The business of football
The mind behind the decisions and the fans.
Psychology has spent decades documenting what the fan opening Change.org refuses to see: denying defeat does not save you from pain, it just finances it in instalments. The data on avoidance, cortisol and rumination are merciless.
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Two cardiac deaths, a cratered stock market, a GDP gap and a silver medal nobody wants around their neck. The data on losing a final are uncomfortable reading.
Read · 8 min read →
Home-team referee bias is real and exhaustively documented, but tiny per match. The cry of robbery almost always mistakes a minuscule pattern for a noisy error, and forgets the ninety minutes without a goal.
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Series ‘The footballer's money' (3 of 4). None of them built a fortune alone. Fame opens the door and puts up the money; the partner —often, family— supplies the judgement. But beware: family looks like armour and isn't. Without preparation or advisers, you're ruined by someone who loves you.
Read · 4 min read →