When a Football Win Becomes a Church Testimony
There I was, seated during a church service on Sunday, 24 May 2026, watching worshippers file to the front to testify of what God had done for them. When it was his turn, a man took the mic, smiled, and said: “I want to tell you that for 22 years Arsenal failed to win the Premier League – 22 whole years! But now, it has happened. If there is anything you are waiting on God to do for you, it will surely become a reality, no matter how long it takes.”
Some laughed. I was shocked. I got the point about God’s faithfulness. But to stand before a congregation and present a football club’s victory as a testimony? That leaves much to be desired.
Reports say similar scenes played out in other churches that day. One thing is clear: football now has a strong grip on many minds. What should be an ordinary game is no longer just sport.
Where It All Began: Football as Religion in England
In England, you don’t pick a club — you inherit one. It’s tied to geography, class, family, and civic pride. Loyalty passes down generations, with fans investing hard-earned money into season tickets.
On Saturdays, stadiums are packed full by fans worshipping their idol called football. The next day, Sunday, church pews are virtually empty. The stadium is the cathedral. The scarf is the vestment. The songs are the liturgy.
Walk in blindfolded and you might think you’ve stumbled into a worship service. Take Liverpool’s anthem, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Originally a hymn of defiance and hope after dock closures devastated the port city, it echoes God’s promise to Joshua: “I will never fail you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5).
The words speak of hope and faith — attributes die-hard fans have in abundance, but directed toward the wrong god. Listen to the lyrics fans chant. They’re pledges of near-total devotion and unalloyed loyalty, as if to a deity.
Closer to Home: Nigeria’s Football Covenant
In Nigeria, the Premier League, La Liga, and Champions League aren’t foreign games — they’re family business. Unlike English fans who inherit clubs, Nigerian fans choose theirs. Sometimes, that choice becomes a covenant.
A mechanic in Lagos or a trader in Aba can list every Arsenal player from 22 years ago but can’t name 5 players in Nigeria’s national team. Some fans downplay the trend. Tobi Olopade, an Arsenal fan, says he’s not a fanatic. He’s just excited “because of the happiness it brings as it keeps fans united.”
Desmond Ayodele, a Chelsea fan, sees “no material benefit… just the passion of supporting the club.” Though he admits some fans get lucky with Fan Club Tours or earn income from fan pages.
Samuel Olaosebikan, a Manchester United supporter, calls it “pure recreation, relaxation, leisure and entertainment.” But he adds: “It can be used as a channel of propagating the Gospel, because many top-flight English clubs were formed by Christian associations, like YMCA. Manchester City was formed in 1880 to reach young people to combat street fighting, crimes, drinking and to build community.”
Yet consider the emotion, time, and resources poured into football — and the ingenious memes that circulate. Has football’s cult-like following transcended entertainment to become a religious movement? An object of worship people idolise “with all their hearts, with all their souls, and with all their strength”?
The Void That Only God Fills
For Christians, this raises a key question: What is worship, and where do we direct it? Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God has “set eternity in the human heart.”
Football gives people a story larger than themselves — a drama of fall and redemption played out over a season. Fans long for a perfect day when every tear is wiped away. But it never comes. The joy of victory fades, and heartbreak follows.
Lesson: Football can’t fill the void in the heart of man. Neither can the man-made religions of this world. “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
Genuine salvation turns the heart from other ‘gods’, especially subtle ones, to the true God. Football’s devotion is no longer ordinary. In Europe, aggressive atheism has pushed God aside — and football rushed in to fill the gap.
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