Just for kicks

“Which team do you support?”

It’s one of the questions I’ve been asked most frequently in South Africa and it’s rarely asking about the cricket. Wherever you go people want to talk about football, and it isn’t only because the World Cup is quickly approaching.

The English Premiership has a huge following out here - and not just because of the Barmy Army. It helps that there are more TV sports channels than you can throw a stick at – seven at the last count from Supersport alone - which means almost every game is shown on the box. Because of the restrictions placed on broadcasting Saturday afternoon games back in the UK it’s actually possible to watch more games in South Africa.

As in India where there is cricket on a channel somewhere 24 hours a day, the same can be said for Premiership football in South Africa. Whether it is a live game, highlights, analysis, a phone-in show or a classic match from years gone by there is barely a minute without some football (or soccer) to watch.

“What would we do without the greatest league in the world?” said the anchor of last night’s football coverage. Well, there would certainly be a lot of free time on the TV channels.

Manchester United, as should be expected from a club that has more overseas supporters than home-based fans, has a huge following in this country. Hardly a day goes by when you don’t see a kid in replica kit, while Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool also have a healthy fan base. During the first Test at Centurion the PA announcer read out the scores during the fourth day’s play. That doesn’t even happen back home.

From previous experiences in South Africa I know how much of a social activity following the football is. There’s a group in Cape Town, largely consisting of Chelsea fans, who religiously meet down by the Waterfront to watch the matches in one of the local bars. Some are expats who want a taste of life back home, but there are always a fair few locals in the audience.

Football is also a huge favourite of the South Africa and England teams. The home side often have a kick-about before play with some of players possessing very handy skills. However, the visitors have had to ban in from their warm-ups after a series of injuries sustained during the matches played at practice.

Joe Denly’s knee injury before the one-day series against Australia earlier this year, when he was tackled by Owais Shah, was the final straw, but Jimmy Anderson’s participation in a Test in Wellington in 2008 was nearly ended by a football mishap where he rolled his ankle. Time to put the football away, lads.

They’ll just have to make do with watching it on TV.