in 1888 fans watched on the edge of seats for every game, however, is that feeling fading? The dramatic advancement of modern football has led to teams consisting of 11 players to teams that average 50-100 staff members surrounding a club. Tactics, data, athletes, performances and stats make up the beautiful game. Modern football is reliant on statistics. However, is this beneficial for football? Stats do not show the unique personality of footballers on the pitch which makes up the beautiful game. Are you not bored of watching 100-million-pound players throw their bodies over the ball before passing the ball backward? Where are the; Joga bonitos, Juninho’s, Ronaldinho’s, Romario’s. Where is the individuality on the pitch? Modern players are programmed – when to pass, what not to do, where to be – on the pitch. Modern football displays the lack of unique characteristics of the football players we once knew, every game is a repetitive simulation of the next. Who doesn’t miss Roy Keane arguing with the referee after sending a player into retirement? Or Jimmy Bullard and Joey Barton “taking the piss” on a cold rainy night at Stoke. The further football becomes a business players receive personal representatives to meet the expected image of a “footballer”, (cough cough), stage piece. Modern Football is boring. Football needs characters, surprises and entertainment.

    Created by the poor, stolen by the rich. The rapid commercialization of football has taken – the soul, community and excitement- of the beautiful game. Working-class fans of football teams are left with the inability to afford tickets to watch their club play, as influencers take up seats to snatch their need for attention. Even the working-class fans who can afford the expense are unlikely to watch their club win a trophy if they support a team without considerable investment from outside sources. The inequality in competition is a growing recurrence in modern football. Smaller teams are left with the enjoyment of trophies only from the past, each year the same Real Madrid, Manchester city, Bayern Munich regurgitate the same silverware each year. Are you not bored? With the increasing costs of supporting a team and decreasing competitive equality. Why should fans watch football?

    Is this a cannibalistic cycle? What is the future of football? You can blame monopolisation, commercialisation and substantial investment for the fall of football. But who are we to blame? The negative connotations of the media have become the norm in the football world. Players are ridiculed for any – blunder, wrongfooting, or slip-up – as the media seek any lapse in quality to demoralise a footballer’s professionality on and off the pitch. Even the few players who dare to entertain us with skills are heavily criticised by the media as – show boaters, ball hogs, or show-offs – yet we are left in awe watching old clips of Ronaldinho passing the ball without looking. Where is the equilibrium? The world of football is trotting on our own tail, we are preventing any showcase in personality on the pitch. Modern football has created mechanical players draining the characteristics of players we once knew, who would; die for the badge, take one for the team, and show no fear.  

    “I’m rapidly falling out of love with football, I just wonder what’s the point anymore?”. John Coleman, you are not alone. What is the point anymore? Rules, charges, and limitations need to be established to ensure a level playing field to resurface the competitiveness between football clubs to make football entertaining. On top of that, footballers are players, not athletes. Football is too reliant on statistics and is leading football to an unattractive systematic playstyle which has drained the unique characteristics of the beautiful game. Not to mention footballers have become – investments, wages, profits – putting an abundance of pressure on and off the pitch whether it comes from the media or the owners of the football club. Football has become a business. However, with all the possible solutions will anything change? With the forever increasing profits as long as football is filling investors’ deep pockets, I doubt our beautiful game will be returned. So, get used to Modern football. However, I never will, and you shouldn’t either.

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