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An archive text from October 2024.
Robert Smith’s love for football is well known. In the past he laid The Cure-Concerts intentionally take place on the days between the World Cup games so that he doesn’t miss anything. He has been a fan of Queens Park Rangers since he was a child. In the end he had to be capable of suffering. The traditional club finished last season in 18th place in the EFL Championships, the second division of the Premier League.
But Smith remains loyal to his team. As he said in an interview, sometimes football is even more important to him than music. A curry with footballer Stan Bowles was “the highlight of my life”. The former England and Queens Park Rangers striker died in February after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2015. He was 75 years old. The club legend scored 97 goals for Queens Park Rangers.
In the detailed video interview, which can be viewed and listened to on the Cure website, Robert Smith not only talks about the upcoming record “Songs of a Lost World”, but also about kicking. And his disappointment with football and what has become of it.
“About ten years ago I lost my love for football for a lot of stupid little reasons,” says the Cure boss. “Every season becomes more and more predictable or boring. I don’t support anyone anymore, I just don’t really care about football anymore,” Smith explained.
“As a child, Bowles was my idol!”
But meeting Stan Bowles made him proud. “I met Stan Bowles. The last time I went to a football game, there was a meet-and-greet with him at the Rangers. I went out for curry with him, which was the highlight of my life because he was my idol as a kid!”
But the 65-year-old Smith also blames the blues of the disappointed fan who feels betrayed by “commercial football”. “I fell in love with football when it was something completely different. It sounds really dour, but it was about different things. In the 70s, going to football matches was a kind of rite of passage and a completely different experience. The footballers themselves were funnier. They were in the pub before the QPR game. It was a different world.”
And further: “It’s just become very business-like. Football is about selling things. Everything revolves around sponsorship and betting. It doesn’t affect me the way it used to. I still watch the European Championships and the World Cup. I hosted a European Championship final night.”
“Spain was the best team”
Smith still cheers on his national team. “I watched every game and watched England stumble to the final. I was the only person drinking Spanish beer and I was the only one smiling at the end!”
He has made peace with Euro 24: “At heart I’m still a football fan because Spain were the best team in the competition. They should have won the competition and I was happy. I lost my love for international football for the same reason I lost my love for many international sports. Because you either buy into the idea that it’s ‘my country against your country’ or you don’t.”
“If you do that, it’s inherently stupid and goes against everything I believe in! When there are members of a national team who have barely been to the country they play for, then it becomes absurd!”