A true life account of my husband's that I felt needed sharing:

"Nowhere but on the field of football conflict, can so few arouse so many passions in so many people."

Okay, it's not life or death when you're talking about soccer, but you could take the same sense of passion shown by Sir Winston Churchill in his now infamous 1940's speech, and easily translate it to the heart of many a modern day soccer enthusiast.

My earliest soccer recollection, I would have been 9 years old, is of watching the 1979 English F.A. Cup Final between Arsenal and Manchester United. Being disabled since birth, I was always more academically inclined even at that stage of life, rather than a sportsman. I had to be content fighting my battles in terms of strategy which since I was never going to be a rising star of the local athletics scene, seemed obvious! As such I had grown up largely removed from any interest in sports and was perfectly happy carving my niche in life. Yet all it took was ninety minutes one Saturday afternoon to spark a fire the likes of which had never been seen in me before.

What struck me most in Arsenal's late and dramatic 3-2 win, was that even when the game seemed to be over, the players from both sides never gave up believing in themselves as individuals or in themselves as a team. They played their hearts out, gave their all, for the love of their sport - the beautiful game. The fans in the stands, 100,000 strong, singing their hearts out, issuing the rallying calls to the foot soldiers on the pitch below! It was one rising maelstrom of passion inside the hallowed confines of Wembley Stadium.

For those that were not there and cannot relive the emotions that are aroused even now when thinking about that game, let me simply say this: it drove a disabled boy who had next to no known athletic ability to start haranguing his parents to buy him a soccer ball. I then became one of those kids you read about, spending every waking moment down at the park, either alone or with friends - I didn't care - reliving moments from that match and more. I built up the confidence to join in with them in friendlies believing that if I just showed half the passion and half the determination that those players showed on that May afternoon I could be just as successful.

Of course, I never would, at least not on the soccer field. Instead I took that same grit and determination and eventually not only played for my school's soccer team, I played cricket for my school and even played in a local rugby team for a while. I channeled my passion not into playing soccer professionally, but into supporting it professionally, becoming a lifelong, die hard Cambridge United fan. These same passions helped me carve a not unsuccessful career in the business world and I attribute much of my success to the 22 men who that day taught me the true meaning of passion and determination, and to them I will always be grateful. God bless em!

Learn more about this author, Lara Cooper.
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