Our Johnny has written a book about his experiences with a stroke. Football helped him save himself, and that is why he is mobilizing against big money and the values of corporations.
As you may know, last November I had a severe stroke out of the blue. It was genetic and there was nothing I could do about it. It got worse when two days before my stroke my doctor told me I wasn’t having a stroke. Maybe I should sue. I’m in a wheelchair now and I’m still recovering, but I’m doing OK, although there’s no point pretending it’s not utter crap. But it could have been worse – my brain, unlike many others, was not affected and I’ve written two, almost three books since then.
I was in hospital for 14 weeks, cared for by the stroke unit at Inverclyde Hospital. The ward orderly was a man who had played amateur football in the 70s and 80s. He had a thousand stories to tell, often very funny ones, including how he was fooled by young Pat Nevin. “I couldn’t even get close enough to kick him.”
Likewise, I had a night nurse who I always spoke to about the evening’s games and what players the teams needed or were good at. Everything. In both cases, they were so important and kept me connected to my real life when I was incredibly ill and vulnerable. In a very real way, football held my life together. The support and love and well wishes I got from F365 and many readers were invaluable – once again the easy friendships of people who only knew each other through football. I was amazed at the magnetic power of football as people crowded around my radio listening to a Scotland game.
I was reminded of this last week because my booklet about the experience was published and because the week before I had seen Matt Forde, the comedian and impersonator, who was learning to walk again after suffering from a cancerous cyst at the base of his spine, speaking movingly about how much encouragement and support his club, Nottingham Forest, had given him, as had Stuart Pearce.
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This unrecognised role football clubs often play in people’s lives and shows the importance of the game in general. In the whirlwind of obscene wealth, hideous ownership issues and endless transfer rumours, it is often forgotten or ignored. This is why the social aspect of football and football clubs seems so important to me. This is not a branch of the entertainment industry, but rather so much more and its tentacles reach far into society.
That is why the trend towards big money and corporate values is anathema to me, and why I oppose the trend towards wealth and the pursuit of glittering prizes, however unfashionable it may be. Football is too important and too profound to be tarnished in this way, and this trend towards big companies, autocratic owners and countless business partners selling official bamboo shoots does no good to the people who depend on clubs for comfort and identity in times of crisis, and for whom football is like a lifeline.
This is not just an opinion, it is a deeply held belief and it shapes my general attitude towards football as a primary force for the common good rather than corporate exploitation. It is why I find a night game in freezing rain and howling gusts at Greenock Morton more attractive than a game at Arsenal or any other major stadium. Football is culture as part of the community, not an element of profit or branding. At its core, it is played for all of us, not just the rich. It is not just about material purchases.
And that spirit is perhaps most felt in moments when the life you took for granted falls apart and you are thrown into a river of chaos, not knowing where you will end up or whether you will sink or swim. Maybe that hasn’t happened to you yet. If so, you’ve been lucky, but trust me, don’t take anything for granted, your life can change in the blink of an eye and be turned completely upside down. That’s when you need football and its community. Forget the big salaries, the huge transfers, the billion dollar corporate takeovers – they mean nothing. It’s the soul, the roots and the history of the game that will keep you afloat. That’s why I love football and that’s why I don’t take any of it for granted and I stand against anything that diminishes or disrespects the roots of the game.
When I published my book about my stroke, I had to re-examine what and who was important to me and how I got through it, because it was undoubtedly a seriously life-threatening thing. I could barely speak for a week, which is a huge thing for a dedicated idiot like me.
As you might expect from a Yorkshireman who absorbed emotional repression from a young age, it’s hard to talk about it beyond the superficialities, but I’ll try. It’s just wonderful to read the messages and emails I received at the time, which my poor partner answered while I was literally incapacitated, from people I didn’t know but who had read my work at one point or another, and who offered me words of support and sympathy. These people are the best of us. And to Winty, who wrote some brilliant, heartfelt things, I will be eternally grateful. They still make me cry. I have never experienced such affection in all my years. And I’m sure they all contributed to my recovery, not least psychologically.
The book is in many ways a black comedy, funny yet tragic, and it will tell you exactly what to expect if you are unfortunate enough to have a similar experience. It is uplifting and positive, but also depressingly inadequate.
Okay, enough of all this talk about feelings, let’s get down to business.
Help! I’ve Had a Stroke. Get Me Out of Here costs £5.99 from Johnny’s website.
MORE FROM JOHN NICHOLSON ON F365
👉 Dissolve the PGMOL. The new version of the VAR is even worse than the last one
👉 “The best league in the world” has maneuvered itself into a financial dead end and cannot repair its broken model
👉 Offside toenails, Tyldesley’s departure and footballers earning millions of pounds a month – why do we just accept it all?
