Is it normal not to follow any sport in the UK?

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Major_Toe_6041@reddit

I’ve recently started learning to understand football and cricket because my girlfriend loves them, but I don’t follow or care for. I know enough to understand it and enjoy myself when she takes me to games and I know enough to hold a conversation with her, but that’s as far as it goes.

It’s completely normal. I’d rather drive a digital lorry at 2mph through thick mud for 5 hours than watch some guys my age kick a ball around a semi-artificial field and get pissed at a guy my dad’s age because he hasn’t got 5 sets of eyes.

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PKblaze@reddit

A lot of people don't.

I don't.

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PurpleOctopus6789@reddit

This happened to me but I am competing in my sport. Don't get me started or I'll talk your head off. I have to make conscious effort to task about other things because I get way too excited when talking about my sport.

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Spoondoggydogg@reddit

As a sports non enjoyer, people who make not liking sports their whole personality are far more insufferable.

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AJMurphy_1986@reddit

Its just a general lack of people skills and the overwhelming urge to put people in boxes

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AJMurphy_1986@reddit

Such a dumb reddit take

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Interesting_Mode5692@reddit

It's true for football fans

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AJMurphy_1986@reddit

It just isn't though is it.

I'm a football fan. I have numerous friends who couldn't give a flying fuck about football......

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Interesting_Mode5692@reddit

I had the unfortunate experience of living near a football stadium in London and every match day the streets were filled with the most antisocial, drunk, loud, aggressive twats I've ever known.

They absolutely make it their entire personality

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AJMurphy_1986@reddit

Yes, every single one of those thousands of people were twats. Not you, the person who choose to live near a football ground.......

I also don't think you understand what "make it their whole personality"

Unless you think they are going into work pissed up and singing football songs?

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GettingTherapissed@reddit

Respectfully mate, as a football fan, you don't really have the best perspective on this.

I cannot tell you how many times I've had a complete stranger make some awful homophobic comment to me when I say I don't follow a football team. It's not uncommon for people to stare at you blankly when you tell them, and then for them to just keep talking about football at you. On a couple of occasions, I've had to leave a pub because someone has decided that me not enjoying the same sport as them means I obviously must support their opposing team.

I'm not for a minute suggesting you are one, but there are a lot of blokes in this country who genuinely cannot comprehend that people don't like football and get very upset by it. Again, most are fine, I have several mates who love football, but there is a large and extremely vocal minority who are complete cunts about the subject.

There's also the fact that every few years a major tournament comes along, and you have to pretend you're into it because otherwise people say you "make not watching football your whole personality" or you should "let people enjoy things." I couldn't give less of a shit if people like football, enjoy it all you want, just don't try and make me like it.

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AJMurphy_1986@reddit

How has anything I've said prompted this response?

Some people are twats

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GettingTherapissed@reddit

You said football fans don't make it their whole personality, and that you knew this because you're a football fan. I'm just pointing out that you, as a football fan, probably don't see the side of them that non-fans do.

I'm not looking to start an argument or be a dick, I just write wordy comments.

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AJMurphy_1986@reddit

I tend not to make sweeping generalisations about people based on one interest

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GettingTherapissed@reddit

Good. Neither do I. I literally said in my comment I'm not implying you act like this, just pointing out that there are a lot of people who do act like this.

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AJMurphy_1986@reddit

Sure buddy.

I'm getting the sense you are one of those people who makes not liking sport their whole personality.

Your stories don't ring true at all......

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NumeroRyan@reddit

So the same as people with kids then?

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Initial_Release9861@reddit

This is very true! And if you don't really follow you just smile politely bored!

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ducksoupmilliband@reddit

You've upset the sport people.

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Individual-Rope-3769@reddit

Really depends on your social and work circles. I’d struggle to think of anyone I know that doesn’t follow or play some sort of sport, but I guess birds of a feather and all that.

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Unhappy-Notice18@reddit

it’s normal bro

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PianoMiddle346@reddit

Not normal among blokes. Most have some sport interest, even if it is golf or F1.

And we don't say bro here, either.

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Unhappy-Notice18@reddit

my dad (aged 50) was born and raised in the uk and he doesn’t have any interest in sport 🤓instead he loves travelling, learning about different cultures, writing, history, etc. not every “bloke” has to be interested in sport.

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TheW1tchK1ng@reddit

It is normal? Some men actually have a personality that extends beyond sport.

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Spoondoggydogg@reddit

Most of us aren't condescending dicks though who make liking sport their personality

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Bbew_Mot@reddit

I'm sure there's plenty of men who do not like sport including golf and F1.

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Lopsided_Snower@reddit

It’s about 10-15% apparently. I’m one of them, although I can enjoy it sometimes, it’s not something I go out of my way to watch

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Spoondoggydogg@reddit

I'm the same. I enjoy watching the six nations when it's on, but I'm not mad if I miss it

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Feisty_Marsupial224@reddit

Really not accurate

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Interesting_Mode5692@reddit

Hey bro. I'm a bloke and I don't have any interest in sport.

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Lopsided_Snower@reddit

Sorry but a huge amount of people say ‘bro’ in the UK, especially the last 10 years. Even teenage girls call each other bro

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letsshittalk@reddit

I’d play golf, but I have zero interest. I absolutely hated Sundays as a kid when F1 was on.

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Initial_Release9861@reddit

What was the firm! That feels like a loaded interview if your potential is based on being a sports fan!. Any other type of required interest, other than for a job in the sports industry world be looked on harshly! They must be confident you wouldn't complain!

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GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit

U wot m8

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Derfel60@reddit

Its pretty odd but reddit isnt really the place to ask

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Feisty_Marsupial224@reddit

Not odd, and this subreddit is literally the place to ask

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f1boogie@reddit

Reddit isn't really representative of the UK population. You are essentially asking a community full of IT professionals if they follow sport.

You are definitely in the minority, and sport covers such a wide variation of activities, that not being interested in any of it is highly unusual.

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DatGuy82772@reddit

Why would it not be normal?

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prettypetitetoy@reddit

totally normal, dont worry

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Initial_Release9861@reddit

Ooh good because I don't either! Only very occasionally get caught up! Do like some of the Winter Olympics, ice skating and gymnastics! But reckon more females than not can't be arsed, unless they are raised in it!

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Magic__Man@reddit

Wtf watching sports isn't a gendered activity...

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dope42042@reddit

Sure but it skews heavily. Almost double

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Magic__Man@reddit

True it does, but there are a whole myriad of factors that lead to this that are nothing to do with women just not liking sports. The main ones are of course funding, visibility, and ease of viewing women's sports. As far as I'm aware, these figures for football are begining to shift as more and more focus and attention is being paid to the women's game.

I vaguely remember some statistics from the Olympics that showed very little difference in viewership between the men and the women athletes.

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biffo120@reddit

Why do women need funding to watch tv?

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christianvieri12@reddit

Women choose to watch reality tv in much higher numbers. If they directed that energy towards sports then maybe they’d be funded a bit better…

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CharlemagneKidding@reddit

Honestly, the equity crowd would rather we all be carbon copies with the same forced interests 😅

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Coomgoblin68@reddit

An entire history of women being locked out of sports will do that tbf

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Whatiii@reddit

What is the context of that question? In the last year? Month?

Also wondering how men’s sports is defined. Is darts a men’s sport even though women can compete if they qualify. Or F1 where it’s not restricted just doesn’t have women as drivers (only in other important roles)

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Much-Beyond2@reddit

It's really normal in some circles.. working in tech I find spectator sports don't come up in conversation much (although plenty will do sports themselves).. then there are other people who seem to only be able to talk about football. I will follow stuff casually but will quickly find it boring if someone only wants to talk about that.. I find it gets to it's most irritating around transfer deadline day when everyone is suddenly an expert on the most obscure player and what they're worth.

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Dennyisthepisslord@reddit

People who don't follow any sport particularly might still watch stuff like Wimbledon or snooker or Olympics that have a few weeks of highlighted coverage a year but then don't bother with following it at other times.

Personally how someone can't find the human drama in any at all sport interesting /entertaining is baffling to me. It would be like saying I could never enjoy any form of fiction or music with all the various genres.

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BroodLord1962@reddit

Most blokes I know follow at least one or more sports, but there are plenty who just don't care about sports. I must have been in my late 40's before I started to pay any attention to any sport, and even then it's just a casual interest in football and golf. As in I follow results but don't watch any matches in person or on TV. I loved playing certain sports but had no interest in watching others play

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Gbrown546@reddit

Not sure why people are saying it’s normal? A simple google search would show that 17% of adults in the UK never watch sports according to YouGov.

There’s nothing wrong with it of course. But you’re in the minority unlike what these comments are saying

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No-Actuator-6245@reddit

Nearly 1 in 5 doing the same thing seems quite ‘normal’ to me. With that % there would be 20+ people in my office in a similar position, that seems quite normal. Not ‘normal’ to me would be not being able to find anyone else easily.

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biffo120@reddit

Normal is a word, it has a meaning, you do not have to make one up.

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No-Actuator-6245@reddit

No one claimed ie was made up. Normal when talking about people is hard to quantify as everyone has their own biases and perceptions. Just look at my reply and the post I replied to. I would stand by feeling that nearly 1 in 5 people having a similar opinion/trait makes it normal, the other poster doesn’t.

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biffo120@reddit

You can stand by what you like, it is not the definition though.

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alexq35@reddit

This is like saying being gay is not normal, or being black is not normal, or being aged between 20 and 30 is not normal.

You can use normal in that way but for most people the opposite of “normal” isn’t “rare” but “odd” or “strange”. By your definition nobody would be normal because they’ll always fall into a minority.

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h0m3r@reddit

I think you’re just defining normal differently. You’re using “normal” to mean “the majority”, I think others mean something like “not uncommon” or “nothing weird about it”. When one in six adults don’t follow sport, it’s probably fair to use normal in that context.

In fairness it’s probably more than one in six redditors too…

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malin7@reddit

People on reddit still have trauma from PE lessons

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Kapika96@reddit

To some people ″not normal = bad″. I'm guessing it's those people saying it's normal.

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yorkspirate@reddit

Being pedantic that survey says people who never watch sports, a lot of people might watch it but not really be Into it. I only used to like football on Saturday afternoons because it was being in the pub with my mates on an afternoon

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CharlemagneKidding@reddit

Nothing wrong with it, but in terms of how common it is I would say you are in the small minority and therefore not "normal". However your question is not following sports vs following any sport so of course you would be unlikely to be in the majority.

No doubt there are sports which have fewer interested people than there are people uninterested in any sport.

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notonetochitchat@reddit

I've spotted the spurs fan.

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AnneKnightley@reddit

Perfectly normal - do what you want :)

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

I don't give a fuck if it's "normal" or not.

Sports bore me.

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Whatiii@reddit

Is this not follow, ensure you are completely oblivious to what is going on, or just not actively follow it.

It’s not normal to be completely oblivious to things like premier league teams winning the title or unexpectedly relegated after a terrible season, you will have heard them mentioned by people, seen them in headlines heard of them on radio. Especially in the weeks after the event.

Even people who don’t follow sports know when major sporting events are. If England makes it to the final of the World Cup and someone in England at the time doesn’t know the date and time of the final, it will be weird.

It’s pretty normal to not actively follow sport, a minority but not abnormal. What is weird is to not follow any sport and make not doing it be part of your personality.

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DTH2001@reddit

Asking on this sub will rather skew the results. I’d say that the majority do follow sports to some extent. But not doing so isn’t weird.

Saying that, there are people in both camps who can be weird about it.

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Shoddy-Egg-8148@reddit

I don't follow sport either, honestly don't care if people think it's weird.

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oh_f-f-s@reddit

I haven't been interested in any mainstream sport since I was a young kid tbh. We do exist, but I think it's less common than not.

Bit of a convo killer when someone asks you what team you support

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VolcanicBear@reddit

50% if the people I know don't really follow any sport.

I do triathlon and love to snowboard, I'll watch the winter Olympics but don't really follow any sport. I'd rather do things I enjoy, which normally isn't watching people so things I enjoy.

I have always had the opinion this is not the norm, contrary to most opinions this thread, as I experience a wide variety of people from may backgrounds. Most of whom follow some form of sport.

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omniscient_taint@reddit

I dont really follow sports, but a lot my friends and colleagues do. I pretend that im a sports fan to fit in. Which is not ideal.

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ScumBucket33@reddit

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spoo4brains@reddit

Did you see that ludicrous display last night?

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EyeAware3519@reddit

Fucking hell. It took 5 hours before someone posted this and it's hardly been upvoted? Is Reddit slowly becoming a place where people have original thought?

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yorkspirate@reddit

Something something going for a walk with arsenal

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No-Judgment8912@reddit

I’m not in to sport but I work on building sites. People mostly want to talk about football. Will literally spend all day ONLY talking about that. I also have family that will spend entire gatherings waxing lyrical about this or that in sport. That said there are very many people who aren’t. I think it’s more how loud people talk about sport that makes it seem like there are so many.

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Responsible-Link5739@reddit

It's only recently that I found out Sheffield Wednesday isn't a Bank holiday.

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Boring-Print9058@reddit

When the American press reported that SWFC had signed an American player in the 90's. They didn't understand that Wednesday was part of the club name, so added a comma inbetween Sheffield and Wednesday. Believing it was the day he signed rather than the name of the club.

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omniscient_taint@reddit

It soon won't exist though

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Maz-Wye@reddit

🤣 Good One!

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prustage@reddit

I'm the same. I like to play sport but I dont watch it or follow it. Just not tribal enough.

It always makes me laugh when people tell me they are really into sport and love football. Then when I ask them where they play, it turns out they have never kicked a ball in their lives. So you're not really into sport are you|? You're just into sitting on your sofa with a can of lager watching SkySports on TV really aren't you?

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thehewguy1888@reddit

So what is your opinion on people who love to read books but have never written a novel?

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bio4m@reddit

I was once turned down a job at a major UK firm because I didn't follow any sports

After 3 rounds of interviews I went in for a final "team fit" interview where 3 people from the team showed up. All 3 had jerseys on for their favourite team. It got awkward really fast when I told them I didn't really follow any sports. They had zero interest in any of my hobbies and I couldn't really respond to any of the sports trivia they kept asking me about...

Never happened since, and nobody's ever asked me about sports in an interview in the 18 years since that happened but it always stuck with me

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Satch2305@reddit

What kind of ‘major UK firm’ allows staff to wear sports tops for work? Then on top of that, thinks it’s a good idea for staff to conduct interviews wearing them?

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No_Entrepreneur_6004@reddit

Yeah I read BS there. And nobody in the UK calls them jerseys.

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Asuperniceguy2@reddit

Yeah it's definitely not true

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unaubisque@reddit

Maybe if they were cycling teams...

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Virtual_Opinion_8630@reddit

do you now follow some sport

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AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

I'm the only one among my friends who does follow sport, and I mostly follow cricket, so yes, it's normal.

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Bose82@reddit

More normal than you think

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ActionBirbie@reddit

No sport at all? Yeah, most people will follow something at least in a small way.

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spoo4brains@reddit

Probably depends on age. I can imagine youngsters who grew up online might not develop any affinity to sports, or have the patience for it. As a Gen X we grew up in a pre-internet age with 3-4 TV Channels and long boring Sundays where the shops weren't open, so you plonk yourself infront of the TV and watch sport. I still watch Formula 1 and Snooker as a result, football always bored me. But these days most major sports are locked behind subscription service paywalls which doesn't help cultivate audiences at the grass root level.

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hallerz87@reddit

Pretty common. I watch the big stuff e.g., 6 nations, world cup/euros, olympics, Wimbledon. Otherwise, not on the radar for me and most my friends.

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Odd-Paramedic-3826@reddit

I kind of realised recently that because i've never followed any sports I probably never will. Most people stick with their football team since they were a kid, i can't just suddenly pick a team now that im a grown man.

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Aggravating_Ad5632@reddit

I don't.

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hyperspacevoyager@reddit

I didn't follow any sports but one day I was speaking to someone at a pub and he asked what football team I support and I said I'm not really into it. He then asked where I grew up (area with high performing team) and said I should support them. I said that to be honest I prefer an underdog to which he welcomed me with glee. I'm apparently a West brom fan now with him. He said you can't get much more of an underdog than West Brom.

I have accepted my fate.

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OddPerspective9833@reddit

Most men follow some sport and a lot of women do too. But if you don't, who cares what anyone else thinks?

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romoladesloups@reddit

Well I don't but I can't say that makes it normal

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QueefInMyKisser@reddit

I follow quite a bit of sport but I have friends who don’t follow any and that’s perfectly fine

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Gellert@reddit

"Sport"? Is that something like that new super battle golf game a bunch of streamers are playing?

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Apprehensive_Ring666@reddit

Normal but there are some folk who will try to make it sound like you are weird for it

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beejiu@reddit

It's not weird, although depends on who you associate with. Occasionally you'll find yourself in a group of people whose entire lives evolve around football.

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onion2077@reddit

I prefer gaming to sports

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Chance_Way5601@reddit

I don’t. It’s normal, no interest at all.

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Technical_Brain1493@reddit

It's not weird week to week, but during national football tournaments every two years, most people tune in to watch England flounder and eventually lose. It's a great conversational piece at the dry cleaners, etc. Worth a try?

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Lightertecha@reddit

It's absolutely normal!!

It's the sports fans who are the weird ones!

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WatermoonApollo@reddit

The only sport I follow is Ted Lasso

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GrownDandilion@reddit

Nope let's of people dont follow any sport. Its like most things in life follow what interests you and let others do what interests them. We dont all need to be a hermoginous blob.

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BeanzBruv@reddit

Mate it's absolutely fine, you enjoy whatever brings you happiness and don't worry yourself about what's normal, cos really everything and nothing is normal and it don't matter one bit! 🤠

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Fun-Brush5136@reddit

Do whatever you like! Why are you worried about it? I'm not that arsed either. I'm much more into bands/live music, I watch the world cup and the euros, maybe follow a bit of the ashes and some Olympics and that's it, and I've never had anyone have a go at me about it.

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