I’m not a Red, though I know many people who are. Some of them are actually from Liverpool.

But even though I don’t have much to do with LFC, I sympathise with the predicament of fans.

Having seen the two clubs I support wrestle with the bonkers Gary Gibson and clueless Mike Ashley it’s easy to empathise with Liverpool FC fans who are attempting to drag the club back to the values and meaning of the glory days.

Shankly’s famous ‘the socialism I believe in…’ quote once adorned a Philosophy Football shirt I used to own. It’s how I see life, nevermind football, but it started to feel embarrassingly at odds with football some years ago, when I stopped wearing it.

Is it possible to marry that old-fashioned working-class spirit and ethics to football in the modern day? No, not in my opinion, which is why I essentially left football behind some time ago.

Once you reach the point where modern football leaves you dispirited, cynical and vaguely disgusted, there doesn’t seem much point in maintaining an ongoing interest in it.

I admire those fighting for the heart and soul of their football clubs, even though the odds are stacked against them.

The Spirit of Shankly seems in short supply these days, especially on the day when Chester City went into administration. As a friend of mine lamented:

Chester City’s debt amounted to less than a DAY’S pay for John Terry. Obscene.

Indeed. Welcome to football in the 21st century.