I AM not a football fanatic. My life has never revolved around the fortune of any team. I consider the enthusiasm for it as understandable because most people have soul-destroying jobs and the worries of all their responsibilities and finances.

Everyone needs respite and football is a sort of therapy. If Karl Marx lived, he would call it the opium of the masses.

I am sure that it has prevented many suicides and much social distress because it is an outlet to make life worthwhile. Many see others like them but endowed with talent for football earning a very good income and they vicariously share their good fortune.

Geoffrey Bulmer, Billingham.