From Rabbi Pete Tobias, of the Liberal Synagogue, Elstree:

"We may be in the middle of June, but next season’s football fixtures will be announced at the end of this week! So it’ll be time to plan my visits to Vicarage Road for the coming season. I call it my second place of worship, which I usually attend after leading Sabbath services at The Liberal Synagogue Elstree: services encouraging us to search for greater meaning in life, including readings that tell us ‘There are objects in life higher than success…’

The search for success in footballing terms means that, come August, many players will find themselves in new surroundings, wearing different shirts, playing for new clubs. This raises issues of loyalty. Some players kiss the badge on their shorts after they score - I can’t help wondering if they do that not so much to express devotion to their club but rather to check who they’re actually playing for this week.

At Watford there’s not just the inevitable change of personnel. There’s quite often a change of division as well – I make it six promotions since I started supporting my team 35 years ago – and almost as many relegations.

I recall the final home game of one relegation season. The fans of the visiting team, who had finished in a respectable mid-table position, booed their players, and taunted their manager, who was sacked at the end of the game. The relegated Watford players and their manager received a standing ovation from the home fans as they completed a lap of honour after the game had ended, even though they’d finished bottom of the league by some distance.

The rabbis tell us that people are truly wealthy only when they are satisfied with what they have. Of course, sport is about striving and achieving ever-greater heights, but care needs to be taken to ensure that other essentials of sport – like basic decency and loyalty – aren’t sacrificed in the pursuit of such goals. There are, indeed, objects in life – and football – higher than success."