Generally, people have their own interests. Sometimes, their interests increase on quite remarkable levels and grow on to be their true passions. Can you relate? My hobby is football and I’d like to guide you through my journey where my hobby turned into passion over the past years.

It started when I was 6, when my father encouraged me to start with professional training sessions based on football discipline. I still remember that I wanted to become a football player when I first watched a football match between Polish and Italian national teams. Then, my attention was caught by a young player who scored an amazing goal from a distance. His name was Mario Balotelli and since that time I have considered him as my favorite football player. So, I started following his football steps without a stop. What I liked about him is that he stands out for his really peaceful approach to celebrating his scored goals contrary to the majority of footballers.

I practiced football for 7 years. But particularly, after quitting regular playing, my football knowledge has increased. As a Polish, in the beginning, I delved only into native leagues. The most recognizable around the world was the English Premier League, which I followed closely because of Balotelli at that time. 

My passion went further and I started detailed deep glimpses on different football leagues. Almost every time, I used one of the best sports applications called “Flashscore” on which there’s a possibility to check all of the possible sports disciplines around the world. It concerns my beloved football, where I can find all of the results, details and statistics. Especially during my free time, I love to browse squads of selected football tiers that do not have to be the strongest European ones like mentioned Premier League or Spanish La Liga Santander, for example. Essentially, I’m used to exploring outstanding and quite exotic leagues. And what’s the main reason for delving further into my passion? It is simply because of my future job aspirations, which is becoming a professional sports journalist who could describe matches from different countries and on which in particular people don’t pay too much attention that often.

It even came to the point of becoming an ardent fan of Turkish leagues – especially second tier, American Major League Soccer or Egyptian top football league! Such specific interests always have their reason and justification. The first Turkish division has indeed been placed in such a strong club-ranking position for a long time, but it’s a credit to just three biggest clubs located in this country. Basically, even in the same city – Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, and Besiktas, which are situated in Istanbul. They contributed tremendously to their league placement due to regular appearances in European competitions like the UEFA Champions League. 

However, the second Turkish football league is not that popular, and so I can confidently say that I’m proud of myself for having a unique knowledge of this level. As you can imagine, rarely any Polish fan, especially just 19 years old, gets interested in this kind of sports news, all the time taking a closer look at less known leagues or clubs. 

My enormous attachment to the second Turkish football league began in mid-2021 when a Polish player, Michał Nalepa, has just decided to pursue his career for the first time abroad by choosing this league, and leaving our mutual Polish hometown and club which I supported as well. The Giresunspor club announced his transfer, thus being one of the three newest teams in the second division after securing promotion from the third tier. Because of my attachment to this midfielder who played official 167 matches in total for my beloved club Arka Gdynia, instantly I delved into every possible information concerning his new club. I followed his new teammates, coaches, or the city where he was supposed to live for at least next year and a half. During Nalepa’s playing period there, I gained a lot of knowledge about many different players coming from various nationalities and their former football clubs.

I’ve even started thinking and planning to visit Giresun situated in the northeast part of Turkey if I have enough money collected. Eventually, that 2021/22 season was incredible for every Giresunspor supporter due to winning the long-waited promotion to the prestigious Turkish Super League and finally having the opportunity to play against the most titled and strongest teams in the next season. However, despite having a satisfying number of assists as a regular playmaker, Nalepa has been rejected from the Giresunspor squad by its authorities without any clearly stated reason. But, I guess karma came back and only two seasons later the club met a painful relegation back to the second league.

So far Nalepa has played in two Turkish clubs from the same league, being the crucial midfielder and well-known for impressive crosses or passes. Thanks to his irreproachable technique, he managed to have 11 assists during one season to become the best assistant of the season as a Sakaryaspor player.

Leaving Turkish football now… Sometimes, totally by coincidence, I get interested in different leagues. For instance, I have loved geography since my early childhood and very randomly I love to choose a less known football division to delve into at least several news about it and after that become a new football spy on it. 

Quite recently, when I found out that my family was supposed to go on a vacation to Egypt, immediately I felt the need to check almost all of the squads from the local teams. Every time when it is about worldwide football I check the website Transfermarkt. Thanks to this, I extended my football knowledge of the Middle East area even.

When I was completely sure about becoming a volunteer in Volunteers Centre Skopje, I strived to get familiar with the Macedonian football league. For me as a true fan of this discipline and a traveler, it’s important to know as much as possible about places where I live for a long time or where I’m supposed to come just on a holiday. You can imagine that apart from getting acquaintanced with the mentioned Macedonian league, I’ve got interested in some different Balkan leagues as well. Not only because of my long-term stay in Macedonia but also because of travels, such as one-week in Slovenia with my family.

The life of an international football supporter brings a lot of joy, adventures and helps develop knowledge which can be really useful in the future. Especially, when someone like me has ideas for myself and wants to become a sports journalist.

Marcel Mańkowski