Amos, I've known football fans for whom their support of their team is like part of their life's blood. They were easily as passionate about it as any of us are about music. I'm not sure how you're defining "commercially organised" or "obsession", but there are still people who support their local teams and who have done so over several generations. My friend, who is a farmer, was taken to Leicester City matches as a kid by his dad, just as his dad was taken by his dad before him. The family has been Leicester City supporters longer than they've been farmers. He now takes his son, and even when times are hard in farming, this is one thing they find the money for. It is a passion he is passing on.

Just because you can't relate to a passion doesn't mean it's any less valid as a means of cultural expression than any other form of cultural activity. Is football commercialised? Yes, of course it is. So is folk. So is anything in our society which can be bought and sold. Do they lose their validity as means of cultural expression because someone has found a way to commodify them? I really hope not, because if that's the case, we haven't got a lot left.