The passion for the beautiful game

England is in the throes of one of the worst cold snaps since weather records began. The winter has come early and Arctic winds have frozen the country like never before. This weather has also adversely impacted the sports fixtures. Only 2 of the 9 scheduled weekend Premier League matches could be played. The Championship fared a bit better – 7 of the 10 matches scheduled for the weekend still went ahead. Of course some of the cancellations raised cynical eyebrows especially the Chelsea v Man United match. Some fans have claimed that the match was postponed to ensure that Chelsea play their biggest rivals only when they get over the worst run of form for over a decade. This is denied by official sources who claim that the match was postponed due to safety concerns for players, staff and fans.

In the midst of all these match postponements, one can only admire the passion of the folks who keep playing and watching football week after week especially with temperatures dropping to many degrees below zero in most parts of the country. Nowhere was this passion better demonstrated than in the nPower Championship match between Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town and Sven Goran Eriksson’s Leicester City. The match was shown live on UK television and I kid you not - it resembled an ice hockey game. The snow was coming down thick and fast and the ground was covered in a white blanket. Yet in the midst of all that, you could see the players going for it, making the tackles, scoring goals and defending as if their lives depended on it. In fact at one time the weather got so bad that the ref had to put a temporary stop to the match. In all my years of following football, this was the first time that a game was halted for weather reasons. So for 14 minutes the game was suspended. And just when you thought that the game would be abandoned, they were back again to conclude the match. In the end Ipswich won 3-0. More importantly it was a resounding victory for football.

For once I understood why these great footballers are paid so well. And for once my admiration for the players knew no bounds. The Ipswich and Leicester players showed that the world may stop but they will continue to play, come rain, come storm - literally. But you know who amazed me the most? After the match was over I checked the attendance in the Portman Road stadium. Hold your breath - there were 16000 fans who watched the game - braving the cold on a very wintry weekend evening to cheer the team they love. Hats off to the fans (and don’t forget to put them back on!)

Watch the clip here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/9283579.stm