Yesterday’s reports of Vince Grella being attacked at knife point by masked thugs in a home invasion indicate the sorry world that footballers live in today.
Grella has joined what is becoming a very long list of players in England to have been targeted by criminals over the last two years or so. Liverpool alone has had no fewer than seven players affected, including club talisman Steven Gerrard.
Kiko Macheda, who was robbed of jewelry and a watch just a few weeks ago, as well as Roque Santa Cruz and Emile Heskey, have also been targeted.
Darren Fletcher’s home was targeted when criminals knew he would be in Italy for a Champions League fixture earlier this year. Particularly distressing is that his girlfriend was home at the time and reportedly had a knife held to her throat.
So who would want to be a footballer with this sort of stuff going on in the background?
The thought of playing football for a living is a dream for many young boys, but that’s the thought of playing football, of hearing the crowd cheer your name, of pulling on a Socceroo’s jersey and scoring a winning goal in a Cup final. But the reality is that this is not even half of a modern footballer’s life.
High profile players, whether they like it or not, have to accept the added responsibility of being a role model to today’s youth.
While the general argument is that they are well paid for what they do, many simply do not want to live like a Rockstar, many reject the responsibility and struggle to cope with the attention. For every success story, there is one of heartbreaking failure.
Just look at the highly contrasting lives of Ryan Giggs and Paul Gascoigne.
Today’s players are subjected to relentless scrutiny. Anything they do in their private life is reported on in the press, and for those of you unfamiliar with British tabloids, the sensationalist stories they come out with can be truly ridiculous, especially in comparison with Australia’s relatively tame media.
This is a two-way street as it gives them extra exposure, ensuring they command huge amounts of money from their sponsorship deals. But having a spotlight on you which never gets turned off must surely be unbearable at times.
However, are we, the community at large, asking footballers to simply accept the flipside of the stardom?
Should they endure the jeers, such as those reportedly directed at Jack Collison in Tuesday night’s Carling Cup fixture regarding the tragic death of his father, or worse still, the racist monkey chants directed at Carlton Cole?
Society has reached a sad low when a racially abused player comes out and says “It’s football, you know?”
There doesn’t seem to be any boundaries for fans and supporters and if there are, then where is the line? Surely the aforementioned incidents would have been examples of crossing that line?
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
