I turned to the dark side. Not of the Force - of video game football.
I'm sure I was not alone. I am of the generation raised on Pro Evolution Soccer, what was once the best, most popular football game on these shores. On PSone and PS2, it was the football game. A few two-versus-two games to get warmed up before a big night out, a sip of a drink every time the ball went out of play. And of course we're running late - we had to have a rematch, and another, and another...
And then Konami completely messed things up. The transition to the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation was a disaster for PES, as EA Sports' rival FIFA series took hold. PES, you could argue, has yet to recover from that own goal. I moved over to FIFA along with a huge number of PES players, and didn't look back.