Special Feature – Jack Collison: Football as a refuge gone bad
Sports are watched as a simple entertainment program on the television by most viewers watching prime time T.V, for others it's a form of relief from their everyday routine. But for some “sport” is life.
Although there are different ways to interpret certain things, one should not discount the experiences that one can gather from playing sports. One of the worlds sports, is football; a game that is played, watched and enjoyed throughout
the world.
Many people might consider an over obsessive attitude to football as some sort of a disorder but such disorders can prove to be quite curative. We know that Cristiano Ronaldo featured for Portugal a few days after his father died
of an illness; the Portuguese winger who is now one of the most recognizable players on the field was not basking in worldwide fame back then. When asked by the Portuguese manager at that time Luis Felipe Scolari, if he wanted a holiday so as to deal with
his personal problems and grief, the speedster said no and kept on playing. Now one might wonder what on earth prompted him to do that?
Well, football for its players is something more than a sport. It’s a place where one can go and just relax, do their best and vent their frustrations. It also provides a kind of solitude from the everyday problems, once you step
on that field; it is difficult to focus on anything else other than the twenty players on the pitch and the ball. Ever since his father died, every important goal Ronaldo scores is dedicated in his words to him, as he looks up to the sky and acknowledges the
possibility that his dad might be watching him from above.
Another footballer that adopted this therapy is Jack Collison. Not quite as famous as Ronaldo, Collison plays for West Ham United, a London based football club. Collison has been at West Ham since his childhood days and has graduated
through to the first team at the club after going through the phases of West Ham’s famous football academy which has produced stars like Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard along with Jermaine Defoe. Collison is now a regular first teamer and usually plays for
West Ham depending on his fitness. Back in 2009, Collison was playing for West Ham United against their rivals Tottenham Hotspurs.
Ian Collison, Jack’s father was on his way to the match to watch his son in action however as fortune would have it, the 46 year old man crashed his bike and died due to the injuries he sustained in the accident. Jack got to know
about this tragedy during the 89th minute of the match. It was a heartbreaking moment for Jack Collison, who had been used to the idea of watching his father observe his movements during the match and comment on his performances in their post-match
discussions.
Nonetheless, two days later West Ham were scheduled to play Millwall, their fiercest rivals in English football. Jack was given a chance to rule himself out for personal reasons for the match but he requested to stay with the first
team and insisted on being involved in the match for the Hammers. During the match as West Ham surged forward to victory, Collison did remarkably well on the field but the match was frequently disturbed by supporters fighting amongst each other and also several
occasions of pitch invasion.
During this chaotic situation, a fan was stabbed outside the stadium as well. This resulted in his death and the match was brought to a pre-mature end. At the end of the match, West Ham won but misery took over Collison who burst
into tears. As he saw that the game he had loved and taken refuge in from his grief was turned into a “class a” showcase of hooliganism and violence amongst both sets of supporters. It was a sad moment as officials had to accompany Jack Collison off the field.
It was indeed a sorrowful moment to everyone related with West Ham United but most importantly it was a symbol of the sorrow state of football fans. Fans that are the life and blood of football as a whole.
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