Bless Me Father for I have . . . smashed it in the back of the net!

Surely a mistake?

Football and religion don't mix - do they? It sounds almost heretical doesn't it? It's not possible to compare something as deeply serious and meaningful as religion with something which to all intent and purpose is just a game. . .

Yet there may be an element of truth in this statement. History has shown how a team can bring together a town or indeed a country and unite them in a common "good". Football has shown this on numerous occasions. In England, football teams were formed in the heartland of working class areas of the Midlands and the North as a means to entertain the people and offer an escape from the drudgery of the mills and the mines.

In modern times, the escapades of a team, especially a national team, can make people feel elated or indeed deflated. The mood in England during World Cup and European Championship times is almost uniformly euphoric, with more flags on display than at any other time of the year.When the penalty shoot out is over, it's flat to the point of morbid sadness/anger . . . oh well, there's always next time.

The point is football does bring people together, it truly does. It is probably the only sport that does in any meaningful way. It is a mirror of life that no sport is able to match. Religion shows us that we have to be tolerant towards one another and work together to achieve a common good. It also teaches us that there are highs and lows in life. Religion offers us a means of coping with life. A place of worship brings people from all walks of life together. So does a football stadium.

The New York Times highlighted this excellently recently with an article describing football and its meaning in Israel.  It talks about Bnei Sakhnim, the only Arab Israeli team in Israel's First Division. Manchester United has the power to bring together Catholics and Protestants in a way the top two teams in Glasgow, Celtic and Rangers, could never do in a million years. I'll write about Celtic and Rangers in a future article.

I remember seeing DVD called "Beyond The Promised Land" about Manchester United. The opening scenes showed people from Northern Ireland who were big Manchester United fans. There were catholics and protestants in the bus en route to the ferry. Catholic next to Protestant. It can be done.

We can get carried away with football's significance at times. The media deify players. Fans do the same. People have been known to change their names to match their heroes. Most bizarrely of all, there's the Church in Argentina devoted to Diego Maradona. This was the most unique example of adoration of a footballer I have ever heard of. The Guardian's article from 2008 is bewilderingly fascinating.

At the end of the day a football player is just a person like you and me. What he does on the football field is great but does not warrant the astronomical wages being paid today. I've always backed footballers from getting as much as  they can but today things have to change. When you hear of clubs spending 107% of their total revenue on wages you have to question the mentality of this in these troubled times.

A football player is just a small cog in the giant machine that is the beautiful game. The beautiful game is just that - a sport that gives meaning and hope to millions of people. It brings people together. Religion has its place in society; in my opinion more so than ever. Our society has lost its way a little. We need vehicles that bring people together and show that there is such a thing as society and togetherness is OK, contrary to what Mrs.Thatcher and her ilk said all those years ago and like to think is still the way forward. It is not. We need as many ways as possible to help people achieve togetherness. Football and religion do just that.

Ed