Sleep, better than football

I finally got into bed around 4.30am last night having sat through a goalless 90 minutes, then extra time and penalties which predictably England lost.

Despite the fact that, wary of having less stamina than in younger days, I had an afternoon nap in preparation, today I feel all over the place.  My body clock askew and my head in the clouds.

It occurs to me that I’m mourning the loss of sleep far more than I am England’s place in the tournament.

A lesson perhaps that while my love of football hasn’t waned, the importance I put in it is diminishing as fast as my need for sleep is growing.

Football coverage here means I don’t think I missed a single Newcastle game, that kicked off pre-midnight, all last year.  But with my team set for the Europa Cup next season I’m going to have to get used to checking the scores in the morning rather than staying up half the night.

Football may take up far more of my waking hours than is strictly healthy but, in the end, it’s still not worth losing sleep over.